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Short story about communism; Acts 4:32

lukethethird

unknown member
Stalin attended seminary school, it appears he learned his lessons well. Reading this short story from Acts of the Apostles, beginning chapter 4:32, it also appears that Christianity teaches us how communism works better than atheism ever could. It ends at chapter 5:11.
 
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Lain

Well-Known Member
Stalin attended seminary school, it appears he learned his lessons well. Reading this short story from Acts of the Apostles, beginning chapter 4:32, it also appears that Christianity teaches us how communism works better than atheism ever could.

I fail to see what this has to do with Communism unless you think Communism is when God's Covenant people share their things with one another out of united love. Then I suppose it would be Communism. In my opinion at least.

I've always wanted to live in a commune with the brothers in the Faith though. Monasteries are like that really.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
Stalin attended seminary school, it appears he learned his lessons well. Reading this short story from Acts of the Apostles, beginning chapter 4:32, it also appears that Christianity teaches us how communism works better than atheism ever could. It ends at chapter 5:11.

An yet Stalin tried to stamp out religion. Perhaps he saw it as competition.
If you want control of the masses, one must get rid of any competition.

From Christianity, perhaps he learned how to be a more effective atheist.
 
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lukethethird

unknown member
An yet Stalin tried to stamp out religion. Perhaps see saw it as competition.
If you want control of the masses, one must get rid of any competition.

From Christianity, perhaps he learned how to be a more effective atheist.
Stalin did not try to stamp out religion, you sound like a victim of US propaganda. Stalin, as head of the communist state controlled all of the purse strings, not allowing priests to collect money from congregations in the process.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
Stalin did not try to stamp out religion, you sound like a victim of US propaganda. Stalin, as head of the communist state controlled all of the purse strings, not allowing priests to collect money from congregations in the process.

I don't suppose you've read many accounts of Gulag survivors.
I've actually learned more about Stalin from this than any where else.
I have an author/book in mind. Don't remember off the top of my head. But I'll try to add it later.
 

Shadow11

Member
You realize communism is mans attempt to create heaven on earth where all are even and the state is God. A complete and utter failure by man its not possible on earth and not possible for man.True communism can never be realized by humans. If he could of wiped out religion Stalin would have to fit his model.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Stalin did not try to stamp out religion, you sound like a victim of US propaganda. Stalin, as head of the communist state controlled all of the purse strings, not allowing priests to collect money from congregations in the process.

I don't know where you got that pile of lies and misinformation from but it's the exact opposite of the truth. In fact the liars of the USSR pretended that all of this was not to promote atheism but because of the bad acts of some people So what you repeated is Soviet pro-atheist propaganda.

The USSR anti-religious campaign of 1928–1941 was a new phase of anti-religious campaign in the Soviet Union following the anti-religious campaign of 1921–1928. The campaign began in 1929, with the drafting of new legislation that severely prohibited religious activities and called for an education process on religion in order to further disseminate atheism and materialist philosophy. This had been preceded in 1928 at the fifteenth Party congress, where Joseph Stalin criticized the party for failure to produce more active and persuasive anti-religious propaganda. This new phase coincided with the beginning of the mass collectivization of agriculture and the nationalization of the few remaining private enterprises.

The main target of the anti-religious campaign in the 1920s and 1930s was the Russian Orthodox Church, which had the largest number of faithful. Nearly all of its clergy, and many of its believers, were shot or sent to labour camps. Theological schools were closed, and church publications were prohibited.[1] More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone.[2] Only a twelfth of the Russian Orthodox Church's priests were left functioning in their parishes by 1941.[3]

In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the Russian Republic fell from 29,584 to less than 500
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Stalin did not try to stamp out religion, you sound like a victim of US propaganda. Stalin, as head of the communist state controlled all of the purse strings, not allowing priests to collect money from congregations in the process.

I really wish the history had been so benign, but it wasn't. It is true that Communist anti-religious policies did fluctuate depending on the position of the Communist Party depending on the country and time frame they were being implemented in. During World War Two, Stalin did use the Russian Orthodox Church as an ally to mobilise the Red Army to defeat Nazis. But this is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

The nationalisation of Church property was done under Lenin in the immediate aftermath of the Russian Revolution as part of Soviet policies of secularisation. They used the 1921 famine as a pretext to confiscate Church property and valuable in the name of famine relief as shown in the picture below. You can tell it's the civil war era because of the Red Army Soldier's hats.

soviet-anti-religion-policy_a-G-8676706-4985691.jpg


The policies towards different religious groups varied, with the Russian Christian Orthodox Church receiving the brunt of the persecution in the early years. Islam was treated a little more sympathetically [until the 1930's] because it was believed to represent the oppressed national minorities in the Russian Empire in Central Asia and the Caucuses. Here is a picture of Joseph Stalin in Islamic dress expressing his sympathy for Sharia Law.

islamic-stalin.png


This relative tolerance was brought sharply to an end however. During the early part of Stalin's rule, the Soviet Union had a five year plan to eliminate belief in God and had the up to three and a half million members of the league of the militant godless implement this plan. The organisations leader, Yemelyan Yaroslavksy, said at the Second Congress of Atheists in 1929:

"It is our duty to destroy every religious world-concept.... If the destruction of ten million human beings, as happened in the last war, should be necessary for the triumph of one definite class, then that must be done and it will be done."

As part of this effort, the Soviets adopted a new calendar of rotating 5 and 6 days weeks which abolished Sundays so people didn't know when the sabbath was, banned Christmas celebrations and then replaced them with "Days of Industrialisation" that you celebrated by going to work and declared Santa Claus an enemy of the people as an "ally of the priest and the kulak". Here's a picture of when they demolished the Cathedral of Christ the Savoir in Moscow in 1931 (later rebuilt after the fall of the USSR).

c4717206605ff5980930cc33e679caf5.jpg


When the Soviets conducted the 1937 Census, they included a question on how many people were religious with 55.3 million people (56.7% of the population) replying they were. This was very embarrassing for the Soviets because it showed that the Godless Five Year plan had failed and over half the population were basically disloyal to Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology of the state. Naturally, they repressed the results to prevent it becoming public knowledge.

Needless to say this is really just skimming some of the details, but I hope it's enough to make you take another look at this subject. Feel free to check out as many sources as you like. Wikipedia does have a really good series of articles on Soviet Anti-Religious policies which will be more than adequate for most interested in the subject. [Russian Civil War] [1921-1928] [1928-1941] [1958-1964] [1970's-1987]. I'd highly recommend Victoria Smolken's book if you want a more expert view. :)
 

Audie

Veteran Member
I fail to see what this has to do with Communism unless you think Communism is when God's Covenant people share their things with one another out of united love. Then I suppose it would be Communism. In my opinion at least.

I've always wanted to live in a commune with the brothers in the Faith though. Monasteries are like that really.
Communism done right.
Not taken over and exploited by despots.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
What's Stalinist totalitarianism have to do with Communism? Calling yourself communist doesn't make you communist.
Wasn't communism about decentralized government and a free, egalitarian society of co-ops?

+
 

Shadow11

Member
The state is God you can't have religion in communism. Everything is done for the state always above all else.
 

stevecanuck

Well-Known Member
An yet Stalin tried to stamp out religion. Perhaps see saw it as competition.
If you want control of the masses, one must get rid of any competition.

That's certainly the Chinese model. No matter whether Falun Gong Christians or Uighur Muslims. And never have I heard of a Chinese Jew.
 

Shadow11

Member
I agree I was wrong I'll give it another go:

A utopian world or perfect place would be one where everyone’s basic necessities of life are fulfilled. In such a world, no forms of oppression would exist. Everyone would have equal financial and social status, equal rights, opportunities, and freedoms. Although the creation of such a perfect society appears to be a distant possibility in today’s world, communism has been proposed by some to be the only way to achieve a utopian society.

In very simple words, communism is the idea that every individual in a society receives an equal share of the benefits derived from labor. In such a society, the state would own everything, implying nothing (businesses, produce, etc.) would be owned by individuals. The wealth would be re-distributed and equally divided among all the individuals in a society such that the rich will become less rich and the poor will become less poor and ultimately, all will achieve the same economic status.

Also, true communism would be achieved when the practice is spread all across the world to include all the countries of the world.

I'll go back to my previous statement - man's attempt at heaven on earth which is an absolute impossibility.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
The state is God you can't have religion in communism. Everything is done for the state always above all else.
"Anti-individualistic, the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal will of man as a historic entity."
--Benito Mussolini.

The individual is nothing but a cog in the machine of State.
 
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