Promotion of Atheism as a Principle of the Communist Ideology - Case Study: Romania

Abstract

The Communist ideology called for the denial of Christianity as a form of "mysticism" filled with "superstitions", but particularly as one of the factors that impeded social, economic and cultural progress. Scientific socialism, however, was meant to awaken class consciousness, setting Romanian society on a path towards true modernity. Thus a real battle ensued on the ideological front between two entities, the secular and ecclesiastical authorities, arising from the divide between traditional religious beliefs and atheist Marxism. The actions of the authorities against religious propaganda included both practical measures, which involved activities that filled the free time of the villagers, but also coercive measures consisting in political pressure or arrests. In spite of the communist regime's efforts to impose its own cultural agenda, the effects were long overdue, with rather modest results. Romania's forced development was faced with some inherent problems of the process of modernization and industrialization. The forced imposition of a foreign ideology to a conservative Eastern European area relying on obsolete mindsets, a society where 80% of the population lived in rural areas as of the end of the Second World War, required a longer period of time than the regime had originally planned.