Lenin: “A young man or woman cannot be a Communist youth unless he or she is free of religious convictions.”{193}
Lenin: “We must combat religion—this is the ABC of all materialism, and consequently Marxism.”{194}
Student: “What is your attitude toward individual churches? Take the Catholic Church, for example.”
Yaroslavsky: “The Catholic Church, with the pope in its van, is now an important bulwark of all counter-revolutionary organizations and forces.”{195}
Student: Are you against all Christianity?”
Lunarcharsky: (Russian Commissioner of Education): “We hate Christians and Christianity. Even the best of them must be considered our worst enemies. Christian love is an obstacle to the development of the revolution. Down with love of one’s neighbor! What we want is hate…. Only then can we conquer the universe.”{196}
Student: “How do you justify Communist ‘hate’ propaganda of this kind?”
Official Statement: “Hatred fosters vigilance and an uncompromising attitude toward the enemy and leads to the destruction of everything that prevents Soviet peoples from building a happy life. The teaching of hatred for the enemies of the toilers enriches the conception of Socialist humanism by distinguishing it from sugary and hypocritical ‘philanthropy.’”{197}
Stalin: “It is impossible to conquer an enemy without having learned to hate him with all the might of one’s soul.”{198}
Student: “And what is your attitude toward the Jewish people and their religion?”
Marx: “What was the foundation of the Jewish religion? Practical needs egoism. Consequently the monotheism of the Jew is in reality the Polytheism of many needs…. The God of practical needs and egoism is money…. Money is the jealous God of Israel, by the side of which no other God may exist…. The God of the Jews has secularized himself and become the universal God…. As soon as society succeeds in abolishing the empirical essence of Judaism, the huckster and the conditions which produce him, the Jew will become impossible…. The social emancipation of the Jew is the emancipation of society from Judaism.”{199}
Student: “In view of all this, why is it that Communist propaganda sometimes pretends a tolerance for religion?”
Yaroslavsky: “In our work among religious people we must bear in mind Lenin’s advice to utilize every method available to us, or, as he said, we must ‘approach them this way and that way’ in order to stimulate them to criticize religion themselves.”{200}
Student: “If religion is so bad, do you think it will gradually die out?”
Yaroslavsky: “It would be a great mistake to believe that religion will die out of itself. We have repeatedly emphasized Lenin’s opinion that the Communist Party cannot depend upon the spontaneous development of anti-religious ideas—that these ideas are molded by organized action.”{201}
Student: “Do you think a person’s attitude toward religion should be changed by friendly persuasion?”
Lenin: “The fight against religion must not be limited nor reduced to abstract, ideological preaching. This struggle must be linked up with the concrete practical class movement; its aim must be to eliminate the social roots of religion.”{202}
Official Statement: “The struggle against the Gospel and Christian legend must be conducted ruthlessly and with all the means at the disposal of Communism.”{203}
Student: “Is it true that you have already suppressed the clergy in Russia?”
Stalin: “Have we suppressed the reactionary clergy? Yes, we have. The unfortunate thing is that it has not been completely liquidated. Anti-religious propaganda is a means by which the complete liquidation of the reactionary clergy must be brought about. Cases occur when certain members of the Party hamper the complete development of anti-religious propaganda. If such members are expelled it is a good thing because there is no room for such ‘Communists’ in the ranks of the Party.”{204}
Student: “What do you propose to substitute for religion?”
Lenin: “We said at the beginning… Marxism cannot be conceived without atheism. We would add here that atheism without Marxism is incomplete and inconsistent.”{205}
Student: “If you are going to take away the concept of God, what spiritual substitute do you propose to offer your people?”
Official Statement: “What better means of influencing pupils than, for example, the characteristic of the spiritual figure of Stalin given in the Short Biography: ‘Everyone knows the irresistible, shattering power of Stalin’s logic, the crystal clearness of his intellect, his iron will, devotion to the party, his modesty, artlessness, his solicitude for people and mercilessness to enemies of the people.”{206}
Student: “I understand Soviet leaders missed no opportunity when Stalin was alive to indoctrinate the children with the idea of Stalin as a spiritual figure. What was the slogan stamped on children’s toys?”
Official Statement: “Thank you, Comrade Stalin, for my joyous childhood.”{207}
Individual Freedom and Civil Liberties
Student: “Is there any opportunity for freedom and democracy under Communism?”
Engels: “We say: ‘A la guerre comme a la guerre’; we do not promise freedom nor any democracy.”{208}
Student: “Then you do not believe that men should be free and equal in the enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”
Engels: “As long as classes exist, all arguments about freedom and equality should be accompanied by the question: Freedom for which class? And for what purpose? The equality of which class with which? And in what relation?”{209}
Student: “But is it not your desire to have freedom and equality for all classes?”
Engels: “We do not want freedom for the bourgeoisie.”{210}
Student: “Do not the people in Communist satellites want freedom and equality for their citizens?”
Engels: “Anyone who talks about freedom and equality within the limits of toiler democracy, i.e., conditions under which the capitalists are overthrown while property and free trade remain—is a defender of the exploiters.”{211}
Student: “Do you believe in freedom at all?”
Lenin: “While the state exists there is no freedom. When freedom exists, there will be no state.”{212}
Student: “But the USSR still preserves the State. Does this mean the government of Russia is not intended to promote the freedom of the Russian people?”