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[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The brutal proponent of [[atheism]] [[Joseph Stalin]]. ]]

[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The brutal proponent of [[atheism]] [[Joseph Stalin]]. ]]

'''Soviet atheism''' refers to the [[Soviet Union]]'s policy of eliminating [[religion]] in the [[communism|communist]] state.

'''Soviet atheism''' refers to the [[Soviet Union]]'s policy of eliminating [[religion]] in the [[communism|Communist]] state.

== Militant atheism and the Soviet Union ==

== Militant atheism and the Soviet Union ==

''See also:''  [[Militant atheism#Soviet Bloc|Militant atheism and the Soviet Union]] and [[Militant atheism]]

''See also:''  [[Militant atheism#Soviet Bloc|Militant atheism and the Soviet Union]] and [[Militant atheism]]

The [[persecution of Christians in the USSR|persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union]] was the result of the violently [[Atheism|atheist]] [[Soviet]] government.  In the first five years after the [[October Revolution]], 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were murdered, many on the orders of [[Leon Trotsky]].  When [[Joseph Stalin]] came to power in 1927, he ordered his secret police, under [[Genrikh Yagoda]] to intensify persecution of Christians.  In the next few years, 50,000 clergy were murdered, many were [[torture]]d, including [[crucifixion]].  "Russia turned red with the blood of martyrs", said Father Gleb Yakunin of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>Ostling, Richard N. (December 4, 1989).  [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,150718,00.html "Cross meets Kremlin: Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II"]. ''Time''. Time magazine website.</ref>  According to Orthodox Church sources, as many as fifty million Orthodox believers may have died in the twentieth century, mainly from persecution by [[Communists]].<ref>Moore, Rev. Fr. Raphael (October 1999). [http://www.serfes.org/printerVersion2.asp?URL=/orthodox/memoryof.htm "In memory of the 50 million victims of the Orthodox Christian Holocaust"], Spiritual Nourishment for the Soul, Serfes, Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios, compiler.</ref>

The [[persecution of Christians in the USSR|persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union]] was the result of the violently [[Atheism|atheist]] [[Soviet]] regime.  In the first five years after the [[October Revolution]], 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were murdered, many on the orders of [[Leon Trotsky]].  When [[Joseph Stalin]] came to power in 1927, he ordered his secret police, under [[Genrikh Yagoda]] to intensify persecution of Christians.  In the next few years, 50,000 clergy were murdered, many were [[torture]]d, including [[crucifixion]].  "Russia turned red with the blood of martyrs", said Father Gleb Yakunin of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>Ostling, Richard N. (December 4, 1989).  [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,150718,00.html "Cross meets Kremlin: Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II"]. ''Time''. Time magazine website.</ref>  According to Orthodox Church sources, as many as fifty million Orthodox believers may have died in the twentieth century, mainly from persecution by [[Communists]].<ref>Moore, Rev. Fr. Raphael (October 1999). [http://www.serfes.org/printerVersion2.asp?URL=/orthodox/memoryof.htm "In memory of the 50 million victims of the Orthodox Christian Holocaust"], Spiritual Nourishment for the Soul, Serfes, Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios, compiler.</ref>

In addition, in the atheistic and communist Soviet Union, 44 anti-religious museums were opened and the largest was the 'The Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism' in [[Leningrad]]’s Kazan cathedral.<ref>Humphrey (December 16, 2008). [http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html "Merry Anti-Christmas!"] Quodlibeta.</ref>  Despite intense effort by the atheistic leaders of the Soviet Union, their efforts were not effective in converting the masses to atheism.<ref>Multiple references:

In addition, in the atheistic and Communist Soviet Union, 44 anti-religious museums were opened and the largest was the 'The Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism' in [[Leningrad]]’s Kazan cathedral.<ref>Humphrey (December 16, 2008). [http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html "Merry Anti-Christmas!"] Quodlibeta.</ref>  Despite intense effort by the atheistic leaders of the Soviet Union, their efforts were not effective in converting the masses to atheism.<ref>Multiple references:

*Humphrey (December 16, 2008). [http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html "Merry Anti-Christmas!"] Quodlibeta.  

*Humphrey (December 16, 2008). [http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html "Merry Anti-Christmas!"] Quodlibeta.  

*Froese, Paul (March 2004). [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/jssr/2004/00000043/00000001/art00003?crawler=true "Forced secularization in Soviet Russia:  why an atheistic monopoly failed" [abstract&#93;].  ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', vol. 43, 1, pp. 35-50.  Abstract: Ingentaconnect</ref>

*Froese, Paul (March 2004). [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/jssr/2004/00000043/00000001/art00003?crawler=true "Forced secularization in Soviet Russia:  why an atheistic monopoly failed" [abstract&#93;].  ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', vol. 43, 1, pp. 35-50.  Abstract: Ingentaconnect</ref>

== Tactics ==

== Tactics ==

Advancing on the already atheist doctrine of [[Karl Marx]], the power hungry [[atheism|atheist]] [[Soviet Union]] leaders brutally suppressed  practiced religion in communist society and engaged in forced [[atheist]] indoctrination in the USSR which the people often rejected. The atheism in [[communism|communist]] regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>

Advancing on the already atheist doctrine of [[Karl Marx]], the power hungry [[atheism|atheist]] [[Soviet Union]] leaders brutally suppressed  practiced religion in Communist society and engaged in forced [[atheist]] indoctrination in the USSR which the people often rejected. The atheism in Communist regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>

*[https://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/28/china.church.crackdown/index.html?hpt=T2 Underground Christians fear China crackdown]

*[https://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/28/china.church.crackdown/index.html?hpt=T2 Underground Christians fear China crackdown]

*[https://books.google.com/books?visbn=0300103220&id=ChRk43tVxTwC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&ots=ICIxg28Jud&dq=a+century+of+violence+in+soviet+russia+the+Russian+Orthodox+clergy&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=C9k9Hr7Vn222WCHf_1iSJOHVsgo#v=onepage&q=&f=false A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia]

*[https://books.google.com/books?visbn=0300103220&id=ChRk43tVxTwC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&ots=ICIxg28Jud&dq=a+century+of+violence+in+soviet+russia+the+Russian+Orthodox+clergy&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=C9k9Hr7Vn222WCHf_1iSJOHVsgo#v=onepage&q=&f=false A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia]

*[http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/ China: Christians Tortured While Under Arrest]</ref>   

*[http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/ China: Christians Tortured While Under Arrest]</ref>   

In the atheistic and communist [[Soviet Union]], 44 anti religious museums were opened and the largest was the 'The Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism' in [[Leningrad]]’s Kazan cathedral.<ref>http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html</ref>  Despite intense effort by the atheistic leaders of the Soviet Union, their efforts were not effective in converting the masses to atheism.<ref>http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html</ref><ref>http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/jssr/2004/00000043/00000001/art00003?crawler=true</ref>

In the atheistic and Communist [[Soviet Union]], 44 anti-religious museums were opened and the largest was the 'The Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism' in [[Leningrad]]’s Kazan cathedral.<ref>http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html</ref>  Despite intense effort by the atheistic leaders of the Soviet Union, their efforts were not effective in converting the masses to atheism.<ref>http://bedejournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-anti-christmas.html</ref><ref>http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/jssr/2004/00000043/00000001/art00003?crawler=true</ref>

== Effects ==

== Effects ==