Religion under Lenin Flashcards
What is the Marxist perspective on religion?
Marx and Engels saw religion as a conservative force which prevented social change by creating false consciousness
What is false consciousness?
A way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving the true nature of their social or economic situation
Marx religion quote
Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.
What was Lenin’s view on religion?
Lenin and the Bolsheviks were atheists and viewed religion as a tool of the ruling class to oppress the working class
Lenin introduced a series of decrees that defined the relationship of the government and religion - list the title of these decrees and their introduction date
The October 1917 Decree on Land
The January 1918 Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State, and of School and Church
The 1922 Soviet Constitution
What was the October 1917 Decree on Land?
It gave peasants the right to seize land belonging to the Church
What was the January 1918 Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State, and of School and Church?
The Church lost its privileged position in society. Church land, buildings and property were nationalised, state subsidies for the Church were ended, and religious education was banned in schools
What did the 1922 Soviet Constitution guarantee?
It guaranteed freedom of conscience for all Soviet people
Why is freedom of conscience important?
Freedom of conscience is important because it allows individuals to follow their own beliefs and values without interference - it fosters a diverse and tolerant society where people of different backgrounds and beliefs can coexist peacefully
It is also a fundamental human right recognized by many international human rights treaties and instruments
How did Lenin compromise religious freedom?
In practice, religious freedom, which had been guaranteed after the February Revolution, was seriously compromised by Lenin’s measures
Although the right existed in law, Soviet courts lacked the power to force the government to obey the law or respect citizen’s legal rights
In the first year of the revolution senior priests in the Orthodox Church were terrorised - provide examples of this.
In November 1917 Archpriest Ivan Kochurov was murdered outside Petrograd
In January 1918 Metropolitan Vladimir was tortured and shot in Kiev
Orthodox priests in Moscow were massacred in January following a Church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks
More extreme measures regarding religion were sanctioned in November 1918 - what was this and what did it lead to?
the Politburo issued a secret order to the Cheka sanctioning the mass execution of priests - within two years most of the most popular Orthodox priests had been killed
Why were Roman Catholic Priests treated differently?
Roman Catholic Priests were treated differently because they had traditionally been a persecuted minority rather than part of the Church that backed the Tsar
The new government used propaganda against the Church and seized Church property - how did these two policies operate together during the 1921 famine?
Soviet authorities seized Church assets to fund famine relief and blamed priests who resisted for sabotaging relief efforts
Why were Communists less antagonistic towards Islam than Russian Orthodox Christianity?
There had been no official link between Islam and Tsarism