Khandro - "Now incredibly, to prop up an irrational and false argument, birdie attempts to demonstrate a 'Mr Nice Guy' side to Joseph Stalin!!..."
I have done no such thing. Now, incredibly, Khandro is suggesting that I'm saying that Stalin was a nice guy! That's a poor argument even for you.
Pray tell, Mr Khandro, where do I say that Stalin was a "nice guy" or where do I even suggest such a thing? I'll save you the trouble - I didn't say it. Nor did I write it and nor do I think it. Your apparent pathological hatred of atheism (caused by your complete lack of understanding of what it means to be an atheist) is causing you to accuse others of saying things they are demonstrably innocent of.
You further say, "... Huge untold numbers of bishops, priests and clerics were murdered for their refusal to accept this diktat, and you have the naivety and/or stupidity, to say this had nothing to do with atheism..."
Who is being naive and/or stupid here? If you would read my above post again, you will see the following words, "... during World War II, Stalin eased up considerably on religion. He allowed for tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox churches to reopen, adopted an official policy of tolerance toward Muslims, and re-established the hierarchy of leadership in the Russian Orthodox Church...". At no point did I ever suggest that Stalin didn't murder or have murdered members of the clergy. I know he did. It's a recorded historical fact. As to why he did it, that's open to debate. You think he killed them because he was an atheist. I say it's because he was a monster and a political ideologist with no scruples. He may have been an atheist or he may not. No one truly knows except him and he's not saying much of late. It's interesting to note that Stalin is seen as a saint in many Russian Christian Orthodox churches and is depicted as such in paintings and stained glass windows. Clearly those Churches and their congregations disagree with your explanation for his motivations. Maybe they're all naive and stupid too eh?
Your problem Khandro, is that you mistake criticism of your views to mean that the person making the criticism is taking a diametrically opposite viewpoint to your own. You take the view that if someone says that Stalin either wasn't a true atheist or that he didn't carry out the atrocities he precipitated precisely because the was an alleged atheist to mean that the person making the claim thinks that Stalin was a "nice guy". For you, it appears that the world is black and white without any grey.
Newsflash Khandro. There is no black and white in the political spectrum. It's all pretty much shades of grey. The sooner you accept that as a material fact the better.
By the way, how many feet do you have left?