Changes

In his nuclear arms negotiations with President [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Leonid Brezhnev]], the leader of the [[Soviet Union]] which had [[state atheism]], said, "God will never forgive us if we don't succeed."<ref>[http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-18/carter2.html INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER]</ref>

In his nuclear arms negotiations with President [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Leonid Brezhnev]], the leader of the [[Soviet Union]] which had [[state atheism]], said, "God will never forgive us if we don't succeed."<ref>[http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-18/carter2.html INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER]</ref>

Gary Thomas wrote in [[Christianity Today]] about Brehnev's funeral:

Gary Thomas wrote in [[Christianity Today]] about Brehnev's funeral and the actions of his widow:

{{cquote|As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.<ref>[http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/a/atheism.htm ATHEISM, quoted from Gary Thomas, Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, p. 26 ], website of SermonIllustrations.com</ref>}}

{{cquote|As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.<ref>[http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/a/atheism.htm ATHEISM, quoted from Gary Thomas, Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, p. 26 ], website of SermonIllustrations.com</ref>}}