Hmm. In what way, Shock?

Where does Tolstoy get this stuff?

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141656955/new-bio-quotes-jobs-on-god-gates-and-great-design

Hey guy's you're both right. Probably agnostic ,but certainly guided by Buddhism

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/steve-jobs-buddhism-guided-life-mantra-focus-simplicity/story?id=14682458&page=3

Probably a good time to note that Zen, while closely associated with Buddhism, is a philosophy that can work with any belief system.

Tolstoy and Shock, you now have what has become the traditional question:
Do you agree with these statements?

1)"Nobody, neither atheists nor theists, is immune to mob mentality that allows atrocities to take place"

2) "We're all human; it's our duty to realize that we can commit atrocities, so we can be on guard against them in the future. "

3) "lots of people Christian and atheist alike have worked for the betterment of the world"


It’s kind of a labor of love now, as I’m genuinely interested in what we can find in common.

Obi, Mujus, NBaby? Still waiting.

Putin could you elaborate on your disagreement it’s an equal opportunity environment and I’ve spent plenty of time hammering this out.


As it stands Jack, Spyman, dipplayer2k4, semck and I agree on the first two, and the third is a recent one that isn’t as firmly established.

I already elaborated. There have been no atheist mobs attacking religious people or committing atrocities, which is remarkable considering the violence religious people have waged against atheists. It's false equivalence. The few examples of such things occurring might be the Cultural Revolution, but it's unclear how many of the 58,000 executions were due to religion.

"Probably a good time to note that Zen, while closely associated with Buddhism, is a philosophy that can work with any belief system."

I'm pretty sure that's false, considering its a non-scriptural form of Mahayana Buddhism, complete with a belief in the Hindu pantheon of gods and boddhisatvas. According to Robert Thurman, a professor of Buddhist studies who knew Jobs very well, Jobs was *not* a practicing Buddhist.

I'm pretty sure Jobs was just another one those of orientalists who used "Zen meditation" like people use Yoga. He didn't believe in it, it was just an exercise.

I agree with #1, but I really like #2. For #3, yes but with a modification: A lot of people, Christians and atheists alike, have attempted to make the world a better place.

I'll have to disagree with you Mujus if for no other reason than Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, etc. all have attempted to better the world too. Your rewrite of three only addresses Christians and atheists. Change it to "theists and atheists alike"; or "Christians, Jews, pagans, atheists, Muslims, etc" and I'll agree :-)

@Putin

Nobody said anything about the atrocities being specifically waged against religious people.

And the Thurman quote was part of the article that I quoted. he said that he was pretty sure that Jobs was not a practicing Buddhist. Which goes hand in hand with what I said that he was , "probably an agnostic and certainly influenced by Buddhism" The article goes on to show pretty clearly that the influence was more integral to his lifestyle than merely meditating (which it doesn't mention prominently).
Thurman is also a professor of Buddhist studies and goes on to say:
“"But he was just as creative and generous and went outside the box in the way that he looked to Eastern mental discipline and the Zen vision, which is a compelling one."
"He was a real explorer and very much to be mourned -- and too young at 56," said Thurman. "We will remember the design simplicity of his products. That simplicity is a Zen idea."
As I said, probably agnostic and certainly influenced by Buddhism.

About as influenced by Buddhism as an interior decorator is 'influenced' by Daoist Feng Shui. Devout Buddhist, he was not.

Very few theists have bettered the world, of any kind. They've typically the held the world back. The handful of theists who try to better the world are usually mowed down by other theists, see: Liberation Theology in Latin America.

This exercise by CA is an attempt to simply absolve religion of any wrongdoing, and just declare "we're all human" and collectively shrug our shoulders and ignore it.

"There have been no atheist mobs attacking religious people or committing atrocities, which is remarkable considering the violence religious people have waged against atheists. It's false equivalence."

There have certainly been people who were atheists who have comitted attrocities. There may be fewer than people than who have been christians, but there have been far fewer atheists than christians. So this is to be expected.

It is certainly true that there have been few attrocities committed in the name of atheism. There are a couple of reasons for this. Atheism is not a positive belief but rather an absence of belief. Thus in itself it is not a guide for living, and does not lend itself to making rules for living that others will inevitably will break and thus need to be punished. But this does not mean that people who are atheists lack a guide for living. Religion may serve as a guide for living with rules to be followed but there are many other human interests aside from the spiritual, which have their own rules for living. Thus we see wars about nationalism, or political ideology, or economics, for example, in which participants may belong to the same religion, or different religions, or no religion at all, but in which the motivating factor is something other than religion. Even ascribing the motivating factor to religion is misleading because not all members of a religion will feel motivated in the same way. Because some religious people are offended that others do not share their religious beliefs does not mean that all religious people are offended. Some religious people are tolerant while some atheists are intolerant. Thus the unifying theme resulting is not religion but intolerance.

I mentioned a couple of reasons for why atheists are not known for attrocities. I think we should consider that the force of atheism, historically, has lacked the power needed to committ attrocities, just as Christian attrocities did not start until it became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Thus if necessary ingrediants are intolerance and power, it is conceivable that one day as atheism grows in strength that attrocities could be committed in its name. I think this is possible, but as I mentioned before that the fact atheism is a lack of belief for most people rather than a positive belief could possibly diminish the likelihood of such atrocities to some extent. But religion/atheism is not the only thing we fight about, thus some atheists can certainly commit attrocities, in the name of a cause unrelated to religion and certainly will, just like religious people can and will.

@ Putin

It is quite the opposite. I'm acknowledging that Christians and other religious people have committed atrocities, just as I know that atheists (as Spyman states and I have as well under the auspices of other doctrines since neither the belief not the disbelief in a God or gods is a motivating factor). There is no flinching from the truth in these statements:

1) “Neither atheists nor Christians are immune to being brought into a mob mentality that allows atrocities to take place."


2) "We're all human; it's our duty to realize that we can commit atrocities, so we can be on guard against them in the future."


and there is not bigotry in this one:

3) "lots of people Christian and atheist alike have attempted to make the world a place"


To state that "very few theists have betterd the world of any kind" I assume you mean in any way? That seems a dodge, perhaps an invitation for me to give you a long list whereby you can go through and dispute the sincerity of their belief and whether it really had anything to do with their attempts. Since that isn't really the point, I'll simply state that the overwhelming majority of people in the world have been theists as far as anyone can tell. It is extremely unlikely that very few of these people throughout history made no attempt to better their world.

It is a generic and very conservative statement:

3) Both theists and atheists have made attempts to better the world.

CA I agree.

**extremely unlikely that very few made an attempt**

State atheism has been responsible for the death, exile, imprisonment, and persecution of Christians and other religions.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_atheism:

"Marxism-Leninism has consistently advocated the control, suppression, and, ultimately, the elimination of religion. Within about a year of the revolution the state expropriated all church property, including the churches themselves, and in the period from 1922 to 1926, 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were killed (a much greater number was subjected to persecution).[58]"

"From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, such organizations as the League of the Militant Godless ridiculed all religions and harassed believers. Anti-religious and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every portion of soviet life, in schools, communist organizations (such as the Young Pioneer Organization), and the media. Though Lenin originally introduced the Gregorian calendar to the Soviets subsequent efforts to re-organise the week for the purposes of improving worker productivity with the introduction of the Soviet calendar had a side-effect that a "holiday will seldom fall on Sunday" [59]

Although all religions were persecuted,[58] the regime's efforts to eradicate religion, however, varied over the years with respect to particular religions, and were affected by higher state interests. Official policies and practices not only varied with time but also in their application from one nationality and one religion to another. Although all Soviet leaders had the same long-range goal of developing a cohesive Soviet people, they pursued different policies to achieve it. For the Soviet regime, the questions of nationality and religion were always closely linked. Not surprisingly, therefore, the attitude toward religion also varied from a total ban on some religions to official support of others.

Most seminaries were closed, publication of religious writing was banned.[58] The Russian Orthodox Church, which had 54,000 parishes before World War I, was reduced to 500 by 1940.[58] Today, approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although the Church claims a membership of 80 million[60][61] although according to the CIA Factbook, only 17% to 22% of the population is now Christian.[62]"

Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
Further information: Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia

Though the constitution of Democratic Kampuchea guaranteed the right to worship according to any religion and the right not to worship according to any religion, it also provided that "Reactionary religions which are detrimental to Democratic Kampuchea and Kampuchean people are absolutely forbidden."[71] Religious people were killed in the killing fields, as the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, suppressed Cambodia's Buddhists: monks were defrocked; temples and artifacts, including statues of Buddha, were destroyed; and people praying or expressing other religious sentiments were often killed. The Christian and Muslim communities were among the most persecuted, as well. The Roman Catholic cathedral of Phnom Penh was razed. The Khmer Rouge forced Muslims to eat pork, which they regard as an abomination; in some cases, [Hindu]]s were forced to ingest beef, which is strictly forbidden in Hinduism . Many of those who refused were killed. Christian clergy and Muslim imams were executed.[72]

Mongolian People's Republic

In 1936, and especially after Japanese encroachments had given the Soviets enough reason to deploy Soviet troops in Mongolia in 1937, a whole-scale attack on the Buddhist faith began. At the same time, Stalinist-style purges took place in the Communist Party and in the Mongolian army. Mongolia's leader at that time was Khorloogiin Choibalsan, a follower of Joseph Stalin who emulated many of the policies Stalin had implemented in the Soviet Union. The purges led to the almost complete eradiction of Lamaism in the country, and cost an estimated 30,000–35,000 lives.

Cuba

Originally more tolerant of religion, after the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuba began arresting many believers and shutting down religious schools, its prisons since the 1960s being filled with clergy.[73] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba has amended its statutes to declare itself a "secular state" rather than atheistic.

In 1961 The Cuban government confiscated the Catholic schools, including the Jesuit school Fidel Castro had attended. In 1965 it exiled two hundred priests.[74]

So far:

Jack, Mujus, Spyman, dipplayer2k4, semck, and I have an agreement on these. Correct me if I'm wrong any of you since few explicitly agreed again about #3. I just figured you'd have spoken up if there was really a problem with it.

North Korea

North Korea's government exercises virtual total control over society and imposes state sanctioned atheism, the cult of personality of Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sung, described as a political religion.[78] Although the North Korean constitution states that freedom of religion is permitted,[79] free religious activities no longer exist in North Korea as the government sponsors religious groups only to create an illusion of religious freedom.[80][81] Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk has said that, "There's no knowledge of priests surviving persecution that came in the late forties, when 166 priests and religious were killed or kidnapped." which includes the Roman Catholic bishop of Pyongyang, Francis Hong Yong-ho.[82]

State atheism today

While many countries no longer follow state atheism, communist governments in China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and Cuba, despite some economic liberalization, continued to persecute the religious.[73] In addition to overt persecution, these states also sought to control religion by forcing upon the people state-sanctioned churches, essentially attempting to make the churches tools of the state.[73]

Czechoslovakia
See also: Religion in Czechoslovakia and Religion in Slovakia

When communists seized power in former Czechoslovakia in February 1948, part of their agenda was also a fight against “dangerous ideological enemy that holds enormous influence on the masses” what was a reference made to Christianity.[50] Thus, the monasteries had been seized by state security service (StB) during three so called “barbaric nights” in 1950. In total, 3142 people were displaced by force into concentrating monasteries. These were in case of male members of orders virtually turned into prison camps or labor camps secured with guards and strict regime aiming the “political re-education” of monks. The 213 monastery buildings and facilities were confiscated by state and content of many ancient precious libraries that survived even Turko-Tatar attacks in the middle ages was scrapped and used for cardboard production.”[51]

In 1957 ŠtB arrested university students in eastern Slovakia town Košice who held Bible study meetings. The consequent investigations lead to further arrests of Christians and lawsuit in 1959 with non-public hearing and coverage by state-controlled media. Newspapers brought up the case under titles „Poison in gold-foil“, „Sects are eradicating the thinking of youth“ and „Report on trial with blue crusaders“ (Blue Cross was Christian abstinent association fighting alcoholism). The arrested members of the Blue Cross were found „guilty“ of „spreading hostile Christian ideology“ that is „contradicting scientific Marxist ideology“. They were sentenced pursuant to paragraph on subversion of republic. At the same time their personal correspondence, typing machines and Christian literature was confiscated, mainly the one written by national author Kristína Royová,[52] regarded by some authors for "Slovak Kierkegaard".[53]

People's Socialist Republic of Albania
Further information: Religion in Albania

State atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the totalitarian regime installed after World War II, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether.[44]

The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of monasteries, orders, and dioceses. Many clergy and believers were tried, tortured, and executed. All foreign Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns were expelled in 1946.[45]

Religious communities or branches that had their headquarters outside the country, such as the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, were henceforth ordered to terminate their activities in Albania. Religious institutions were forbidden to have anything to do with the education of the young, because that had been made the exclusive province of the state. All religious communities were prohibited from owning real estate and from operating philanthropic and welfare institutions and hospitals. Although there were tactical variations in Hoxha's approach to each of the major denominations, his overarching objective was the eventual destruction of all organized religion in Albania. Between 1945 and 1953, the number of priests was reduced drastically and the number of Roman Catholic churches was decreased from 253 to 100, and all Catholics were stigmatized as fascists.[45]

The campaign against religion peaked in the 1960s. Beginning in 1967 the Albanian authorities began a violent campaign to try to eliminate religious life in Albania. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were either closed down or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, or workshops by the end of 1967.[46] By May 1967, religious institutions had been forced to relinquish all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines in Albania, many of which were converted into cultural centers for young people. As the literary monthly Nendori reported the event, the youth had thus "created the first atheist nation in the world."[45]

The clergy were publicly vilified and humiliated, their vestments taken and desecrated. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, others were forced to seek work in either industry or agriculture, and some were executed or starved to death. The cloister of the Franciscan order in Shkodër was set on fire, which resulted in the death of four elderly monks.[45]

Article 37 of the Albanian Constitution of 1976 stipulated, "The state recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people.",[47] and the penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for "religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or storage of religious literature." A new decree that in effect targeted Albanians with Muslim and Christian names stipulated that citizens whose names did not conform to "the political, ideological, or moral standards of the state" were to change them. It was also decreed that towns and villages with religious names must be renamed. Hoxha's brutal antireligious campaign succeeded in eradicating formal worship, but some Albanians continued to practice their faith clandestinely, risking severe punishment. Individuals caught with Bibles, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences. Religious weddings were prohibited.[48]

Parents were afraid to pass on their faith, for fear that their children would tell others. Officials tried to entrap practicing Christians and Muslims during religious fasts, such as Lent and Ramadan, by distributing dairy products and other forbidden foods in school and at work, and then publicly denouncing those who refused the food, and clergy who conducted secret services were incarcerated.[45] Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti had been executed for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.[49]

The article was interpreted by Danes as violating The United Nations Charter (chapter 9, article 55) which declares that religious freedom is an inalienable human right. The first time that the question came before the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights at Geneva was as late as 7 March 1983. A delegation from Denmark got its protest over Albania's violation of religious liberty placed on the agenda of the thirty-ninth meeting of the commission, item 25, reading, "Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.", and on 20 July 1984 a member of the Danish Parliament inserted an article in one of Denmark's major newspapers protesting the violation of religious freedom in Albania.
[edit]

State atheism today

While many countries no longer follow state atheism, communist governments in China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and Cuba, despite some economic liberalization, continued to persecute the religious.[73] In addition to overt persecution, these states also sought to control religion by forcing upon the people state-sanctioned churches, essentially attempting to make the churches tools of the state.[73]

Notes

1. ^ Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences, David Kowalewski, Russian Review, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 426–441, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
2. ^ Madeley, John T. S. and Zsolt Enyedi, Church and state in contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality, p. , 2003 Routledge
3. ^ Religioustolerance.org's short article on Definitions of the term "Atheism" suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. Simon Blackburn summarizes the situation in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none". Most dictionaries first list one of the more narrow definitions. * Runes, Dagobert D.(editor) (1942 edition). Dictionary of Philosophy. New Jersey: Littlefield, Adams & Co. Philosophical Library. ISBN 0-06-463461-2. http://www.ditext.com/runes/a.html. Retrieved 2011-04-09. "(a) the belief that there is no God; (b) Some philosophers have been called "atheistic" because they have not held to a belief in a personal God. Atheism in this sense means "not theistic". The former meaning of the term is a literal rendering. The latter meaning is a less rigorous use of the term though widely current in the history of thought" - entry by Vergilius Ferm
4. ^ Grace Jantzen (1999). Becoming divine: toward a feminist philosophy of religion. Indiana University Press. pp. 64–72. ISBN 978-0-253-21297-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=IMQJfVeeCAwC.
5. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). 1989. "Belief in a deity, or deities, as opposed to atheism"
6. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theism. Retrieved 2011-04-09. "belief in the existence of a god or gods"
7. ^ Baggini 2003, pp. 3–4
8. ^ Carol S. Matthews (19 October 2009). A New Vision A New Heart A Renewed Call - Volume Two. William Carey Library. http://books.google.com/books?id=RfGhUW8RdUIC&pg=PA194&dq=neopaganism+atheism&hl=en&ei=8lvZTdHwIYfV0QHK3on8Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q&f=false. "Although Neo-Pagans share common commitments to nature and spirit there is a diversity of beliefs and practices. Some are atheists, others are polytheists (several gods exists), some are pantheists (all is God) and others are panentheists (all is in God)."
9. ^ Carol S. Matthews (19 October 2009). New Religions. Chelsea House Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=stQQJlV9FT8C&pg=PA115&dq=neopaganism+atheism&hl=en&ei=8lvZTdHwIYfV0QHK3on8Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q&f=false. "There is no universal worldview that all Neo-Pagans/Wiccans hold. One online information source indicates that depending on how the term God is defined, Neo-Pagans might be classified as monotheists, duotheists (two gods), polytheists, pantheists, or atheists."
10. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Anticlericalism (2007 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)
11. ^ Greeley (2003).
12. ^ Pospielovsky (1998):257.
13. ^ Miner (2003):70.
14. ^ Davies (1996):962.
15. ^ Pipes (1989):55.
16. ^ Elsie (2000):18.
17. ^ a b c d McGrath (2006):46.
18. ^ Freemont-Barnes (2007):329.
19. ^ a b McGrath (2006).
20. ^ a b McGrath (2006):45.
21. ^ Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2
22. ^ Spielvogel (2005):549.
23. ^ Tallet (1991):1
24. ^ Jonassohn, Bjeornson:208.
25. ^ Luo, Zhufeng Religion under socialism in China, p. 151, M.E. Sharpe 1991
26. ^ a b c Soberanes Fernandez, Jose Luis, Mexico and the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, pp. 437-438 nn. 7-8, BYU Law Review, June 2002
27. ^ Haas, Ernst B., Nationalism, Liberalism, and Progress: The dismal fate of new nations, Cornell Univ. Press 2000
28. ^ Chadwick, Owen, A History of Christianity, p. 265, Macmillan, 1998
29. ^ Cronon, E. David "American Catholics and Mexican Anticlericalism, 1933-1936," ,pp. 205-208, Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLV, Sept. 1948
30. ^ a b c http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html
31. ^ a b Joes, Anthony James Resisting Rebellion: The History And Politics of Counterinsurgency p. 70, (2006 University Press of Kentucky) ISBN 0-8131-9170-X
32. ^ Tuck, Jim THE CRISTERO REBELLION – PART 1 Mexico Connect 1996
33. ^ David A. Shirk (2005). Mexico's New Politics. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-270-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=WOBRb0wKpocC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq.
34. ^ Denslow, William R. 10,000 Famous Freemasons p. 171 (2004 Kessinger Publishing)ISBN 1-4179-7578-4
35. ^ Fox, Vicente and Rob Allyn Revolution of Hope p. 17, Viking, 2007
36. ^ Calles, Plutarco Elías The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05 Columbia University Press.
37. ^ The Cristeros: 20th century Mexico's Catholic uprising, from The Angelus, January 2002 , Volume XXV, Number 1 by Olivier LELIBRE, The Angelus
38. ^ a b Van Hove, Brian Blood Drenched Altars 1996 EWTN
39. ^ a b c d Van Hove, Brian Blood-Drenched Altars Faith & Reason 1994
40. ^ Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899 p. 33 (2003 Brassey's) ISBN 1-57488-452-2
41. ^ Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People p.393 (1993 W. W. Norton & Company) ISBN 0-393-31066-3
42. ^ Raines, John. 2002. "Introduction". Marx on Religion (Marx, Karl). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Page 05-06.
43. ^ Lenin, V. I.. "About the attitude of the working party toward the religion.". Collected works, v. 17, p.41. http://www.psylib.ukrweb.net/books/maenl01/txt17. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
44. ^ Representations of Place: Albania, Derek R. Hall, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 165, No. 2, The Changing Meaning of Place in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe: Commodification, Perception and Environment (Jul., 1999), pp. 161–172, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
45. ^ a b c d e Albania - Hoxha's Antireligious Campaign
46. ^ Albania - The Cultural and Ideological Revolution
47. ^ C. Education, Science, Culture, The Albanian Constitution of 1976.
48. ^ Albania - Social Structure under Communist Rule
49. ^ Sinishta, G., 1976. The Fulfilled Promise: A Documentary Account of Religious Persecution in Albania. Albanian Catholic Information Center, Santa Clara.
50. ^ NMI (2011). "Likvidácia kláštorov v komunistickom Československu – Barbarská noc ("Eradication of monasteries in communist Czechoslovakia – Barbaric night")". Nation's Memory Institute. http://www.upn.gov.sk/obdobie-1945-1989/likvidacia-klastorov-v-komunistickom-ceskoslovensku-barbarska-noc.
51. ^ NMI (2011). "Likvidácia kláštorov v komunistickom Československu – Barbarská noc, výpovede svedkov ("Eradication of monasteries in communist Czechoslovakia – Barbaric night, reports of witnesses")". Nation's Memory Institute. http://www.upn.gov.sk/obdobie-1945-1989/vypovede-pamatnikov-o-barbarskej-noci.
52. ^ Slavka, M. et al. (1994). Naše korene. Bratislava: Nádej. pp. 187. ISBN 80-7120-029-8. "In 1957 StB arrested Miloš Rataj, undergraduate student in Košice. He was a son of teacher and poet Ján Rataj. Miloš Rataj together with his fellow students held private Bible Study and prayer meetings at the hostel belonging to university campus. Somebody reported their activities to authorities what triggered investigations and later leaded to a lawsuit. In the newspaper „Východoslovenské Noviny“ there were consequently published articles „Poison in gold-foil“ (No.41 in 1959), „Sects are eradicating the thinking of youth“ and „Report on trial with blue crusaders“. It was just a preparation for more thorough trial at court in Bratislava, where prior to that trial further church members had been arrested, namely Ing. O. Lupták, Ing. Vl. Matej, J. Rosa and J. Hollý from Stará Turá. The hearings during the trial were behind the closed doors excluding the public (sep 1959). The main guilt of accused was that they as members of blue cross „spread hostile Christian ideology“ that is „contradicting scientific Marxist ideology“. They were sentenced pursuant to paragraph on subversion of republic. At the same time their personal correspondence, typing machines and Christian literature was confiscated, mainly the one written by national author Kristína Royová."
53. ^ Trúsik, Pavol (2/2011). "Kristína Royová – slovenský Kierkegaard? (Kristína Royová – Slovak Kierkegaard?)". Ostium, Internet journal for humanitarian science. http://www.ostium.sk/index.php?mod=magazine&act=show&aid=75. Retrieved 2011-08-19. "We can conclude that (Kristína) Royová was sort of Slovak version of Kierkegaard."
54. ^ Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer (2009). Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-7656-2415-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=DEufvUyRcygC.
55. ^ Religions attacked in the USSR (Beyond the Pale)
56. ^ Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences', JSTOR.
57. ^ Lenin, V. I.. "About the attitude of the working party toward the religion.". Collected works, v. 17, p.41. http://www.psylib.ukrweb.net/books/maenl01/txt17. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
58. ^ a b c d Country Studies: Russia-The Russian Orthodox Church U.S. Library of Congress, Accessed Apr. 3, 2008
59. ^ "Staggerers Unstaggered". Time magazine. December 7, 1931. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930406,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
60. ^ Page, Jeremy (2005-08-05). "The rise of Russian Muslims worries Orthodox Church". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article551693.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
61. ^ Russia
62. ^ Cole, Ethan Gorbachev Dispels 'Closet Christian' Rumors; Says He is Atheist Christian Post Reporter, Mar. 24, 2008
63. ^ The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950 – Page 393
64. ^ Xie, Zhibin, Religious diversity and public religion in China, p.145, Ashgate Publishing 2006
65. ^ Tyler, Christian Wild West China, p. 259, Rutgers Univ. Press 2004
66. ^ "White Paper—Freedom of Religious Belief in China". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America. October 1997. http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zjxy/t36492.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
67. ^ "Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom". U.S.Department of State. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt/. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
68. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2007 — China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)". U.S.Department of State. 2007. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90133.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
69. ^ Madsen, Richard. "Chapter 10. Chinese Christianity: Indigenization and conflict". In Elizabeth J. Perry, Mark Selden. Chinese society: change, conflict and resistance. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-415-56073-3.
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[edit] External links

* Keston Institute: Resources for the Studies of Communist Countries and Religious Affairs