Marxism Research Network
Unofficial English Translation

Gong Xuezeng: The Historical Merits and Demerits of Atheist Research, Propaganda, and Education in the Former Soviet Union

Science & Atheism

The issue of religion and atheism in the former Soviet Union has remained a subject of intense domestic and international debate, both before and after the dissolution of the USSR. For decades, various parties—employing different standpoints, perspectives, and methodologies—have arrived at disparate or even antithetical conclusions regarding whether Soviet religious theory and policy were correct, whether there was truly freedom of religious belief in the Soviet Union, and whether Soviet atheistic propaganda and education were a success or a failure. This is not at all surprising.

In human history, the Soviet Union was the first country to handle religious issues and conduct atheistic research, propaganda, and education under socialist conditions. Although the issue of religion and atheism in the former Soviet Union has become a historical legacy, it still requires serious study in order to draw lessons from history. To study the religious and atheistic issues of the former Soviet Union fundamentally, one must stand on the position of defending socialism and apply the worldview and methodology of historical materialism to reach relatively scientific conclusions.

Following the victory of the October Revolution [1], the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) took power and began to address religious issues under the conditions of governance, particularly during the socialist period. Its primary task was to concretize the Marxist view of religion—especially Lenin’s thoughts on religious matters—into policies and regulations for handling religious issues. These were applied directly to solve practical religious problems: on the one hand, protecting citizens’ freedom of religious belief and managing the relationship between the state and the church, as well as between national education and religion; on the other hand, carrying out atheistic propaganda and education in the ideological sphere to oppose religious theism. This process reflected the merits and faults of the CPSU in its practical application of the Marxist-Leninist view of religion.

This article provides an analytical evaluation specifically of the atheistic research, propaganda, and education in the former Soviet Union.

I. The Guiding Ideology of Atheistic Research, Propaganda, and Education in the Former Soviet Union

According to relevant documents from the former Soviet Union, the guiding ideology for conducting scientific atheistic research, propaganda, and education was based on the following fundamental principles:

  1. The worldviews of dialectical materialism and historical materialism are fundamentally opposed to the religious worldview. For a working-class party that takes a scientific worldview as its guiding ideology, religion is not a "private matter." The struggle against ideologies that hinder social progress, including the struggle against the religious theistic worldview, is the business of the entire Party.
  2. During the socialist period, remnants of bourgeois ideology, obsolete customs, and religious prejudices will persist for a long time. In the ideological sphere, the struggle of socialist and communist ideas against all old ideas is inevitable.
  3. In a socialist society, the masses must be educated in socialist and communist ideology. An important task of this education is to gradually form a scientific materialistic worldview among all working people through long-term, unremitting efforts, transforming them into "New Men." Scientific atheistic education is one of the necessary means to accomplish this task.
  4. Scientific atheistic propaganda and education must be subordinate to the fundamental tasks set by the Party in various historical periods regarding the economy, politics, and culture. It must be closely integrated with other aspects of ideological work, utilize appropriate methods, and must not offend the religious feelings of believers.

These fundamental principles were reflected consistently up until the Program and relevant major policy documents adopted by the 27th Congress of the CPSU in 1986. Emphasizing the establishment of a scientific worldview for Soviet people—unlimited loyalty to the cause of the Party and communist ideas, love for the socialist motherland, and the cultivation of proletarian internationalism—was, and remained, the core of ideological and political educational work. It called for more active dissemination of scientific materialistic views among the population, with significant attention paid to atheistic education. The Political Report of the 27th Congress of the CPSU (February 25, 1986) noted that the "residue of history" [2] still leaves its mark. This residue exists, manifesting in people's consciousness and behavior. Obsolete ideas cannot be changed all at once, and overcoming mental inertia is even more complex. Persistent efforts must be made in this regard. Work in ideological, political, labor, moral, and atheistic education is a vital, multifaceted undertaking in which stagnation cannot be tolerated. The newly revised version of the CPSU Program adopted by the 27th Congress listed the further refinement of atheistic education as one aspect of the Party’s ideological work. The Program stipulated that the Party uses means of ideological influence to spread a scientific materialistic worldview and overcome religious prejudice, while not permitting insults to the feelings of believers. While advocating for absolute compliance with constitutional guarantees of freedom of belief, the Party also condemned attempts to use religion to harm the interests of society or individuals. An important content of atheistic education was to increase people's labor and social initiative and to promote new Soviet rituals and customs.

However, after 1987, under General Secretary Gorbachev, the CPSU gradually abandoned Marxism-Leninism as its guiding ideology. In the Program of the 28th Congress of the CPSU, the Party's attitude toward atheism had already deviated from previous Marxist-Leninist principles.

II. A Brief Review of the History of Atheistic Research, Propaganda, and Education in the Soviet Union

Atheistic education in the Soviet Union began after the victory of the October Socialist Revolution and unfolded alongside the handling of church-state relations. It can be roughly divided into two major stages.

1. The first stage: From the victory of the October Revolution to the eve of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. Atheistic education employed the terminology of "anti-religious propaganda," emphasizing its offensive and "militant" nature.

In 1918, Soviet Russia promulgated the decree On the Separation of Church from State and School from Church. During the implementation of this decree, the People's Commissariat for Justice established the Eighth Department in 1919, headed by Krasikov, to specifically handle anti-religious propaganda. The department published the magazine Revolution and the Church, which featured numerous articles explaining the decrees on separation and exposing the "counter-revolutionary activities" of the church. Prominent experts on religion and atheism went deep into urban and rural areas to work with local Party and Soviet personnel to give lectures and organize anti-religious rallies and debates. They particularly mobilized the masses to expose the deceptive activities of the church involving so-called "incorruptible mummies" (holy relics). From 1918 to 1920, at the request of local masses and in the presence of crowds, clergy, medical examiners, and Soviet representatives, 58 so-called "immortal corpses" were dissected, exposing the deceptions of the clergy and raising the consciousness of the masses. From 1920, leadership of anti-religious propaganda gradually shifted to the General Department of Political Education led by Krupskaya [3]. In accordance with Party policy, this department paid special attention to organizing lectures and utilizing clubs, museums, and mass education to combine anti-religious propaganda with the cultural and ideological education of the masses. During this period, a group of anti-religious propagandists led by Yaroslavsky wrote and published dozens of books and pamphlets. Amidst sharp class struggle, many believers broke their ties with the church as they were liberated from the oppression of the exploiting classes and the church, witnessed firsthand the counter-revolutionary and deceptive acts of the church, and received preliminary education in culture and science.

With the end of the Civil War, the Soviet Union entered a period of peaceful socialist transformation and construction starting in 1921. Along with the massive changes in the socio-economic, political, and cultural spheres, ideological education for the laboring people, including anti-religious propaganda, was further strengthened. Due to the temporary revival of capitalist elements during the New Economic Policy (NEP) period [4], churches and sects also sought to expand their influence. The situation demanded improved content and methods for anti-religious propaganda, overcoming tendencies toward oversimplification and increasing its scientific rigor.

In March 1922, Lenin published "On the Significance of Militant Materialism," which set forth comprehensive requirements for anti-religious propaganda. Consequently, anti-religious propaganda developed rapidly. Within the political education system, various study classes were held to train high-level atheistic propaganda cadres. Publishing houses began the systematic publication of major works by 18th and 19th-century European materialists and atheists. In December 1922, the General Department of Political Education founded its own popular science organ, the newspaper Bezbozhnik (The Godless/The Atheist). This paper serialized Yaroslavsky's Talking to Believers and Non-Believers About the Bible, which played an important role in the atheistic education of the time. To better organize mass and systematic propaganda, the League of Militant Atheists—a voluntary all-Union organization—was established in 1925, with Yaroslavsky as its primary leader. Krupskaya, Lunacharsky, Krasikov, Skvortsov, and Stepanov all participated in the relevant leadership and organizational work.

The years 1926–1937 were an important period for organized mass anti-religious propaganda in the Soviet Union. The massive social transformations brought about by national industrialization, agricultural collectivization, and the Cultural Revolution further pushed the improvement of ideological work and anti-religious propaganda. In 1926, the first All-Union Conference on Anti-Religious Work was held. It summarized the work of nearly ten years and criticized "Leftist" [5] tendencies in anti-religious propaganda. It pointed out the need to correct carnival-style anti-religious parades or activities like "Komsomol Christmas" and "Komsomol Easter," which treated religion with ridicule, sarcasm, and mockery. It also called for an end to the forced administrative closure of churches against the will of believers. The conference summarized the debate between the newspaper The Anti-Religious, edited by Yaroslavsky, and the magazine The Anti-Religious at the Bench, published in the name of the Moscow City Committee and edited by Kostelovskaya. The latter magazine argued that anti-religious propaganda was merely about criticizing the role of religion in serving reactionary classes and that religion should be "hit hard on the head." Some articles and cartoons in that magazine treated religious believers crudely. Consequently, The Anti-Religious newspaper criticized these erroneous tendencies. The conference fully supported the scientific approach and methods of Yaroslavsky’s newspaper, emphasizing that anti-religious propaganda must not be conducted in isolation; it could only succeed if linked to the fundamental transformation of social life. A clear assessment of the reasons for the existence of religion was required. It was necessary not only to expose the exploiting-class nature of religion and its links to class enemies but also to reveal the anti-scientific nature of religion through materialistic explanations of the laws of nature and social development.

Soviet anti-religious propaganda in the 1920s and 30s was the preliminary practice of the victorious working class in struggling against religious ideology to spread its own worldview. Due to historical limitations and the lack of successful experiences to draw upon, anti-religious propaganda inevitably bore the marks of the era and suffered from deficiencies and even major blunders. First, anti-religious propaganda during this period was conducted under conditions of sharp class struggle. In the early days of Soviet power, most Orthodox clergy took a stand against the Soviet regime and used various means for counter-revolutionary activities; relations between the state and the church had not yet been normalized. This determined the distinct class-struggle nature of anti-religious propaganda at the time. Second, in the midst of stormy class struggle, anti-religious propaganda often satisfied itself with simplistic general appeals, replacing patient and meticulous ideological work with mass movements and administrative measures. Third, many religious workers and peasants broke away from religion not because they had established a scientific worldview, but primarily out of resentment toward the church as an exploiter and an enemy of Soviet power, and out of anger at the church’s use of religion for political deception. Although they severed ties with the church and stopped attending, religious concepts in their minds were not completely eliminated. Fourth, while the anti-religious propaganda of the 20s and 30s spread nationwide, it was mainly conducted in the developed regions of the Soviet Union. In Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, Siberia, and the Far East, anti-religious propaganda encountered greater resistance due to economic and cultural backwardness, the complexity of ethnic issues, and the deep-seated roots of religious influence.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), because all efforts were directed toward the anti-fascist war and religious circles also displayed unprecedented patriotic enthusiasm, anti-religious propaganda basically ceased.

2. The second stage: From the victory of the Great Patriotic War to the mid-1980s. The slogan of "anti-religious propaganda" was basically abandoned and replaced by "atheistic propaganda" and "atheistic education." Atheistic education focused on being scientific, planned, systematic, and effective.

Following the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the situation facing religious issues in the former Soviet Union was as follows: (1) The disasters and suffering brought by the war caused a significant resurgence of religious influence; religious organizations became more active, and large numbers of the masses who had broken away from the church before the war re-entered the fold. (2) The primary domestic task was to restore the national economy destroyed by the war and promote a comprehensive upsurge in socialist construction. During the first decade after the war, atheistic propaganda and education remained basically in a state of stagnation. (3) The great victories of the socialist revolution and construction, the normalization of relations between the state and the church, the patriotic behavior of the church during the war period, and the modernization process undertaken by the church to adapt to socialist society all raised many realistic questions requiring scientific theoretical answers. This necessitated that atheistic propaganda adapt to new historical conditions—in both content and methodology—in order to further develop the Marxist view of religion and to improve and perfect atheistic educational work.

On July 7 and November 10, 1954, the Central Committee of the CPSU successively passed resolutions: "On Major Shortcomings in Scientific Atheistic Propaganda and Measures for Their Improvement" and "On Errors in Conducting Scientific Atheistic Propaganda Among the Population." These two resolutions laid the foundation for the widespread development of Soviet atheistic education over the following thirty-odd years. The resolutions disclosed the resurgence of domestic religion and its overflow in certain regions, pointing out that the church was using every means to attempt to expand and consolidate its influence over the inhabitants. Religious prejudice and superstition were poisoning the consciousness of a segment of the Soviet people, hindering them from consciously and actively participating in communist construction. The resolutions severely criticized the state of atheistic propaganda, an important aspect of ideological work, for being left unmanaged. They noted that relevant departments—from the central to the local levels—seemed to have forgotten that atheistic propaganda is an important means of conducting communist education for the working people; they failed to utilize effective methods of ideological work to develop it, and even abandoned atheism education altogether. Even where a small amount of atheistic propaganda material existed, it fell far short of requirements. The weakening of atheistic propaganda contributed, to a certain extent, to the expansion of religious influence. The resolutions tasked Party committees at all levels to attach importance to and develop atheistic propaganda, adopting several concrete measures while simultaneously demanding that atheistic propaganda must never offend the religious feelings of believers or clergy. Following these two CPSU Central Committee resolutions, atheistic propaganda recovered rapidly and developed further. Relevant departments across the Party, government, trade unions, Komsomol [6], propaganda, culture, education, and publishing collaborated with one another, forming the first post-war climax of atheistic propaganda and education and resisting the expansion of religious influence.

However, this new climax of atheistic propaganda, stirred up after more than a decade of stagnation, was to a certain extent still unable to completely shake off the formalist and oversimplified tendencies of the anti-religious propaganda of the 1920s and 30s, which brought about many negative effects.

After the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, the Central Committee—on the basis of summarizing errors in atheistic propaganda work—passed the resolution "On Measures to Strengthen Atheistic Education Among the Population" in February 1964. The resolution prominently proposed strengthening scientific research on atheism and the training of specialists, strengthening atheistic study among cadres at all levels, and employing various means to conduct atheistic education—particularly for youth—while strengthening the organizational work of atheistic propaganda. In the same year, the Institute of Scientific Atheism was established under the Academy of Social Sciences of the Central Committee of the CPSU to lead and coordinate atheistic propaganda work nationwide. This institute organized the publication of the semi-annual collection of essays Problems of Scientific Atheism. The League of Militant Atheists, established in the 1930s, was also transformed into the "Knowledge Society" (Znanie), and the popular-science atheistic magazine Science and Religion was founded. These played a guiding role in atheistic research and propaganda at both higher and lower levels.

During the decade-plus between 1964 and 1976, atheistic education in the former Soviet Union generally developed quite healthily and accumulated some experience. Given that during the period of socialist construction, atheistic propaganda was not limited to the critique of religious thought but was more centrally concerned with helping people establish a scientific materialist worldview, Article 52 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution changed the "freedom of... anti-religious propaganda" stipulated in the 1936 and 1959 Constitutions to the "right to conduct atheistic propaganda." Thus, the concept of "anti-religious propaganda"—which emphasized offensiveness and combativeness and possessed a narrow connotation—was officially retired from use.

Thereafter, the focus of atheistic education shifted toward forming and perfecting an atheistic educational system, emphasizing the adoption of comprehensive measures—including atheistic education—in the process of cultivating the scientific worldview of the "New Socialist Man." After the 27th Congress of the CPSU, the prominent issue to be resolved in atheistic education was further improving its effectiveness. Relevant departments were required to seriously inspect problems in their work, continue overcoming the shortcomings of simplification and formalism, strengthen surveys on the state of the population's religious beliefs, improve measures in response to new changes in the religious sphere, emphasize atheistic education for youth, stress individual work with believers, and further promote new Soviet rituals and customs.

III. Characteristics of Atheistic Research, Propaganda, and Education in the Former Soviet Union

1. Emphasizing that atheistic education must be based on profound social transformation and must be closely integrated with other aspects of ideological and educational work. The former Soviet Union adhered to Lenin's principle that the propaganda of atheism must be subordinated to the basic tasks of the working-class party, taking care to place atheistic education in an appropriate position within all Party work. It was emphasized that a purely enlightenment-style atheistic propaganda and education could not ultimately eliminate religious concepts; rather, profound and progressive transformations in all aspects of social activity are the fundamental factors for eliminating religious theism. In relevant documents of the former Soviet Union, it was stressed that the overcoming of religion is a law-governed historical process. This process can only occur on the basis of the continuous development of the economy, politics, cultural education, and science and technology, as well as the unity and prosperity of all ethnic groups. The cultivation of the "New Socialist Man" and the education of people are inseparable from their actual participation in creative labor for the happiness of the people, participation in social life, and participation in solving various tasks of socio-economic and cultural construction.

While emphasizing that atheistic education must be based on profound social transformation, the former Soviet Union also affirmed the active role played by atheistic propaganda and education in criticizing the religious worldview, disseminating scientific knowledge, and cultivating a scientific worldview. It further pointed out that this active role could only be fully realized when closely integrated with other aspects of ideological and educational work.

2. Attaching importance to social surveys on the current state of religion. In the former Soviet Union, there was a long-standing tradition of conducting surveys on the state of religion. In the 1920s and 30s, the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the League of Militant Atheists, and other organizations organized numerous surveys. After the 1950s, surveys in this area became active again. Following the establishment of the Institute of Scientific Atheism under the CPSU Central Committee in 1964, more than 40 survey and research stations were successively selected across the country, making sociological surveys on the state of religion a regular task. Prior to the 1960s, the primary purpose of sociological surveys on religion was to prove the gradual decline of religious belief among the Soviet people and the development of mass atheism. Consequently, many surveys at that time were inevitably colored by subjective frameworks; they focused heavily on the positive aspects of social secularization while often ignoring existing problems, resulting in propaganda that did not match reality. This situation caused dissatisfaction among many atheism workers and drew criticism from the Party and government. Since the 1970s, social surveys on religion gradually overcame this one-sidedness. They began to not only survey the achievements of secularization but also pay attention to the reasons for the continued existence of religious belief among residents during the socialist period, the religious-ideological and psychological characteristics of different types of believers, the resurgence of religion in certain regions, the state of religious belief among youth, and the reasons for the limited effectiveness of atheistic propaganda. After the 27th Congress of the CPSU, sociological surveys on religion received even greater attention, with the emphasis that the starting point for perfecting atheistic education is to provide a realistic assessment of secularization in contemporary Soviet society. This meant gaining a scientifically grounded understanding of the religious state of different social strata and types of residents, as well as new characteristics and trends in the activities of domestic religious organizations, providing a true picture of the state of the masses' atheistic convictions, and opposing idealistic [7] estimations.

Sociological surveys on the state of religion provided a variety of vivid and concrete materials, thereby enriching the content of atheistic education, forming new working methods, and improving the effectiveness of atheistic education.

3. Strengthening the organizational work of scientific atheistic education and comprehensively utilizing multiple methods. Based on decades of practical experience, the former Soviet Union could be said to have formed an atheistic educational system with clear ideological content, a complete set of methods, and rigorous organizational guarantees. Regarding organizational leadership, departments or relevant personnel for atheistic education were established and equipped from top to bottom through the various systems of the Party, government, trade unions, Komsomol, the "Knowledge" Society, cultural institutions, and schools. To ensure that various systems and departments maintained constant contact and strengthened coordination, committees for atheistic education were established within large Party committee organs at the central level, as well as in republics, oblasts, cities, and districts. Their members consisted of representatives from the Party and various mass organizations, scholars, higher education teachers, and experienced atheistic propagandists and lecturers.

The methods of atheistic education in the former Soviet Union were also diverse. First, various organizations widely employed specific forms of mass propaganda, such as lectures, oral propaganda, Q&A evenings, themed evenings, people's universities, "knowledge schools," heart-to-heart talks, seminars, science and technology groups, atheism knowledge competitions, and meetings with scientists and artists. Second, they made extensive use of propaganda tools such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, and television. Central and local newspapers frequently published articles and materials on atheism, and many periodicals featured dedicated columns on atheism issues. The popular-science magazine Science and Religion had a significant influence both domestically and abroad. Radio and television also launched programs such as broadcasts for believers and non-believers, dialogues on religion and atheism, and "Man and the World." Third, they utilized novels, plays, art, and films with atheistic inclinations to conduct vivid education on the traditions and knowledge of atheism. Fourth, they carried out individual popular-science education work directed at believers.

IV. The Historical Merits and Faults of Atheistic Research, Propaganda, and Education in the Former Soviet Union

Although atheistic education in the former Soviet Union over several decades followed a convoluted path, as one aspect of ideological and educational work, it promoted the process of social secularization and resisted and weakened the influence of religious ideology on the masses. Of course, the secularization process in the Soviet Union and the general trend of the gradual weakening of religion cannot be attributed solely to the conduct of atheistic education. The socialist transformations that took place in the Soviet Union over decades in the economic, political, ideological, scientific, technological, and cultural-educational spheres—and the world-renowned achievements gained therein—led to the gradual weakening of the various conditions upon which religion depends. This is the fundamental factor. In evaluating the effects of Soviet atheistic education, one must adhere to this major premise.

Soviet atheistic education also faced numerous problems. First, the implementation of atheistic education was highly uneven. In developed regions, it was easier to carry out and yielded more obvious results; conversely, it proved quite difficult. Second, to a certain extent, atheistic education was detached from reality, plagued by formalism [8] and oversimplification—a problem that remained unresolved for a long time. Particularly in grassroots atheistic education, due to the poor quality and limited methods of propaganda and education workers, the current state of religion was rarely investigated. These workers lacked an understanding of the psychology of believers and new changes in the religious sphere, contenting themselves with mechanically applying ready-made materials. Much of the material was full of hollow preaching, lacked vivid examples, and possessed weak persuasive power. Some leading organs of atheistic education blindly pursued quantitative metrics—how many lectures were held, how many people attended, and how many pamphlets were distributed—while paying little attention to actual effectiveness. Consequently, the work lacked appeal and even caused public resentment.

Third, there were differing understandings regarding the necessity of conducting atheistic education. This disagreement was also reflected in theoretical circles. Some scholars consistently denied the necessity of atheistic education. This viewpoint argued that during the socialist period, because socialist politics, economy, cultural education, and the scientific worldview are all dominant, religion would naturally and gradually decline as socialism developed comprehensively and social life became further secularized. Therefore, atheistic education was deemed unnecessary. Most people disagreed with this view, arguing that while the emergence of religion could be called a spontaneous process, the demise of religion is not. As a remnant of old ideology and social phenomena, religion will not automatically exit the stage of history; it will try every possible means to adapt to new social conditions. While the comprehensive development of society creates the fundamental conditions for the demise of religion, one must still rely on the power of scientific thought to struggle against the religious worldview. Developing secular education can weaken the influence of religion, but secular education is not equivalent to atheistic education. Only atheistic education can provide knowledge regarding the essence, origin, and social function of religion, as well as how the political party of the working class can correctly understand religious issues. Therefore, atheistic education is absolutely necessary. Additionally, a minority continued to uphold the view that had been dominant in the 1950s and 60s, which held that religion is merely a remnant of old ideology and that there is no realistic basis for its existence and development in socialist society; they believed that unremitting atheistic propaganda alone could resolve the problem of weakening religious thought.

Soviet atheistic education was an object of constant attention and research by Western religious circles. Western religious centers, represented by the Vatican, established specialized agencies to study the issue of "atheism in the communist world" and published many books on religion and atheism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Western religious circles believed that Soviet atheistic propaganda and education relied on the power of state political power to forcibly eradicate religion, amounting to the persecution of believers. They claimed that decades of Soviet atheistic propaganda and education had not only failed but had instead led to a new religious revival.

Are the Western conclusions correct? How should we correctly evaluate Soviet atheistic education? Based on a preliminary examination of the practice of Soviet atheistic education, we believe that the conduct of atheistic education by socialist states is not accidental. It is determined by the social system of the socialist state. The full development of the socialist cause inevitably leads to the gradual weakening of religion’s social influence. The attitude of Western religious centers toward Soviet atheistic education reflects their opposition to socialism and atheism. This stance makes it impossible for them to adopt an objective, comprehensive, and fair attitude when evaluating Soviet atheistic education. Although some of the materials they use—particularly those concerning the shortcomings and mistakes of Soviet atheistic education—are indeed true, many other materials are distorted, exaggerated, or even fabricated.

Of course, with the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, Soviet socialist theory and practice also came to a halt. In today's Russia, since it is no longer a socialist country governed by a Communist Party, it is a matter of course that it has abandoned atheism and revitalized religion. Our research today into Soviet atheistic education is conducted as an investigation into a historical issue, attempting to use the viewpoints and methods of historical materialism to draw appropriate conclusions. Its experiences, and especially its lessons, should serve as a warning [9] for atheistic research, propaganda, and education in contemporary China.

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