Failed theist argument against Atheism

I have been known to point out the atrocities committed in the name of religion. My theist friends, acquaintances, and antagonist like to tell me about the atheists who have committed great crimes against humanity. As if they committed them because of their lack of belief.

First, Hitler, by all accounts, was not an atheist. He frequently attributed his racism to an ordination by god. He was raised as a theist and benefited from the blind eye that the Catholic Church turned to his cruelty.

Second, Stalin and Pol Pot did not commit their atrocities because they had no belief. The argument is absurd. They indeed committed their crimes because they had a deep devotion to a political ideal. Not because the were compelled by the god they had no belief in.

Non belief is at the base line. All humans are born without belief. It therefore has no compulsion that is intrinsic. Belief is acquired and requires faith and has been the motivation for the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Jim Jones incident, the Salem Witch Trials and the list goes on and on. Religion creates a compulsion to action. Atheism has no such trait.

The basis for atheism is born in reason not fanaticism. While atheists like me who are out spoken are accused of having a fundamental belief the claim is a mischaracterization. We want proof. When there is insufficient evidence we treat absolute claims with a skeptical eye. When there is sufficient disproof we abandon the prior theory as false. The tendency to link atheism with communism and fascism because historically in this country we have treated both as a threat to democracy. However religion philosophy is closer to both ideals than atheism. I dare say that at the end of the day that religion is a bigger threat to democracy than atheism ever could be.