: Communists states attempted to replace religion with devotion to the state. Once communism failed, and former communists countries could no longer suppress the religious feelings of their citizens, religion flourished in these formerly atheistic countries. This is just one evidence (of many) that atheism is an empty doctrine worthy of rejection by reasonable people. I have written a set of essays concerning atheism & its failure and placed them on my home page, you will find the essays in the section titled, "Questioning Atheism.": Thanks,
: David Mathews
: http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/3958
Yes, the Soviet Union failed to expunge religion because the society it provided was not good enough to convince people that the new way was better than the old way. However, this was because (along with many people in this Debating Room) I never believed that the Soviet state was a true, or even nearly true socialist state. [See my message of September 9]. It was a dictatorship controlled by one ruthless man at the top and an army of power-hungry bureaucrats lower down. It was no wonder the citizens became disenchanted and cynical with this 'new' system, which was in fact just a rehash of the usual greed and corruption which is endemic in most societies in the world.
I think a country closer to your own [I assume you are American] is a better example of a socialist state. While still far from perfect, Cuba is a socialist state which has higher literacy, health care and social welfare levels than the USA. And although the deeply ingrained religion (particularly among those who were alive before the Revolution) is starting to make a comeback now that Cuba is opening up, most people are still quite happy with their government. Maybe if the socialist system had lasted another 10 or 20 years then religion would have lost its grip.
Although then again, there is no shortage of missionaries who do their best to force people all over the world think like themselves. On the other hand, missionaries mainly make inroads into societies with poor educational levels and where people have less choices in life. So maybe it _is_ the case that if a genuine socialist state (i.e. one with high educational levels) could survive for more than 3 generations then religion would be forgotten. I would hope so.
None.
