As an autodidact, it can sometimes be difficult to find appropriate sources. After reading Daniel Peris' book "Storming The Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless" it became apparent that this book is the only one available that focuses directly on the League from its development to demise. Fortunately, it is a serious work of history written in an academic style and published by Cornell. The book received very favorable reviews from peers in the relevant journals and the criticisms offered do not have any impact on the information presented here. All quotes are from Peris' work.
In the 1920s in Bolshevik Russia, a campaign to disabuse the peasants of Russia of their religious beliefs was in full swing:
This is only natural since any implementation of truly Marxist ideas necessitates the removal of belief in God for the "progression" toward "equality" to take place. Leading Bolshevik thinkers shared contempt for the Church and faith in the power of scientific and historical education to undermine religion. This common belief led them to take action against religious organizations, leaders, and lay people which could range from laughably pathetic propaganda to shockingly violent purges (the number of Christians who were killed is estimated at between 10-20 million).
The anti-religious campaign eventually developed into a central organization called the League of the Militant Godless which was:
One of the primary aims of this organization was to disseminate material for mass consumption that would have the natural consequence of removing their religious beliefs. This involved propaganda of many types: newspapers, books, magazines, pamphlets, lectures, debates, etc., all of which had little success. The planners did not seem to understand that their failure was based on faulty presuppositions.
One prime example of this Soviet agitprop was a magazine titled "Bezbozhnik u stanka" which translates "Atheist at his workbench." The magazine took the low road on a lot of occasions providing mocking caricatures of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. A few examples: Jesus giving his disciples alcohol at the Last Supper, the deities of the three Abrahamic faiths being crushed by the Soviet 5-year plan, and a black person being hung from the statue of liberty with Jesus watching in approval. One early issue summed up the message quite well:
The false dichotomy between science and religion was pushed ad nauseam.
Of course one does not know if such ridiculous de-conversions were mere propaganda meant to serve the goal of a secular Russia or real accounts of actual experiences. And peasants were not the only group mined for the propaganda of apostasy.
Women were also targeted as being freed from the "grips" of religion to live happy lives.
Spurious "pagan parallels" were often invoked to undermine the beliefs of Christians.
The professional Godless would also set up debates with clergy, and despite rigging the entire event, the atheist would often lose and be blamed for his shortcomings.
Finally, we come to perhaps the most embarrassing aspect of the Militant Godless endeavor, what to do when you have successfully disabused the faithful of their religion?
In the 1920s in Bolshevik Russia, a campaign to disabuse the peasants of Russia of their religious beliefs was in full swing:
"During the 1920s and 1930s, millions upon millions of Soviet citizens were exposed to virulently atheistic propaganda on the streets, by the military, in the workplace, and throughout the public sphere." - Daniel Peris, Storming The Heavens, p. 69
This is only natural since any implementation of truly Marxist ideas necessitates the removal of belief in God for the "progression" toward "equality" to take place. Leading Bolshevik thinkers shared contempt for the Church and faith in the power of scientific and historical education to undermine religion. This common belief led them to take action against religious organizations, leaders, and lay people which could range from laughably pathetic propaganda to shockingly violent purges (the number of Christians who were killed is estimated at between 10-20 million).
The anti-religious campaign eventually developed into a central organization called the League of the Militant Godless which was:
"in theory...a voluntary association of individuals seeking to combat the influence of religion in all its forms and to promote 'scientific materialism.'" ibid., p. 44
One of the primary aims of this organization was to disseminate material for mass consumption that would have the natural consequence of removing their religious beliefs. This involved propaganda of many types: newspapers, books, magazines, pamphlets, lectures, debates, etc., all of which had little success. The planners did not seem to understand that their failure was based on faulty presuppositions.
"As critics have long noted, atheism itself is less a coherent system of beliefs than a negation of existing beliefs...Bolshevik propagandists seemed to acknowledge this, not offering atheism per se as a substitute faith, but promoting instead a vague and ever-changing 'scientific materialism'...Bolshevik propaganda projected the intelligentsia's belief that science and technology amounted to a universal panacea that would swiftly undermine religious beliefs and lead to the creation of a modern and prosperous society. It evidenced little regard for what the peasants, the supposed beneficiaries, really wanted." ibid., pp. 93-94
"the peasants were expected simply to cease believing in God and the Orthodox Church once they learned the truth about religion." ibid., p. 28
One prime example of this Soviet agitprop was a magazine titled "Bezbozhnik u stanka" which translates "Atheist at his workbench." The magazine took the low road on a lot of occasions providing mocking caricatures of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. A few examples: Jesus giving his disciples alcohol at the Last Supper, the deities of the three Abrahamic faiths being crushed by the Soviet 5-year plan, and a black person being hung from the statue of liberty with Jesus watching in approval. One early issue summed up the message quite well:
"An early issue was devoted entirely to modern medicine and health practices; it pitted a befuddled God the Father against an enthusiastic, young, skilled Soviet medical worker. In response to a letter from Petrograd asking why the regime was destroying religion without offering a substitute, Bezbozhnik u stanka answered: 'Religion is nothing, a deception. Can you fill a hole with emptiness?...Destroying religion, we say: study science. Science instead of religion. You need to know how nature and human society function. Only in these conditions is it possible to give meaning to our existence.'" ibid., p. 94
The false dichotomy between science and religion was pushed ad nauseam.
"In 1925, Bezbozhnik printed a letter from a formerly devout peasant: 'I've become a complete Bezbozhnik (atheist); electricity totally destroyed (my) belief in God.'" ibid., p. 94
Of course one does not know if such ridiculous de-conversions were mere propaganda meant to serve the goal of a secular Russia or real accounts of actual experiences. And peasants were not the only group mined for the propaganda of apostasy.
"reflecting the regime's initial optimism, early anticlerical propaganda depicted priests rapidly losing their influence and giving up their pulpits. Bezbozhnik periodically published priests' renunciations of their profession." ibid., p. 76
Women were also targeted as being freed from the "grips" of religion to live happy lives.
"This propaganda depicted religious women as ignorant, exploited, weak, and often resistant to the Bolsheviks' self-styled 'liberation' of women. The cover of one issue of the journal Bezbozhnik in 1925 depicted a husband beating his wife as Jesus and angels looked on approvingly. The caption reads: 'a wife should fear her husband'...these women were contrasted to the new Soviet woman, who was free from exploitation and social isolation...more often than not women were seen to be liberated from religious servitude through the agency of the new regime. The delegatki movement seemed almost magical in its ability to free women from the perceived grip of religion." ibid., p. 79-81
Spurious "pagan parallels" were often invoked to undermine the beliefs of Christians.
"early Bolshevik antireligious propaganda depicted the 'pagan' roots of religious holidays in the hope of quickly and easily deligitimizing them. Christmas was linked to winter solstice rituals; Easter was explained in terms of Jewish Passover and other pre-Christian celebrations of spring. The Day of the Holy Trinity (fifty days after Easter) was assailed as a 'remnant of an old vegetative pagan cult.'" ibid., p. 86-87
The professional Godless would also set up debates with clergy, and despite rigging the entire event, the atheist would often lose and be blamed for his shortcomings.
"There were chronic difficulties with one popular form of propaganda that was particularly dependent on cadres—public debates between regime activists and representatives of the Church. These meetings featured clergy and activists facing each other on questions such as "Did Christ live?"...These debates and the locally arranged clashes were popular throughout the 1920s. Unlike the more controlled lectures, these debates represented a genuine interaction between society and a regime determined to change it. Though they did everything possible to undermine the opposition—determining the order and length of presentations and controlling questions from the floor—the promoters of atheism were not always able to carry the day. When these events went poorly for the atheists, the outcome was universally blamed on the "unpreparedness" of the Godless speaker. A Moscow activist reported in 1921 that 'debates on religious themes were poorly organized everywhere, which often contributed to the triumph of the priests.'" ibid., p. 178
"While most activists had been raised as Orthodox, few local Bolsheviks had the type of preparation likely to assist them in the task of replacing the Orthodox worldview. As a result, local activists were highly dependent on centrally prepared lectures and materials, few of which could be tailored to local concerns. This material coming from Moscow had to be 'dumbed down' to the level of its activists, who understood religion in the simplest terms- churches, priests, holidays-rather than as a worldview with many subjective elements." ibid., p. 194
Finally, we come to perhaps the most embarrassing aspect of the Militant Godless endeavor, what to do when you have successfully disabused the faithful of their religion?
"The antireligious media contributed their share to the officially sanctioned atheistic culture that emerged in the 1920s. Albeit contrived, this atheistic culture had its own mythology, heroes, spaces, rites, morality, and language in which to play out a gamut of life experiences in a secular context." ibid., p. 96
