Since it appears nobody is willing to drive a stake through the heart of this thread:

"Stalin as an atheist was an anomaly".   Right.

So was Hitler. ( Don't bother to quote Hitler's appeals to God and religion.   If you believe what he said in public, I have more than one bridge to sell you).

So was Mao.

And together they have been responsible for more deaths than anyone else in human history.

And in our own day, the current crop of atheist leaders, e.g. Castro and the current head of North Korea, are also real charmers.

And in music, there can be no doubt that accomplishments are rather more due to religion than to atheism.   I've just come from a rehearsal of Mahler's 8th and 2nd.   Just unearthly--and that was even before the orchestra joins us.

This is a recording:   atheism has been a total disaster for mankind and has provided approximately zero cultural accomplishments. For instance, virtually the only musical accomplishments atheists have produced are when they were willing to write in a religious idiom.

(Not that I would ever presume to question anybody's assertion that Frank Zappa's works are the pinnacle of human creation.   Of course not.)

Aside from this, atheism has been just wonderful.