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Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1922-1991), Soviet authorities suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on the particular era. Soviet policy, based on the ideology of Marxism–Leninism, made atheism the official doctrine of the Soviet Union. Marxism–Leninism has consistently advocated the control, suppression, and the elimination of religious beliefs.〔 〕 The state was committed to the destruction of religion,〔 〕〔 Froese, Paul. "'I am an atheist and a Muslim': Islam, communism, and ideological competition." Journal of Church and State 47.3 (2005)〕 and destroyed churches, mosques and temples, ridiculed, harassed, incarcerated and executed religious leaders, flooded the schools and media with atheistic teachings, and generally promoted atheism as the truth that society should accept.〔Paul Froese. Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Mar., 2004), pp. 35-50〕〔Haskins, Ekaterina V. "Russia's postcommunist past: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the reimagining of national identity." History and Memory: Studies in Representation of the Past 21.1 (2009)〕 The total number of Christian victims of Soviet state atheist policies, has been estimated to range between 12-20 million.〔”''Estimates of the total number all Christian martyrs in the former Soviet Union are about 12 million.''”, James M. Nelson, (“Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality” ), Springer, 2009, ISBN 0387875727, p. 427〕〔”''In all, it is estimated that some 15 to 20 million Christians were martyred under the Soviet regime''”, David Barrett, “World Christian Trends”, Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2001, cited by David Taylor, (”21 Signs of His Coming: Major Biblical Prophecies Being Fulfilled In Our Generation” ), Taylor Publishing Group, 2009, ISBN 097629334X, p. 220〕〔”''over 20 million were martyred in Soviet prison camps''”, Todd M. Johnson, (“Christian Martyrdom: A global demographic assessment“ ), p. 4〕 Religious beliefs and practices persisted among the majority of the population,〔 in the domestic and private spheres but also in the scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognized its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war.〔〔John Shelton Curtis, ''The Russian Church and the Soviet State'' (Boston: Little Brown, 1953); Jane Ellis, ''The Russian Orthodox Church: A Contemporary History'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986); Dimitry V. Pospielovsky, ''The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime 1917-1982'' (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984); idem., ''A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies'' (New York; St. Martin’s Press, 1987); Glennys Young, P''ower and the Sacred in Revolutionary Russia: Religious Activists in the Village'' (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Daniel Peris, ''Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998); William B. Husband, ''“Godless Communists”: Atheism and Society in Soviet Russia'' DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2000; Edward Roslof, ''Red Priests: Renovationism, Russian Orthodoxy, and Revolution, 1905-1946'' (Bloomington, Indiana, 2002)〕 ==Official Soviet stance== The Soviet regime had an ostensible commitment to the complete annihilation of religious institutions and ideas.〔John Anderson. The Council for Religious Affairs and the Shaping of Soviet Religious Policy. Soviet Studies, Vol. 43, No. 4 (1991), pp. 689-710〕 Militant atheism was central to the ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union〔Becker, Winfried. "Diplomats and missionaries: the role played by the German embassies in Moscow and Rome in the relations between Russia and the Vatican from 1921 to 1929." The Catholic Historical Review 92.1 (2006)〕 and a high priority of all Soviet leaders.〔 Convinced atheists were considered to be more virtuous individuals than those of religious belief.〔 The state established atheism as the only scientific truth.〔Daniel Peris ''Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless'' Cornell University Press 1998 ISBN 978-0-8014-3485-3〕〔Antireligioznik (The Antireligious, 1926-41), Derevenskii Bezbozhnik (The Godless Peasant, 1928-1932), and Yunye Bezbozhniki (The Young Godless, 1931-1933).〕〔History of the Orthodox Church in the History of Russian Dimitry Pospielovsky 1998 St Vladimir's Press ISBN 0-88141-179-5 pg 291〕〔A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Antireligious Policies, Dimitry Pospielovsky Palgrave Macmillan (December, 1987) ISBN 0-312-38132-8〕〔Daniel Peris Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless Cornell University Press 1998 ISBN 978-0-8014-3485-3〕〔Christ Is Calling You: A Course in Catacomb Pastorship by Father George Calciu Published by Saint Hermans Press April 1997 ISBN 978-1-887904-52-0〕 Soviet authorities forbade the criticism of atheism or of the state's anti-religious policies; such criticism could lead to forced retirement, arrest and/or imprisonment.〔John Anderson, Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp 9〕〔Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 1: A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies, St Martin's Press, New York (1987). pg 84.〕〔Prot. Dimitri Konstantinov, Gonimaia Tserkov' (New York:Vseslavianskoe izdatel'stvo, 1967) pp 286-7, and (London:Macmillan, 1969) chs 4 and 5〕 Soviet law never officially outlawed the holding of religious views, and the various Soviet Constitutions always guaranteed the right to believe. However, since Marxist ideology as interpreted by Lenin〔 and by his successors regarded religion as an obstacle to the construction of a communist society, putting an end to all religion (and replacing it with atheism〔John Anderson, Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp 3〕) became a fundamentally important ideological goal of the Soviet state. The persecution of religion took place officially through many legal measures designed to hamper religious activities, through a large volume of anti-religious propaganda, through education, and through various other means. In tandem with official persecution, many accompanying secret instructions remained unofficial. In practice the state also sought to control religious bodies and to interfere with them, with the ultimate goal of making them disappear.〔 To this effect, the state sought to control the activities of the leaders of the different religious communities.〔 Official Communist Party documents often disguised official persecution under euphemisms such as the "struggle against bourgeois ideology", the "dissemination of materialist ideology", etc. The government often rejected the principle of treating all religious believers as public enemies,〔Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, The Attitude of the Workers' Party to Religion. Proletary, No. 45, May 13 (26), 1909. Found at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1909/may/13.htm〕 partly due to pragmatic considerations (given the large number of people adhering to a faith) and also partly from the belief that the number of the believers included many loyal Soviet citizens whom the authorities ought to convince to become atheists rather than attack outright. Religious believers found themselves always subject to anti-religious propaganda and to legislation that restricted religious practice. They frequently suffered restrictions within Soviet society. Rarely, however, did the Soviet state officially ever subject them to arrest, imprisonment or death simply for having holding beliefs. Instead, the methods of persecution represented a reaction to the perception (real or imagined) of their resistance to the state's broader campaign against religion.〔 Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 1: A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies, St Martin's Press, New York (1987) 〕 The campaign was designed to disseminate atheism, and the acts of violence and terror tactics deployed, while almost always officially invoked on the basis of perceived resistance to the state, aimed in the larger scheme not simply to dampen opposition, but to further assist in the suppression of religion in order to disseminate atheism.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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