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Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the KPRF, called Soviet opposition to religion a grave mistake, although he stated that materialism remains the party’s official ideology. He told reporters between sessions of the World Russian People’s Council (VRNS), an international forum chaired by Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, “One of the principal mistakes of my predecessors was quarrelling with the Russian Orthodox Church. Categorically, they shouldn’t have done that. They should’ve combined their efforts and moved forward”. What Zyuganov referred to is most likely the relentless anti-clerical and anti-religious drive sustained by the Bolshevik government throughout the 1920s and ’30s. A large share of population supported the measures; it ranged from state-run aggressive atheist magazines to state confiscation of church property, demolition of churches, and, sometimes, direct attacks on and criminal prosecution of the clergy.
At the same time, Zyuganov described the change of the Soviet authorities’ attitude towards the Church after the start of the Great Patriotic War as positive, noting, “They restored the patriarch, and reopened many religious academies, publishing activities, and many more things. They should’ve further strengthened this line”. He said that the existing KPRF didn’t require its members to be atheists or pursue atheist propaganda, observing, “About a third of the party are believers; we treat believers with great respect. We guarantee freedom of conscience, even though we incline towards a materialist worldview, and actively preach our ideas and goals”.
The KPRF began in 1993 as an heir to the almighty KPSS; it remains true to its vision of a socialist and communist society. However, the latest version of the KPRF programme emphasises the protection of workers’ rights and anti-globalisation. In the mid-2000s, communists also embraced religious ideas, and, in the 2010s, long-time leader Gennady Zyuganov made several public announcements claiming that justice, equality, and fraternity were Christian values… values that are very close to communist ideology. Mass media also showed Zyuganov and other party leaders attending church services, especially on major holidays.
31 October 2013
RT
http://rt.com/politics/communist-christian-russian-zyuganov-084/
Editor’s Note:
Why did the people SUPPORT the early anti-Church drives? I’ll tell you why… the Black Hundreds and clergy who sucked up to the rich and to the Whites. Many of the crank clergy escaped abroad, where they became the core of the present ROCOR. That is, the persecution cleansed the Church in the homeland, but the Church in the diaspora remained full of rot (sadly enough… it was a classic illustration of “The Wheat and the Tares”). Bear that in mind whenever you hear a rightwing fanatic such as Potapov or some of the Lukianovtsy. They hate Stalin because of their past (or of their families)… after all, KONR WAS a filthy collaborationist organisation (firstly, it was a lickspittle of the Nazis, then, it was a faithful Stepin Fetchit for the West). Their agenda never changed… it’s time for us to take back our Church (do note that they hide their bestial ideology behind dodgy hardline religion that doesn’t reflect the true nature of Orthodoxy at all).
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Unorthodox Communists? A Third of Party Members are Christians
Tags: Black Hundreds, Christian, Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Gennady Zyuganov, Great Patriotic War, KPRF, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Soviet Union, USSR, World War II
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Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the KPRF, called Soviet opposition to religion a grave mistake, although he stated that materialism remains the party’s official ideology. He told reporters between sessions of the World Russian People’s Council (VRNS), an international forum chaired by Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, “One of the principal mistakes of my predecessors was quarrelling with the Russian Orthodox Church. Categorically, they shouldn’t have done that. They should’ve combined their efforts and moved forward”. What Zyuganov referred to is most likely the relentless anti-clerical and anti-religious drive sustained by the Bolshevik government throughout the 1920s and ’30s. A large share of population supported the measures; it ranged from state-run aggressive atheist magazines to state confiscation of church property, demolition of churches, and, sometimes, direct attacks on and criminal prosecution of the clergy.
At the same time, Zyuganov described the change of the Soviet authorities’ attitude towards the Church after the start of the Great Patriotic War as positive, noting, “They restored the patriarch, and reopened many religious academies, publishing activities, and many more things. They should’ve further strengthened this line”. He said that the existing KPRF didn’t require its members to be atheists or pursue atheist propaganda, observing, “About a third of the party are believers; we treat believers with great respect. We guarantee freedom of conscience, even though we incline towards a materialist worldview, and actively preach our ideas and goals”.
The KPRF began in 1993 as an heir to the almighty KPSS; it remains true to its vision of a socialist and communist society. However, the latest version of the KPRF programme emphasises the protection of workers’ rights and anti-globalisation. In the mid-2000s, communists also embraced religious ideas, and, in the 2010s, long-time leader Gennady Zyuganov made several public announcements claiming that justice, equality, and fraternity were Christian values… values that are very close to communist ideology. Mass media also showed Zyuganov and other party leaders attending church services, especially on major holidays.
31 October 2013
RT
http://rt.com/politics/communist-christian-russian-zyuganov-084/
Editor’s Note:
Why did the people SUPPORT the early anti-Church drives? I’ll tell you why… the Black Hundreds and clergy who sucked up to the rich and to the Whites. Many of the crank clergy escaped abroad, where they became the core of the present ROCOR. That is, the persecution cleansed the Church in the homeland, but the Church in the diaspora remained full of rot (sadly enough… it was a classic illustration of “The Wheat and the Tares”). Bear that in mind whenever you hear a rightwing fanatic such as Potapov or some of the Lukianovtsy. They hate Stalin because of their past (or of their families)… after all, KONR WAS a filthy collaborationist organisation (firstly, it was a lickspittle of the Nazis, then, it was a faithful Stepin Fetchit for the West). Their agenda never changed… it’s time for us to take back our Church (do note that they hide their bestial ideology behind dodgy hardline religion that doesn’t reflect the true nature of Orthodoxy at all).
BMD