Changes

[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Joseph Stalin]], the Premier of the [[Soviet Union]] from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953, patronised the [[League of Militant Atheists]], whose chief aim, under the leadership of Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, was to propagate militant [[atheism]] and eradicate [[religion]].<ref name=Hesemann-Strieber>{{cite book|author=Michael Hesemann, Whitley Strieber|title=The Fatima Secret|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tx-BEpkJBq8C&pg=PT107&dq=Joseph+Stalin+militant+atheism&hl=en&ei=-DeRTpLrJoPi0QHo88wi&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Stalin%20militant%20atheism&f=false|quote=Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by the rise of Joseph Stalin, "the man of steel," who founded the "Union of Militant Atheists," whose chief aim was to spread atheism and eradicate religion. In the following years it devastated hundreds of churches, destroyed old icons and relics, and persecuted the clergy with unimaginable brutality.|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|date=2000|accessdate=09 October 2011}}</ref><ref name=Steeves>{{cite book|author=Paul D. Steeves|title=Keeping the faiths: religion and ideology in the Soviet Union|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=l7soAAAAYAAJ&q=%22When+a+priest+is+deprived+of+his+congregation,+that+does+not%22&dq=%22When+a+priest+is+deprived+of+his+congregation,+that+does+not%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_ijVUemwOoXRyQGqkICwBA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ|quote=The League of Militant Atheists was formed in 1926 and by 1930 had recruited three million members. Five years later there were 50,000 local groups affiliated to the League and the nominal membership had risen to five million. Children from 8-14 years of age were enrolled in Groups of Godless Youth, and the League of Communist Youth (Komsomol) took a vigorous anti- religious line. Several antireligious museums were opened in former churches and a number of Chairs of Atheism were established in Soviet universities. Prizes were offered for the best 'Godless hymns' and for alternative versions of the Bible from which ... the leader of the League of Militant Atheists, Yemelian Yaroslavsky, said: "When a priest is deprived of his congregation, that does not mean that he stops being a priest. He changes into an itinerant priest. He travels around with his primitive tools in the villages, performs religious rites, reads prayers, baptizes children. Such wandering priests are at times more dangerous than those who carry on their work at a designated place of residence." The intensified persecution, which was a part of the general terror inflicted upon Soviet society by Stalin's policy, ...|publisher=Holmes & Meier|date=1989|accessdate=04 July 2013}}</ref>]]

[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Joseph Stalin]], the Premier of the [[Soviet Union]] from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953, patronised the [[League of Militant Atheists]], whose chief aim, under the leadership of Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, was to propagate militant [[atheism]] and eradicate [[religion]].<ref name=Hesemann-Strieber>{{cite book|author=Michael Hesemann, Whitley Strieber|title=The Fatima Secret|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tx-BEpkJBq8C&pg=PT107&dq=Joseph+Stalin+militant+atheism&hl=en&ei=-DeRTpLrJoPi0QHo88wi&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Stalin%20militant%20atheism&f=false|quote=Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by the rise of Joseph Stalin, "the man of steel," who founded the "Union of Militant Atheists," whose chief aim was to spread atheism and eradicate religion. In the following years it devastated hundreds of churches, destroyed old icons and relics, and persecuted the clergy with unimaginable brutality.|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|date=2000|accessdate=09 October 2011}}</ref><ref name=Steeves>{{cite book|author=Paul D. Steeves|title=Keeping the faiths: religion and ideology in the Soviet Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7soAAAAYAAJ&q=%22When+a+priest+is+deprived+of+his+congregation,+that+does+not%22&dq=%22When+a+priest+is+deprived+of+his+congregation,+that+does+not%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_ijVUemwOoXRyQGqkICwBA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ|quote=The League of Militant Atheists was formed in 1926 and by 1930 had recruited three million members. Five years later there were 50,000 local groups affiliated to the League and the nominal membership had risen to five million. Children from 8-14 years of age were enrolled in Groups of Godless Youth, and the League of Communist Youth (Komsomol) took a vigorous anti- religious line. Several antireligious museums were opened in former churches and a number of Chairs of Atheism were established in Soviet universities. Prizes were offered for the best 'Godless hymns' and for alternative versions of the Bible from which ... the leader of the League of Militant Atheists, Yemelian Yaroslavsky, said: "When a priest is deprived of his congregation, that does not mean that he stops being a priest. He changes into an itinerant priest. He travels around with his primitive tools in the villages, performs religious rites, reads prayers, baptizes children. Such wandering priests are at times more dangerous than those who carry on their work at a designated place of residence." The intensified persecution, which was a part of the general terror inflicted upon Soviet society by Stalin's policy, ...|publisher=Holmes & Meier|date=1989|accessdate=04 July 2013}}</ref>]]

According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of [[atheism]] was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninsim">{{cite web|url = http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title =Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref> Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg, a Soviet physicist, wrote that the "[[Bolshevik]] communists were not merely atheists but, according to [[Lenin]]'s terminology, [[militant atheist]]s."<ref name="Lenin & militant atheism">{{cite web|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ufC9Ar8iuDcC&pg=PA161&dq=The+Bolshevik+communists+were+not+merely+atheists+but,+according+to+Lenin%27s+terminology,+militant+atheists.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1oFUUdj6PIiK0QGvq4CAAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Bolshevik%20communists%20were%20not%20merely%20atheists%20but%2C%20according%20to%20Lenin's%20terminology%2C%20militant%20atheists.&f=false|title =On Superconductivity and Superfluidity: A Scientific Autobiography |author=Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg|publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media]]|year=2009|quote=The Bolshevik communists were not merely atheists but, according to Lenin's terminology, militant atheists.|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref> See also: [[Atheism and politics]]

According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of [[atheism]] was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninsim">{{cite web|url = http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title =Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref> Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg, a Soviet physicist, wrote that the "[[Bolshevik]] communists were not merely atheists but, according to [[Lenin]]'s terminology, [[militant atheist]]s."<ref name="Lenin & militant atheism">{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ufC9Ar8iuDcC&pg=PA161&dq=The+Bolshevik+communists+were+not+merely+atheists+but,+according+to+Lenin%27s+terminology,+militant+atheists.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1oFUUdj6PIiK0QGvq4CAAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Bolshevik%20communists%20were%20not%20merely%20atheists%20but%2C%20according%20to%20Lenin's%20terminology%2C%20militant%20atheists.&f=false|title =On Superconductivity and Superfluidity: A Scientific Autobiography |author=Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg|publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media]]|year=2009|quote=The Bolshevik communists were not merely atheists but, according to Lenin's terminology, militant atheists.|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref> See also: [[Atheism and politics]]

As noted above, historically the largest advances of the [[secular left]] has been through utilizing the power of the state (see: [[State atheism]] and [[Atheism and communism]]).  For example, secular leftists use the power of the state to promote [[evolution]]ary ideology and to censor [[creationism|creationist]]/[[intelligent design]] models of origins (See: [[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]] and [[Atheist indoctrination]]).  

As noted above, historically the largest advances of the [[secular left]] has been through utilizing the power of the state (see: [[State atheism]] and [[Atheism and communism]]).  For example, secular leftists use the power of the state to promote [[evolution]]ary ideology and to censor [[creationism|creationist]]/[[intelligent design]] models of origins (See: [[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]] and [[Atheist indoctrination]]).  

{{cquote|Officials are untroubled by the clash between the city’s famously freewheeling capitalism and the [[Communism|Communist]] Party’s ideology, yet still see religion and its symbols as affronts to the party’s atheism...

{{cquote|Officials are untroubled by the clash between the city’s famously freewheeling capitalism and the [[Communism|Communist]] Party’s ideology, yet still see religion and its symbols as affronts to the party’s atheism...

Yang Fenggang of Purdue University, in Indiana, says the Christian church in China has grown by an average of 10% a year since 1980. He reckons that on current trends there will be 250m Christians by around 2030, making China’s Christian population the largest in the world. Mr. Yang says this speed of growth is similar to that seen in fourth-century Rome just before the conversion of [[Constantine]], which paved the way for Christianity to become the religion of his empire.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21629218-rapid-spread-christianity-forcing-official-rethink-religion-cracks ''Cracks in the atheist edifice''], ''The Economist'', November 1, 2014</ref>}}

Yang Fenggang of Purdue University, in Indiana, says the Christian church in China has grown by an average of 10% a year since 1980. He reckons that on current trends there will be 250m Christians by around 2030, making China’s Christian population the largest in the world. Mr. Yang says this speed of growth is similar to that seen in fourth-century Rome just before the conversion of [[Constantine]], which paved the way for Christianity to become the religion of his empire.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21629218-rapid-spread-christianity-forcing-official-rethink-religion-cracks ''Cracks in the atheist edifice''], ''The Economist'', November 1, 2014</ref>}}

== Decline of the secular left's influence due to demography and religious immigration ==

== Decline of the secular left's influence due to demography and religious immigration ==

''See also:'' [[Alt-right]]

''See also:'' [[Alt-right]]

The [[Alt-right]], or alternative right, is an emerging faction of the right-wing that opposes unrestrained multiculturalism, un-"skilled" immigration, and [[globalism|globalization]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/</ref><ref>http://theweek.com/articles/641595/how-american-nationalism-coexist-globalism</ref>  The alt-right has emerged as one of the central opponents of the [[Establishment]]. The alt-right movement's central theme is as follows:<ref>[http://angrywhitedude.com/2016/04/51778/ What is the Alt-Right?, AngryWhiteDude.com, April 12, 2016]</ref>

The [[Alt-right]], or alternative right, is an emerging faction of the right-wing that opposes unrestrained multiculturalism, un-"skilled" immigration, and [[globalism|globalization]].<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/</ref><ref>http://theweek.com/articles/641595/how-american-nationalism-coexist-globalism</ref>  The alt-right has emerged as one of the central opponents of the [[Establishment]]. The alt-right movement's central theme is as follows:<ref>[http://angrywhitedude.com/2016/04/51778/ What is the Alt-Right?, AngryWhiteDude.com, April 12, 2016]</ref>

{{cquote|The alt-right is not defined by any particular school of thought, but by the [[neoliberal]] school of thought it rejects. The alt-right, in the simplest terms, is an unapologetic purging of [[liberal]] idiocy.}}

{{cquote|The alt-right is not defined by any particular school of thought, but by the [[neoliberal]] school of thought it rejects. The alt-right, in the simplest terms, is an unapologetic purging of [[liberal]] idiocy.}}

"The origins of the alternative right can be found in thinkers as diverse as Oswald Spengler, Joseph Sobran, H.L Mencken, Julius Evola, Sam Francis, and the [[paleoconservative]] movement that rallied around the presidential campaigns of [[Pat Buchanan]].<ref>https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/how-2015-fueled-the-rise-of-the-freewheeling-white-nationali?utm_term=.gro5QeAlb#.am3VkM4ZB</ref> The French New Right also serve as a source of inspiration for many leaders of the alt-right.".<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/ An Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-Right, Breitbart, March 29, 2016]</ref>  Contemporary alt-right authors include Jared Taylor, Steve Sailor, Richard Spencer, Paul Kersey, Razib Khan, and Milo Yiannopoulos.<ref>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/05/meet-milo-yiannopoulos-the-appealing-young-face-of-the-racist-alt-right.html</ref>

"The origins of the alternative right can be found in thinkers as diverse as Oswald Spengler, Joseph Sobran, H.L Mencken, Julius Evola, Sam Francis, and the [[paleoconservative]] movement that rallied around the presidential campaigns of [[Pat Buchanan]].<ref>https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/how-2015-fueled-the-rise-of-the-freewheeling-white-nationali?utm_term=.gro5QeAlb#.am3VkM4ZB</ref> The French New Right also serve as a source of inspiration for many leaders of the alt-right.".<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/ An Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-Right, Breitbart, March 29, 2016]</ref>  Contemporary alt-right authors include Jared Taylor, Steve Sailor, Richard Spencer, Paul Kersey, Razib Khan, and Milo Yiannopoulos.<ref>http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/05/meet-milo-yiannopoulos-the-appealing-young-face-of-the-racist-alt-right.html</ref>

Leading alt-right websites include Radix Journal, Countercurrents Publishing, The Unz Review, Taki Mag, The Right Stuff, and Red Ice.<ref>http://www.counter-currents.com/</ref><ref>http://www.radixjournal.com/</ref><ref>http://www.unz.com/</ref><ref>http://takimag.com/#axzz4MpkgjNbs</ref><ref>http://therightstuff.biz/</ref><ref>https://redice.tv/</ref>  More mainstream "alt-lite" websites include [[Breitbart]] and The Gateway Pundit.

Leading alt-right websites include Radix Journal, Countercurrents Publishing, The Unz Review, Taki Mag, The Right Stuff, and Red Ice.<ref>http://www.counter-currents.com/</ref><ref>http://www.radixjournal.com/</ref><ref>http://www.unz.com/</ref><ref>http://takimag.com/#axzz4MpkgjNbs</ref><ref>http://therightstuff.biz/</ref><ref>https://redice.tv/</ref>  More mainstream "alt-lite" websites include [[Breitbart]] and The Gateway Pundit.

== Decline of the secular left in Latin American politics ==

== Decline of the secular left in Latin American politics ==

''The Guardian'' reported in March 2015, "Leftwing leaders in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela are being knocked by dissent and stagnating economies. Poor governance and opposition from media and financial elites have sapped their popularity."<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/latin-america-left-tough-times-brazil-argentina-venezuela Scandals, protests, weak growth: is Latin America’s left in retreat?]</ref>  

''The Guardian'' reported in March 2015, "Leftwing leaders in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela are being knocked by dissent and stagnating economies. Poor governance and opposition from media and financial elites have sapped their popularity."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/latin-america-left-tough-times-brazil-argentina-venezuela Scandals, protests, weak growth: is Latin America’s left in retreat?]</ref>  

In May 2018, the ''Washington Post'' published an article entitled ''In Brazil’s political crisis, a powerful new force: Evangelical Christians''.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/in-brazils-political-crisis-a-powerful-new-force-evangelical-christians/2016/05/26/5c8b9bdc-1c7d-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html In Brazil’s political crisis, a powerful new force: Evangelical Christians], Washington Post</ref>

In May 2018, the ''Washington Post'' published an article entitled ''In Brazil’s political crisis, a powerful new force: Evangelical Christians''.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/in-brazils-political-crisis-a-powerful-new-force-evangelical-christians/2016/05/26/5c8b9bdc-1c7d-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html In Brazil’s political crisis, a powerful new force: Evangelical Christians], Washington Post</ref>

== External links ==

== External links ==

*[http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704129204575506032115561668 The Decline of the Left] by Emma-Kate Symons

*[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704129204575506032115561668 The Decline of the Left] by Emma-Kate Symons

*[http://history.fas.harvard.edu/event/ces-decline-left-europe The Decline of the Left in Europe] - [[Harvard University]] History Department

*[http://history.fas.harvard.edu/event/ces-decline-left-europe The Decline of the Left in Europe] - [[Harvard University]] History Department

*[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100117490/the-decline-and-fall-of-occupy-wall-street-the-american-left-has-run-out-of-steam-and-liberalism-is-in-crisis/ The decline and fall of Occupy Wall Street: the American Left has run out of steam and liberalism is in crisis] by Niles Gardiner

*[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100117490/the-decline-and-fall-of-occupy-wall-street-the-american-left-has-run-out-of-steam-and-liberalism-is-in-crisis/ The decline and fall of Occupy Wall Street: the American Left has run out of steam and liberalism is in crisis] by Niles Gardiner