"From the outset in 1917, the Communists believed in a utopian ideology, extreme, organised violence, atheism, a redefined place of the individual that served to reject Enlightenment precepts, and the rejection of preceding Russian history. During the Civil War and the 1920s, the Orthodox Church was crushed, with the slaughter of tens of thousands of priests and monks, and the desecration and destruction of churches, monasteries and the tombs of saints. The real and spiritual landscapes of Russia and the psychological life of the people were transformed as a consequence. Communism in its own way therefore constituted a major civilisational challenge to the notion in Europe and North America of a ‘Western Civilisation’, whether or not articulated explicitly in this fashion. This civilisation owed much to Christianity and placed considerable weight on liberalism and toleration. From this perspective, Communism, drawing both on a reconceptualisation of Russian authoritarianism and on a new, totalitarian ideology and practice, posed a counter-civilisational challenge with its own precepts, aims, methods and anticipated outcomes."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Jeremy Black, The Cold War: A New History (2015)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marxism_and_religion
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Marxism and religion
12 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Marxism and religion →
Related Quotes
"China, Russia, North Korea, Iran… When we consider the worst situations of systematic violation of religious liberty …"
"[N]early every political evil can be found on display in China: slavery, discrimination, religious persecution, xenop…"
"Dawkins is inexhaustibly outraged by the fact that religious opinions lead people to terrible crimes. But what, if th…"
"On the eve of the Bolshevik coup d'état, the Orthodox Church claimed a hundred million adherents, two hundred thousan…"
"We must face the fact that, while we are trying to help build a world of freedom and justice among sovereign people, …"
"But the Marxists think that religion is an evil, because it is anti-reason ; while reason is a good in itself, which …"
"In both countries, Taiwan and Poland, the newly established democratic systems resulted in the development of associa…"
"The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. Toward that end…"
"Yet China remained a one-party dictatorship and its labour camps – the infamous laogai – continued to hold between fo…"
"Orthodox churches were stripped of their valuables in 1922 at the instigation of Lenin and Trotsky. In subsequent yea…"