Changes

</ref><ref name="Contrast">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jn-kcJc47m4C&pg=PA129 |page=129 |title =Religion and Modern Society: Citizenship, Secularisation and the State |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|author=Bryan S. Turner|quote=The contrast between religion in American and militant atheism in China could not have been more stark or profound. While the Red Guards under Mao Zedong's leadership were busy destroying Buddhist pagodas, Catholic churches and Daoist temples, the Christian Right were equally busy condemning the communists.}}</ref> Under this militant atheism espoused by Mao Zedong, houses of worship were shut down; Buddhist pagodas, Daoist temples, Christian [[Church|churches]], and Muslim [[mosque|mosques]] were destroyed; artifacts were smashed; and sacred texts were burnt.<ref name="Revolt"/><ref name="Contrast"/> Moreover, it was a criminal offence to even possess a religious artifact or sacred text.<ref name="Revolt"/> The death toll in 20th Cenutry China attributable to Mao Tse-Tsung's "[[Great Leap Forward]]" is estimated by reputable sources "to be as high as forty million."<ref name="Leap">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rbgK8wA7ubgC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=China+number+of+people+perished+militant+atheism&source=bl&ots=bN8QWuhcq2&sig=X2BB0iKRJbWNA8DlHzJeT2yS6to&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZZNXUOP1KcaDywHEvYCIDg&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=China%20number%20of%20people%20perished%20militant%20atheism&f=false|page=125|title=No, We Can't: Radical Islam, Militant Secularism and the Myth of Coexistence|publisher=Chosen Books|date=1 October 2011|isbn=0800795202|author=Robert Stearns|quote=Reputable sources estimate the death toll in twentieth-century China to be as high as forty million, attributed directly to Mao Tse-Tung's "Great Leap Forward."}}</ref> However, following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, many former policies towards religious freedom returned although they are limited and tenuous, as religion is closely regulated by the government.<ref name="Revolt"/>

</ref><ref name="Contrast">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jn-kcJc47m4C&pg=PA129 |page=129 |title =Religion and Modern Society: Citizenship, Secularisation and the State |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|author=Bryan S. Turner|quote=The contrast between religion in American and militant atheism in China could not have been more stark or profound. While the Red Guards under Mao Zedong's leadership were busy destroying Buddhist pagodas, Catholic churches and Daoist temples, the Christian Right were equally busy condemning the communists.}}</ref> Under this militant atheism espoused by Mao Zedong, houses of worship were shut down; Buddhist pagodas, Daoist temples, Christian [[Church|churches]], and Muslim [[mosque|mosques]] were destroyed; artifacts were smashed; and sacred texts were burnt.<ref name="Revolt"/><ref name="Contrast"/> Moreover, it was a criminal offence to even possess a religious artifact or sacred text.<ref name="Revolt"/> The death toll in 20th Cenutry China attributable to Mao Tse-Tsung's "[[Great Leap Forward]]" is estimated by reputable sources "to be as high as forty million."<ref name="Leap">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rbgK8wA7ubgC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=China+number+of+people+perished+militant+atheism&source=bl&ots=bN8QWuhcq2&sig=X2BB0iKRJbWNA8DlHzJeT2yS6to&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZZNXUOP1KcaDywHEvYCIDg&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=China%20number%20of%20people%20perished%20militant%20atheism&f=false|page=125|title=No, We Can't: Radical Islam, Militant Secularism and the Myth of Coexistence|publisher=Chosen Books|date=1 October 2011|isbn=0800795202|author=Robert Stearns|quote=Reputable sources estimate the death toll in twentieth-century China to be as high as forty million, attributed directly to Mao Tse-Tung's "Great Leap Forward."}}</ref> However, following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, many former policies towards religious freedom returned although they are limited and tenuous, as religion is closely regulated by the government.<ref name="Revolt"/>

Historically, the [[Atheist Population|atheist population]] has tended to lean leftward in their politics (See" [[Atheism and politics]] and [[Secular left]]).

Historically, the [[Atheist Population|atheist population]] has tended to lean leftward in their politics (See: [[Atheism and politics]] and [[Secular left]]). According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninsim">{{cite web|url = http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title =Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref>

== Reason Rally and the mocking of religious beliefs ==

== Reason Rally and the mocking of religious beliefs ==