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State atheism is the official rejection of Religion in all forms by a Government in favor of Atheism . The only country to officially ban religion was Albania under Enver Hoxha ; however, numerous governments such as China and Mongolia throughout history have actively (and, sometimes, violently) opposed religion, persecuting religious institutions, leaders and believers, to the same extent as Hoxha's Albania. The Soviet Union had a long history of state atheism,Greeley, Andrew M. 2003. ''Religion in Europe at the end of the second millennium: a sociological profile''. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. in which social success largely required individuals to proclaim atheism and stay away from churches; this attitude was especially militant under Stalin.By Pospielovsky , Dimitry, 1935- ''The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia'' Published 1998. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 413 pages, ISBN 0881411795 page 257.Miner, Steven Merritt. 2003. Stalin's holy war religion, nationalism, and alliance politics, 1941-1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Page 70.Davies, Norman. 1996. ''Europe: a history.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. Page 962. The Soviet Union imposed atheism over wide areas of its influence, including places like central Asia.Pipes, Daniel. 1989. ''The long shadow: culture and politics in the Middle East''. New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction Publishers. Page 55. Poland under communist rule promoted state atheism and suppressed religion.Wolak, Arthur J. 2004. ''Forced out: the fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland''. Tucson, Ariz: Fenestra Books. [Page 104. State atheism should not be confused either with Anti-clericalism – the effort to reduce the power of the Clergy , especially in Politics – or with State Secularism in which a state decides to refrain from having an established religion or to take a neutral view toward religious matters. A state established religion within a political system implies preferential treatment of one tradition at the expense of others. Finally, state atheism should not be confused with selective Persecution of some religious beliefs or their adherents in favor of some other, more dominant religion. PERSECUTION UNDER COMMUNIST REGIMES Communist states have defined fealty to the state in such a way that religion can be proscribed or surpressed.Pargeter, Mark Persecution of Believers Keston Institute: Resources for the Studies of Communist Countries and Religious Affairs February 16, 2005 Because the religious faithful typically give their loyalty to a power above their state, such states have commonly treated this as a basis for supression or prohibition of the faith. For example, the state would claim Jews were considered beholden to the State of Israel, Catholics to the Vatican City, Buddhists in Tibet to the Dalai Lama, and thereby attach the charge of sedition to certain religions. ALBANIA UNDER HOXHA See Also: Religion in Albania The trend toward state atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the Totalitarian regime, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether. This policy was mainly applied and felt within the borders of the present Albanian state, thus producing a Nonreligious majority in the population. The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of monasteries, orders, and dioceses. By May 1967 , religious institutions had relinquished all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines, many of which were converted into Cultural Center s for young people. Many Muslim imams and Orthodox priests renounced their "parasitic" past. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, while others were forced to seek work in either Industry or Agriculture . As the literary monthly "Nëndori" reported the event, the youth had thus "''created the first Atheist nation in the world.''" From year 1967 to the end of the Totalitarian Regime , religious practices were banned and the country was proclaimed officially Atheist , marking an event that happened for the first time in world history. Albanians born during the regime were never taught religion, so they grew up to become either Atheists or Agnostics . Old non-institutional in the city of Elbasan , which is a national holiday. RELIGION IN THE SOVIET UNION See Also: Religion in the Soviet Union Marxism-Leninism has consistently advocated the control, suppression, and, ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs. In the 1920s and 1930s, such organizations as the League Of The Militant Godless ridiculed all religions and harassed believers. Atheism was propagated through schools, communist organizations (such as the Young Pioneer Organization ), and the media. The regime's efforts to eradicate religion in the Soviet Union, however, varied over the years with respect to particular religions, and were affected by higher state interests. Official policies and practices not only varied with time but also in their application from one nationality and one religion to another. Although all Soviet leaders had the same long-range goal of developing a cohesive Soviet people, they pursued different policies to achieve it. For the Soviet regime, the questions of nationality and religion were always closely linked. Not surprisingly, therefore, the attitude toward religion also varied from a total ban on some religions to official support of others. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA See Also: Religion in the People's Republic of China The People's Republic Of China was established in 1949 and for much of its early history maintained a hostile attitude toward religion which was seen as emblematic of Feudalism and foreign Colonialism . Houses of worship, including temples, mosques, and churches, were converted into non-religious buildings for secular use. In the early years of the People's Republic, religious belief or practice was often discouraged because it was regarded by the government as backwards and superstitious and because some Communist leaders, ranging from Vladimir Lenin to Mao Zedong , had been critical of religious institutions. During the Cultural Revolution , religion was condemned as Feudalistic and thousands of religious buildings were looted and destroyed. This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s , with the end of the Cultural Revolution. The 1978 Constitution Of The People's Republic Of China guarantees "freedom of religion" with a number of restrictions. Since the mid-1990s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist and Taoist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. |
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