Question: Under the communist party, organized religion in the Soviet Union was officially:
<em>Options:</em>
- 1) Tolerated
- 2) Encouraged
- 3) Subsidized
- 4) Banned
Answer: The correct answer is: <u>4) Banned.</u>
Explanation: The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an objective the abolisment of religion. The Communist regime ridiculed religion, harassed believers, confiscated church property, and propagated atheism in the schools. The Soviets had originally believed that if churches were deprived of its power, religion would be quickly eliminated. When this did not happen, they took more drastic measures. In Stalin’s purges (1936-1937) tens of thousands of clergy were grouped and shot. In some areas, it even became illegal for parents to teach religion to their own children. From 1917 to the 1980s, the more religion sustained, the more the Soviets would do to eliminate it.
