Persecution Of Christians In The Soviet Union
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, Christianity was suppressed and persecuted to different extents depending on the particular era. Soviet policy toward religion was based on the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which made atheism the official doctrine of the Soviet Union. Marxism-Leninism has consistently advocated the control, suppression, and the elimination of religion.
The state was committed to the destruction of religion, and destroyed churches, mosques and temples, ridiculed, harassed and executed religious leaders, flooded the schools and media with atheistic propaganda, and generally promoted 'scientific atheism' as the truth that society should accept. The total number of Christians killed, as a result of Soviet state atheist policies, has been estimated at over 20 million.
Religious beliefs and practices persisted among the majority of the population, in the domestic and private spheres but also in the scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognised its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war.
Read more about Persecution Of Christians In The Soviet Union: Official Soviet Stance, Soviet Tactics, Anti-religious Campaign 1917–1921, Anti-religious Campaign 1921–1928, Anti-religious Campaign 1928–1941, World War II Rapprochement, Postwar Era, Resumption of Anti-religious Campaign, 1964–1970s, Renewal of Persecution in 1970s, Penetration of Churches By Soviet Secret Services, Glasnost, See Also
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“If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“That diabolical Hell conceived principle of persecution rages among some [people] and to their eternal Infamy the clergy can furnish their Quota of Imps for such business.”
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“They were right. The Soviet régime is not the embodiment of evil as you think in the West. They have laws and I broke them. I hate tea and they love tea. Who is wrong?”
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