How in the USSR they fought with religion, and what came out of the confrontation between the state and the church

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Perhaps, in no other country has the relationship between state and religion been so diametrically opposed as in Russia, and in a relatively short period of time. Why did the Bolsheviks decide to get rid of the church, and, for example, not win it over to their side, because its influence on the population was always tangible. However, it is practically impossible to tell the society to immediately stop believing in what they believed in all their life, because this struggle between religion and statehood was waged with varying success, underground and had different results.

Religion is the opium of the people

Already in 1917, after the Bolsheviks came to power and began to actively form the country of Soviets, atheism became one of the main components of Soviet ideology, and Orthodoxy began to be considered a relic of the past, a rudiment that hindered the movement towards a communist paradise built right on earth. Perhaps the main reason that the Bolsheviks outlawed the church was the fear of rivalry. The Church was seen as a hotbed of the old ideology and tsarism, perfectly realizing how strong the influence of the church on the population, the Bolsheviks preferred to destroy it in the bud, rather than follow what exactly it propagates.

In the 1920s, the magazine "Atheist" began to be published, a name that was previously considered an insult, as well as possible demonstrated the insolence of the new government and its views. Posters with propaganda materials were issued everywhere, religious educational institutions were closed, valuables and lands were taken away from churches, or even completely closed.

If in 1914 there were 75 thousand parishes on the territory of Russia, then in 1939 there were only about a hundred of them. Many church buildings were converted into clubs, granaries, factories, and were completely destroyed as unnecessary. Often, stables or warehouses were organized in examples of architectural art, which shocked yesterday's believers.

However, it would be foolish to hope that the population will abandon their religion only because the government has decided so. Therefore, punishment measures were introduced everywhere for those who were caught red-handed. For painting eggs for Easter, they could be kicked out of work, expelled from the collective farm. Even the children knew that it was forbidden to tell anyone that they baked Easter cakes at home. It got to the point that many tried not to keep eggs at home before Easter. In order to avoid temptations, during major religious holidays, mass events were held, which were obligatory to be present. It could be subbotniks, sports competitions, there were even mass processions with stuffed priests.

Urbanization also contributed to the decline in the level of need for religion. Families moved to cities where social control was stricter and the influence of tradition and connection with their roots was lower. So they more easily tolerated new customs and traditions.

Religion began to be called opium for the people; deep meaning is hidden in this rather hackneyed phrase. Unwillingness or inability to take responsibility for his life pushes a person to look for someone who will take this responsibility. A man lives with his wife, they live badly, but he lacks the strength of mind to either leave her or change anything. He goes to the priest, asks for advice, and he will be assured that he needs to cast aside bad thoughts and live with his wife further. Seeing God's providence in this, a person will continue to endure a hateful wife and spoil the life of himself and her.

In modern realities, the connection between religion and the state can be traced very clearly. In sermons, priests now and then say that the sovereign's affairs are going uphill thanks to the efforts of a particular official. Those, in turn, will not spare money to finance the construction of a new temple or more earthly goods.

However, in the USSR they fought with religion and did not allow the church to have any influence on the population. And there are reasons for that. The priests were not at all Bolsheviks and were raised by the tsarist regime, which means that there was no question of luring them to their side. The state had no levers of pressure on the church.

More stringent measures

If they carried out propaganda work with the population and rather scolded for disobedience, then the clergy were subjected to real repressions. If only because most of them did not want to come to terms with the fact that their time had passed. Many of them carried out clandestine anti-Soviet propaganda. Huge human and time resources were allocated for propaganda against the church, there were party workers who dealt with this issue and regularly reported on the measures taken and statistics.

The law "On Freedom of Religion" in the RSFSR appeared in 1990, before that, an irreconcilable struggle against religion had been waged for seven decades. The document that preceded this, Lenin's decree on the separation of church from state, was adopted in 1918, but this was only the tip of the iceberg, in fact, this document deprived the church of the possibilities of a legal entity, they did not have the right to property, as well as the right to teach to minors …

However, the decree did not end the matter, a special eighth department appeared, which was engaged in the seizure of property from churches and the suppression of any resistance. Moreover, the department had all the rights to tough measures.

The ban on religion seemed to the Bolsheviks to be an insufficient measure; they tried to convince the population that they had been deceived by the clergy for a long time, receiving money from them. One of these techniques was the practice of opening the relics. This was supposed to show the parishioners that they are not incorruptible, and all this is just another deception. An appropriate decree was even issued, which made such a practice legally justified. The document stated that the autopsy of the relics should be used to expose years of deception and to prove speculation with religious feelings.

Such close attention to the relics is explained by the fact that the church of that time made a real cult out of imperishable relics. Moreover, the main emphasis was placed on incorruptibility. Therefore, the plans of the Bolsheviks were actually successful, because the contents of the sarcophagi always promised only disappointment with their decay.

Despite the fact that initially the Bolsheviks relied on the postulate of Marxism about the need to deprive the church of its material base, Lenin himself understood that this process could not be fast. That the main emphasis needs to be placed on education.

In the meantime, the magazine "Atheist" is becoming a kind of center around which activists of the anti-religious organization begin to unite. At least that was the idea. However, over time, this area of activity received the unspoken name "militant atheists" and their propaganda activities were perceived by the population rather negatively due to harsh and offensive measures.

Stalinist measures

The militant atheists spent the Komsomol Easter of 1924 so noisily, burned effigies of priests, sang revolutionary pensions during divine services that angered the believers. However, it was impossible to come up with anything better than holding anti-holidays, because for a long time any major Orthodox date turned into sur. In all this history, Stalin's policy turned out to be the most effective.

Now it was not just proposed to renounce old and customary traditions, but to look at them differently, see a different meaning in them and clothe them in a new ideology. Christmas became the New Year, but the holiday came back, a new approach was manifested even in architecture and began to be called the Stalinist Empire style. As a result, the authorities came to the conclusion that religion is Marxism, calling it the religion of a new class. Marxism was called Christianity turned inside out, white became black and black became white. Communists hold demonstrations, and Orthodox Christians go to the procession. The former gather at party meetings, the latter at services. Instead of icons, portraits and posters, there are martyrs and saints, and even incorruptible relics are also there.

The Soviet government stopped fighting its own population as soon as they needed to unite the country to fight a common enemy - already in the first months of the Great Patriotic War. All publications that were published by militant atheists ceased to be published, and the Germans in the occupied territories began to open churches that had been closed earlier. The Soviet government was forced to make concessions and stopped the persecution of believers and clergy.

After the end of the war and until Stalin's death, religion remained in the same cornered position. Propaganda against religion was resumed, but anti-holidays and acts of vandalism in churches were not welcomed, limiting themselves to publications in newspapers. In any case, the state of affairs remained stable.

The return of the militant atheists

However, this did not last long, after Nikita Khrushchev came to power, the anti-religious campaign unfolded with renewed vigor. There is no consensus as to what caused this. Some are convinced that Khrushchev feared that Western ideology would penetrate the country through religion. Others are sure that Khrushchev, wanting to strengthen the material and technical base, saw resources in the church. Still others believe that he was afraid of losing power and did not want to share it with church leaders.

All this became the reason that those who could be safely attributed to the militant atheists returned. The Central Committee of the CPSU regularly published resolutions on omissions in the work of atheist propaganda. In 1958, the state announced the closure of monasteries, they were declared religious relics, and church libraries were cleaned up. It was ordered not to allow pilgrimages to holy places.

However, the local authorities understood the decrees from above in a very specific way, or approached their implementation with ingenuity and special zeal. Often, holy places were destroyed along with relics and valuables. So, for example, the water sources located near the Monastery "Root Hermitage" were attached to the river, and the building itself was given to a vocational school. Thus, virtually destroying the local landmark. Approximately the same was done with the well, to which they made a pilgrimage before religious holidays. He was simply covered with earth.

However, the destruction of the place of pilgrimage was not always possible. Therefore, in places where before the holidays there was a high probability of the appearance of believers, police posts were set up, which were supposed to quickly disperse the pilgrims.

Khrushchev's anti-religious measures were only just gaining momentum, decree after decree were written, holidays were called a waste of time and resources, they say, many days of drunkenness, slaughtering cattle causes damage to the national economy. The fact that any work in this direction does not bring the desired result was explained by the fact that it is being carried out either insufficiently or poorly. This means that you need to make even more efforts.

The lectures on which the main emphasis was placed, in the opinion of contemporaries, were absolutely useless. For the most part, they were intended not for believers, but for atheists, who were completely unnecessary. In addition, it is difficult to imagine that a religious person, whose worldview has evolved over the years, from a lecture that lasts a couple of hours, will suddenly come out as a convinced atheist. Therefore, for the most part it was a waste of time.

Moreover, as for young people and the younger generation, for them lectures of this kind rather became the reason for the emergence of interest in religious activity, the church, as well as in any forbidden and inaccessible.

Brezhnev and the church thaw

If Khrushchev in every possible way destroyed the church and any religious manifestations, then with the coming to power of Brezhnev, everything changed. The propaganda of atheism as such was not carried out, and the church received more freedom. However, it is a mistake to believe that the Soviet leadership let this sphere of the country's life run its course. Yes, the Stalinist and Khrushchev principles were abandoned; rather, the Soviet leadership decided to use believers and clergy in their own interests.

The church was supposed to help strengthen the ideology, right after Brezhnev became the head of state, many cases were considered, against the violation of the rights of believers, many priests were released. However, this did not mean a change in the general attitude. There was a growing emphasis on alternative ceremonies, for example, during this era, many wedding houses were built. A public commission worked to ensure that legislation on cults was respected.

Weakening in the address in the church was more likely due to the fact that in the West they actively criticized the position of the USSR on this issue and accused of persecuting believers. And in the mid-60s, a significant event took place: the Council for Church Affairs and the Council for Religious Affairs were merged. However, this meant that the church came under full government control. Now the church's task was to criticize Catholicism and imperialism.

A dissident movement began to appear, which demanded to stop using the church as a cover for special services, to restrict believers in their rights. The activists were especially indignant about the fact that officials actively interfered in the affairs of the church.

Folk Christianity

The ban on visiting the church, the destruction of the temple itself, or the inability to celebrate a religious holiday could in no way affect the fact of the belief itself. The liquidation of the church system did not in any way affect the worldview of people, except that they became embittered by the fact of the destruction of what was dear and valuable to them. On the ruins of the official church, the so-called popular Christianity, or Khlystovism and scavenging, arose.

The fact that the number of clergy was reduced to a minimum placed these functions on ordinary people. Most often, this unspoken role passed to people of age who were previously active visitors to churches, took part in holidays and led a godly lifestyle. The objects of worship also changed. Thus, the concept of "holy water" and "holy springs" appear. Together with them, apple trees are being erected into a cult. So, in the Saratov region, such an apple tree was cut down, so people continued to come to pray to the stump.

The absence of an official religion gave rise to the emergence of impostors, almost in every large settlement, their own Jesus and the Virgin Mary began to appear. The arrests of activists do not bring any effective results, the population, on the contrary, begins to perceive them as the chosen ones, and their arrest as proof of this. Immediately after the churches were opened during the Great Patriotic War, this phenomenon decreases and practically disappears.

The interaction of church and state in Russia has never gone parallel, despite the fact that the state is secular, and the church is separated from the state. Different historical periods are characterized by different attitudes of both the government and the church, and vice versa. In any case, the powers that be every now and then tried to use the church and religion to influence and manipulate the population.