forcedsecularizationinsovietrussia.doc

Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed In JSSR Vol.43, No1 March 2004 Paul Froese* Baylor University *Paul Froese is an Assistant Professor at in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Baylor University, P.O. Box97326, Waco, TX 76798-7326. Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed Abstract Under communism, the Russian religious landscape consisted mainly of two competitors – a severely repressed Russian Orthodox Church and a heavily promoted atheist alternative to religion called “scientific atheism”. Under these circumstances, one might expect the rapid spread of religious disbelief. But the intensity of the atheist campaign originated from official mandate and not popular appeal. In turn, scientific atheism never inspired the Russian population and grew increasingly uninspired as Soviet officials created a monopoly “church” of scientific atheism in hopes of replacing persistent religious beliefs and practices. This paper is dedicated to explaining why communists could not successfully convert the masses to atheism. The findings provide evidence that systems of belief require more than simply the power of promotion and coercion to become accepted. Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed A philosophy whose principle is so incommensurate with our most intimate feelings as to deny them all relevancy in universal affairs, as to annihilate their motives at one blow, will be even more unpopular than pessimism – that is why materialism will always fail of universal adoption. - William James Atheists waged a 70-year war on religious belief in the Soviet Union. The Communist Party destroyed churches, mosques, and temples; it executed religious leaders; it flooded the schools and media with anti-religious propaganda; and it introduced a belief system called “scientific atheism” complete with atheist rituals, pro