On the Idea of Doing Something "in the Name of Atheism"

Over at Dangerous Idea, Victor Reppert asks, "Why couldn't there be mass killings in the name of atheism?"



I suppose there could be, just as I suppose there could be mass killings in the name of theism, but then I suppose there could be mass
killings in the name of... a lot of things. It depends on what it means
to do something "in the name of" something else. So it would be most helpful if Reppert were to clarify this: what does it mean to perform an action A "in the name of" X?



Does it mean the agent shouts the words, "In the name of X!", and then does A? Does it mean the agent believes X and does A? Does it mean A is logically required by X? Or that it is impossible to condemn A if one believes X? Or that it is impossible to condemn A, if one believes X, on the basis of X only (and not on some other, independent grounds)? Does it mean that performing A somehow benefits those who believe X? Or something else?