Since you asked, from Wiki: "The League of Militant Atheists[1] (Russian: Сою́з Вои́нствующих Безбо́жников, tr. Soyúz Voínstvuyushchikh Bezbózhnikov, lit. 'The League of Militant Godless'[2]), also Society of the Godless (Russian: О́бщество безбо́жников, tr. Óbshchestvo Bezbózhnikov) or Union of the Godless (Russian: Сою́з Безбо́жников, tr. Soyúz Bezbózhnikov), was an atheistic and antireligious organization of workers and intelligentsia that developed in Soviet Russia under influence of the ideological and cultural views and policies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1947.[3] It consisted of party members, members of the Komsomol youth movement, those without specific political affiliation, workers and military veterans.[4]
The league embraced workers, peasants, students, and intelligentsia. It had its first affiliates at factories, plants, collective farms (kolkhozy), and educational institutions. By the beginning of 1941 it had about 3.5 million members from 100 ethnicities. It had about 96,000 offices across the country. Guided by Bolshevik principles of communist propaganda and by the Party's orders with regards to religion, the League aimed at exterminating religion in all its manifestations and forming an anti-religious scientific mindset among the workers.[5][6] It propagated atheism and scientific achievements,[7] conducted so-called "individual work" (a method of sending atheist tutors to meet with individual believers to attempt to make them renounce their faith); most of the peasantry was unimpressed, and even the party apparatus regarded the League as meddling and inefficient.[8] The League's slogan was "Struggle against religion is struggle for socialism", which was meant to tie in their atheist views with the Communist drive to 'build Socialism'. One of the slogans adopted at the 2nd congress proclaimed: "Struggle against religion is struggle for the five-year plan!"[9]"
We've seen this before; maybe it's not part of the historical consciousness of the West, for whatever reason, but those who remember/have read what Militant Atheism promoted in the Soviet Union, including formerly Christian Countries like Russia, know it had harmful consequences including persecution. And it all started with the false claim that religion was not false but also allegedly evil.
An example of something modern western Militant Atheists have said that I strongly disagree with, Angrboda, is that Teaching Religion to Children is allegedly "Child Abuse". That's totally false and completely wrong-headed imo, and totally undermines the evil of actual child abuse, which of course we condemn. When they say teaching religion is child abuse, the implication is that, as of course parents who do abuse their children ought to be jailed and have their children taken away from them, so allegedly parents should not teach their children about God and Faith, and also Gender etc. We disagree. If you are an Atheist, then you can educate your children however you want. And likewise, we Christians have the same human right, to educate our children according to our Faith and our Conscience.
It's perfectly possible to be an Atheist or a Non-Theist - what I call a Normie Atheist - without believing Religion or Religious People are evil.
The league embraced workers, peasants, students, and intelligentsia. It had its first affiliates at factories, plants, collective farms (kolkhozy), and educational institutions. By the beginning of 1941 it had about 3.5 million members from 100 ethnicities. It had about 96,000 offices across the country. Guided by Bolshevik principles of communist propaganda and by the Party's orders with regards to religion, the League aimed at exterminating religion in all its manifestations and forming an anti-religious scientific mindset among the workers.[5][6] It propagated atheism and scientific achievements,[7] conducted so-called "individual work" (a method of sending atheist tutors to meet with individual believers to attempt to make them renounce their faith); most of the peasantry was unimpressed, and even the party apparatus regarded the League as meddling and inefficient.[8] The League's slogan was "Struggle against religion is struggle for socialism", which was meant to tie in their atheist views with the Communist drive to 'build Socialism'. One of the slogans adopted at the 2nd congress proclaimed: "Struggle against religion is struggle for the five-year plan!"[9]"
We've seen this before; maybe it's not part of the historical consciousness of the West, for whatever reason, but those who remember/have read what Militant Atheism promoted in the Soviet Union, including formerly Christian Countries like Russia, know it had harmful consequences including persecution. And it all started with the false claim that religion was not false but also allegedly evil.
An example of something modern western Militant Atheists have said that I strongly disagree with, Angrboda, is that Teaching Religion to Children is allegedly "Child Abuse". That's totally false and completely wrong-headed imo, and totally undermines the evil of actual child abuse, which of course we condemn. When they say teaching religion is child abuse, the implication is that, as of course parents who do abuse their children ought to be jailed and have their children taken away from them, so allegedly parents should not teach their children about God and Faith, and also Gender etc. We disagree. If you are an Atheist, then you can educate your children however you want. And likewise, we Christians have the same human right, to educate our children according to our Faith and our Conscience.
It's perfectly possible to be an Atheist or a Non-Theist - what I call a Normie Atheist - without believing Religion or Religious People are evil.
