Talk:Religion in the Soviet Union

History
This article is a little vague in the history. Was the persecution of religious ideology one that occurred since the Russian Revolution? Were these philosophies waning towards the end of the Soviet Union before the collapse? Could someone expand on this?Randhuck (talk) 15:57, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks 22ameier (talk) 20:58, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

"Officially Atheistic"?
According to the History of Communist Albania and Enver Hoxha articles, Albania was the first and only officially atheist state. This directly conflicts with the opening sentence of the article, and the first paragraph of the "Policy toward religion in practice" section. --Palpatine 02:21, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * This is what has become common belief even though it is not true. The Soviet Union was antitheist not atheist.  Many people think they are interchangeable however they are not. (Anonymous User) May 25, 2006


 * So...how would you propose correcting it? --Palpatine 19:15, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

By saying "the Soviet Union was officially antithiestic" 70.72.50.124 05:08, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Every single Soviet constitution proclaims the right of freedom of following or not a religion. If in practice it worked otherwise, it can be noted; but it was neither an atheist nor an antitheist state, but a secular one.

Rod. 08/06/2008

Buddhism?
I was surprised to see that there is no mention of Buddhism here. Buddhism was a significant religion in the USSR, perhaps the next behind Islam, or at least Judaism.

For those who want to read more fully on the subject, I recommend "Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar" by John Snelling, which despite the title deals with more than just Agvan Dorzhiev, and the pre-Revolutionary period. Unfortunately I don't own a copy, otherwise I would correct this oversight. --MacRusgail 15:52, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

HELP!
What was the religion in RUSSIA prior to the Bolshevik Revolution?? Reply the correct answerto: aandcsemail@yahoo.com - Thanks!

Orthodox Christianity was the predominant religion in Russia, prior to the Revolution.--Splashen (talk) 17:56, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Anti-Catholic actions till 1945
There lived more than 1 mln RC in the SU after the Riga treaty. There existed clergy. Almost everything has been destroied till 1939. Xx236 11:43, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Catholicism and Nationalism Were Closely Linked
It's only partially true. Have you ever seen old peasant women? Are they nationalist? Xx236 08:57, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I've met some who were, yes. 24.146.204.47 (talk) 03:16, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

This question was a hot potato amongst Soviet anthropologists and needs a section. There were several related concepts such as Narodnost', natssiia and natsional'nost which were sometimes used interchangably, and sometimes given distinct meanings. This had an important impact on the drawing of boundaries, the allocation of resources and the status of such people as the sarts. It clearly needs work on it. I've done a little bit on the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography.Harrypotter 13:42, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Context or the Why's
I've made some changes to the page, adding some of the why's to Soviet policies. From the article it seemed that Soviet Union all of a sudden became an enemy of religion. However, those policies had deep roots not only the philosophy of bolsheviks/communists but in a particular state of the Church in the Czarist Russia. If someone started destroying the churches and priests in the U.S. tomorrow, there would be overwhelming outrage within the country. Yet, in the post-Revolutionary Russia, not so much. The Church as an institution played quite a different role in people's lives and in the government of Russia. I added just a little light, someone with more sources will hopefully add more of the context that will make sense of the Soviet actions/policies toward religion.--Knyazhna 03:58, 9 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I've removed part of your changes for the following reasons:
 * -"It viewed religion as the means of the upper class to control the oppressed (as in the famous quote by Karl Marx, "opium of the people")"
 * -The page on Marx's quote gives it in more detail. He didn't say that it was a tool to control the oppressed, but a drug which they use to escape "reality", thus a reflection of their suffering. It's at least ambigous, but certainly not a declaration that religion is a tool of Bourgeoisie.
 * -"...an illusion that progressive and educated people should discard."
 * -WP:NOT
 * Well, that WAS the view on religion in SU. It's not a personal opinion or POV-pushing of any kind... --Illythr 09:36, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
 * --Kinst 05:28, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Re- means of the upper class to control the opressed, you're obviously wrong, I'm putting a sourced quote in the text.--Knyazhna 15:00, 9 September 2006 (UTC) Uh, so, could I add my stuff back in now? The section on the policy of the state toward religion is still lacking the historical context of the role that the Church played in Russia and why the opposition of the Bolsheviks to the Church was not only ideological but also political. If no one objects, I'll add the stuff I wrote before back in.Knyazhna (talk) 07:51, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

However?
First the article says, however, one-third of the population had religious beliefs. In the next paragraph, it says however two-thirds of the population didn't have religous beliefs. I think that however should only be used one of the times because otherwise, it sounds very strange. Watersoftheoasis 02:01, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Tense
Much of this article is written as if the USSR still exists. Either this article is nearing on 20 years old and way out of date, or it needs someone to go over it, fix the tenses, and double check the information to make sure it is less than 20 years out of date. Israelite9191 03:17, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Another "Tense" (grammar)... Regarding the Baptists being subject to "compulsive" punishments... That's the incorrect word. Compulsory would be more accurate, and deleting the word entirely would be best. Example: incorrect: "Joe was subject to compulsive beatings." [this suggests that the beater had a compulsive disorder compelling him to beat joe] Correct: "Joe was subject to compulsory beatings." [suggests that he was legally required to get beaten] Accurate: "Joe was subject to beatings." [the beatings were not required by law but he was forced to endure them] 130.76.96.14 (talk) 19:17, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

This article needs serious changes to make neutral
Among other things-number of Catholics increased by annexation of Western Ukraine in 1939 Was Bialystok Western Ukraine ? Another example : In the 1920s, genuine cultural concessions were granted to the nationalities. Communist elites of various nationalities were permitted to flourish and to have considerable self-government.-a complete falsehood, as the communists didn't represent the nationalities and in fact often were hated by them.

Almost no information on discrimination of Catholics in Soviet Union.

Naturally there is no single word on Polish catholics in Soviet Union which I presume were among the largest number of Roman Catholics in SU after 1939. Before the war, in Soviet held Ukraine circa 500.000 Poles lived and there is a considerable number of sources recording discrimination against religious activity.

Another example . Two-thirds of the Soviet population, however, were irreligious-due to official statistics or due to forced campaign of atheism ?  About half the people, including members of the ruling Communist Party and high-level government officials, professed atheism. Was it a choice or obedience to the totalitarian system ?

For the majority of Soviet citizens, therefore, religion seemed irrelevant. According to who ?

In short, the article needs serious NPOV. I hope people will help.

--Molobo (talk) 02:47, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Persecution of Christians in Atheist Soviet Union
Persecution of Christians in Atheist Soviet Union

Short movie (3:35) about "Religion in the Soviet Union". Worth to see and/or add to the article as a proof, real movie footage.

--Krzyzowiec (talk) 04:02, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Semantics: Irreligious vs. Secular
"Two-thirds of the Soviet population, however, were irreligious." The word "irreligious" may connote hostility as well as indifference. As I suspect its usage here was not meant to convey that some part of the Soviet population may have acted with hostility towards religion, I believe that the word "secular" may be more appropriate. However, if it is true that some part of the Soviet population demonstrated or at least avowed hostility towards religion or the religious, I would concede that the use of "irreligious" may be justified with the condition that a citation is added. Indeed the first two paragraphs need sources, in general. --Absemindprof (talk) 01:24, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Islam...
Has two sections on this article. I am not confident enough to rectify this, but somebody should. Argo117 (talk) 14:50, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

This article is biased
The USSR did not have freedom of religion, but nowhere does. The succeeding Tsarist Empire suppressed all religions apart from the Russian Orthodox, and even the Old Believers. They regularly killed Jews for fun. The Soviet regime, for all its faults, represented a breath of fresh air for the myriad of religious groups under the Orthodox knout, and after a few years it made its peace with the Russian Orthodox church too. Sure, have a shot at them - but look at the other side.--Jack Upland (talk) 21:26, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 04:08, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

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Reorganization and Additional Sources Needed
While this article should cover the umbrella topic of religion in the Soviet Union, the broader history of religion in the USSR is (oddly) better covered in articles like Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union and Soviet anti-religious legislation, despite those articles' more focused titles. I will likely start to reorganize this article soon, but have tagged it for cleanup and additional sources as well. Subvisser5 (talk) 15:51, 5 July 2020 (UTC)


 * It's hopeless. This is one of the most biased articles I've ever read, presenting the pernicious effect of false belief systems and the subrational mindset it promotes as a self evident good. What is a self evident good is the ability to choose your beliefs yourself, which this article made clear the SU preserved as long you kept it to yourself in the case of religion. It's a sad historical fact that masses of peoples in Russian Empire were unable to climb out of fundamental backwardness even after two generations of the discouragement of superstition and ultimately reaffirmed it but it's unconscionable to present THAT as a good. It's not worth the effort to fight this fight here. 45.46.140.49 (talk) 03:03, 29 June 2021 (UTC)