Was the French Revolution Godless?

Some have argued that the French revolution, in contrast to the American one, was an example of what happens when you discard religion.  The inferior result of that revolution is cited as an argument in favor of the utility of religion.  Evaluating the merits of the French revolution is beyond the scope of this post and not the sort of task that I am likely to undertake.  I'm more interested in looking at how existing institutions ought to be changed.

The reason why this is important is because the revolution in France, along with Communism and Nazism, make up most of the atrocities that are commonly attributed to atheism.  If, as I argue, neither Nazism nor the French revolution were atheistic, then Communism remains as the sole example.  This makes the case significantly weaker, since the deaths may be attributable to aspects of Communism other than atheism, which I argue is the case.

The case against Nazi atrocities having been caused by atheism is quite simple.  In an earlier post I took a cursory look through Hitler's Mein Kampf using computer search tools to look for key phrases that are said to be part of how atheism and evolutionary thinking led to Nazi genocide.  What I found was that, quite the contrary, Hitler explicitly spoke out against atheism and his ideas show little influence from Darwin's theory.  I was also unable to detect the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche.  Such terms as "will to power" are absent from the work.  Amoralism is in sharp contrast to much of the work, which is stridently moralistic in tone.

What I have to add to this is a link to one of Hitler's most well known speeches, Proclamation to the German Nation, delivered February 1, 1933 in Berlin.  Nothing in the speech shows hostility to religion.  In fact it is explicitly supportive of religion.  Note paragraph four which outlines the Communist threat.  What is so bad about Communism?  "Beginning with the family, it has undermined the very foundations of morality and faith..."  In addition to this the speech mentions God twice.  In neither instance does Hitler bother to mention that God doesn't exist.  The first instance is a vow to God, conscience and the German people to faithfully perform the task that the government must perform.  The second is a request for God's blessing on their work.

As I have pointed out before most of the deaths in the French revolution cannot be attributed to avowed atheists.  If detractors of atheism wish to point out that people who commit atrocities might be secret atheists, it is only fair to point out that the same may be said of anyone who does good in the name of religion.  It is only expressed views that we can evaluate.  Most of the deaths occurred under Napoleon's empire, and Napoleon professed Roman Catholicism.  Robespierre also features prominently.  His claim to atheism is that he sought to institute the cult of the Supreme Being as the official religion of France.  To be sure there was a rival cult of Reason that had some influence in the revolutionary government.  But they seem to have been on the losing side and were suppressed by both Robespierre and Napoleon.

One of the most noteworthy works to come out of the French revolution is a document called Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.  If the revolution were truly godless, then this document should say so or at least remain silent on the subject.  As it so happens the document does neither.  Note that the introductory paragraph closes with the assertion that the National Assembly acts "under the auspices of the Supreme Being".