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→Atheism and self-violence: Atheism and suicide
''See also:'' [[Atheism and suicide]]
''See also:'' [[Atheism and suicide]]
[[Image:Desperation_man.jpg |thumb|200px|right|Atheists have a higher suicide rate than [[theism|theists]].<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html Adherents.com - suicide rates]</ref> ]]
Concerning '''atheism and suicide''', although there are recent studies relating to [[atheism]] being a causal factor for suicide in some individuals, an early proponent of atheism being a causal factor for suicide in some individuals was the Reverend Dr. [[Robert Stuart MacArthur]].<ref>http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html</ref><ref>http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/12/2303</ref><ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E2DC1131E033A25754C1A96F9C94659ED7CF NY Times, September 17, 1894, ATHEISM A CAUSE OF SUICIDE.; Dr. MacArthur Preaches on the Sin and Cowardice of Self-Destruction]</ref>
In 1894, the [[NY Times]] declared regarding atheism and suicide:
{{cquote|Dr. Martin urged that a great cause of suicide was atheism. It was, he said, a remarkable fact that where atheism prevailed most, there suicides were most numerous. In [[Paris]], a recent census showed one suicide to every 2,700 of the population. After the publication of Paine's "Age of Reason" suicides increased.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E2DC1131E033A25754C1A96F9C94659ED7CF NY Times, September 17, 1894, Atheism a Cause of Suicide.; Dr. MacArthur Preaches on the Sin and Cowardice of Self-Destruction]</ref>}}
The same NY Times article quotes the Reverend Dr. MacArthur describing suicide in the following manner:
{{cquote|It is mean and not manly; it is dastardly and not daring. A man who involves his innocent wife and children in financial disaster and disgrace and takes his life and leaves them to bear the burden he was unwilling to bear, is a coward.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E2DC1131E033A25754C1A96F9C94659ED7CF NY Times, September 17, 1894, ATHEISM A CAUSE OF SUICIDE.; Dr. MacArthur Preaches on the Sin and Cowardice of Self-Destruction]</ref>}}
[[File:Rev. Dr. Robert Stuart MacArthur.JPG|thumb|left|200px|The Rev. Dr. [[Robert Stuart MacArthur]] was an early proponent of atheism being a causal factor for suicide.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html</ref><ref>[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2303 Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt], ''American Journal of Psychiatry''</ref><ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9507E2DC1131E033A25754C1A96F9C94659ED7CF NY Times, September 17, 1894, ATHEISM A CAUSE OF SUICIDE.; Dr. MacArthur Preaches on the Sin and Cowardice of Self-Destruction]</ref>]]
The website Adherents.com reported the following in respect to atheism and suicide:
{{cquote|Pitzer College sociologist Phil Zuckerman compiled country-by-country survey, polling and census numbers relating to atheism, agnosticism, disbelief in God and people who state they are non-religious or have no religious preference. These data were published in the chapter titled "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns" in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005). In examining various indicators of societal health, Zuckerman concludes about suicide:
"Concerning suicide rates, this is the one indicator of societal health in which religious nations fare much better than secular nations. According to the 2003 World Health Organization's report on international male suicides rates (which compared 100 countries), of the top ten nations with the highest male suicide rates, all but one (Sri Lanka) are strongly irreligious nations with high levels of atheism. It is interesting to note, however, that of the top remaining nine nations leading the world in male suicide rates, all are former Soviet/Communist nations, such as Belarus, Ukraine, and Latvia. Of the bottom ten nations with the lowest male suicide rates, all are highly religious nations with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism."<ref>http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html</ref>}}
== Mass rape during the occupation of Germany by the Soviet army ==
== Mass rape during the occupation of Germany by the Soviet army ==