Draft:Atheist violence

File:Temple of Reason Strasbourg 1793-1794.jpg turned into a Temple of Reason, depicted in 1794.]]

{{See also|Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution|Cult of Reason|Religion of Humanity}}

The French Revolution initially began with attacks on Church corruption and developed into enforcement of the Atheism and Deism by violent killing of Christians. Most of the dechristianisation of France was motivated by political and economic concerns, and philosophical alternatives to the Church developed more slowly. Among the growing heterodoxy, the so-called Culte de la Raison became defined by some of the most radical revolutionaries like Anacharsis Cloots,{{cite book |last=Kier |first=K.E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwdbAAAAMAAJ |title=A Melville Encyclopedia: A-Loom |publisher=Whitston Publishing |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-87875-399-4 |series=A Melville Encyclopedia: The Novels |page= |language=fr |access-date=2023-03-02}} Jacques Hébert, Antoine-François Momoro, Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette, and Joseph Fouché.

The Cult of Reason was France's first established Atheist state ideology, intended for the destruction for Roman Catholicism during the French Revolution.{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Emmet |url=https://archive.org/details/culturalhistoryo0000kenn |title=A Cultural History of the French Revolution |date=1989 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-04426-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturalhistoryo0000kenn/page/343 343] |url-access=registration}} After holding sway for barely a year, in 1794 it was officially replaced by the rival deistic Cult of the Supreme Being, promoted by Robespierre.{{cite book |title=Chapters in Western civilization, Volume 1 |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |page=465 |quote=Holbach carried the cult of reason and nature to its culmination in an atheistic denial of the deists' Supreme Being, and made the most influential attack on rational religion ...}}{{cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |title=The Importance of Religion: Meaning and Action in Our Strange World |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2012 |isbn=978-1405189712 |quote=During the French Revolution in 1793 the Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was rededicated to the Cult of Reason, an atheistic doctrine intended to replace Christianity.}}{{cite book |last=Baker |first=Keith M. |author-link=Keith Michael Baker |title=University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 7: The Old Regime and the French Revolution |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0226069500 |page=384 |quote=In May, he proposed an entire cycle of revolutionary festivals, to begin with the Festival of the Supreme Being. This latter was intended to celebrate a new civil religion as opposed to Christianity as it was to the atheism of the extreme dechristianizers (whose earlier Cult of Reason Robespierre and his associates had repudiated).}}{{cite book |last=McGrath |first=Alister |title=The Twilight Of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World |publisher=Random House |year=2008 |isbn=978-1407073767 |page=45 |quote=He was an active member of the faction that successfully campaigned for the atheistic 'Cult of Reason', which was officially proclaimed on November 10, 1793.}} Both cults were officially banned in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte with his Law on Cults of 18 Germinal, Year X.{{harvnb|Doyle|1989|p=389}}

The new revolutionary Atheist and Deist christianophobic authorities suppressed and attacked the Church, nationalized Church property, exiled 30,000 priests, and killed hundreds more.{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Michael |title=The Story of Christianity |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |others=Mathew A Price |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7513-0467-1 |pages=176–177 |quote=At first the new revolutionary government attacked Church corruption and the wealth of the bishops and abbots who ruled the Church -- causes with which many Christians could identify. Clerical privileges were abolished ...}} In October 1793, the Christian calendar was replaced with one reckoned from the date of the Revolution, and Festivals of Liberty, Reason, and the Supreme Being were scheduled. New forms of moral religion emerged, including the deistic Cult of the Supreme Being and the atheistic Cult of Reason, with the revolutionary government briefly mandating observance of the former in April 1794.{{cite book |last=Helmstadter |first=Richard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aw_1aaE0Fb4C |title=Freedom and religion in the nineteenth century |publisher=Stanford Univ. Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8047-3087-7 |page=251}}Heenan, David Kyle. Deism in France 1789-1799. N.p.: U of Wisconsin--Madison, 1953. Print.Ross, David A. Being in Time to the Music. N.p.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. Print. "This Cult of Reason or Deism reached its logical conclusion in the French Revolution..."Fremont-Barnes, p. 119.{{Cite book |last1=Tallett |first1=Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aL4lsWdd-rAC |title=Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789 |date=1991 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-057-9 |editor1=Frank Tallett |pages=1–28 |language=en |chapter=Dechristianizing France: The Year II and the Revolutionary Experience |editor2=Nicholas Atkin}}{{rp|1–17}}

{{Main|Religion in Albania|Islam in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Freedom of religion in Albania|Irreligion in Albania}}

In 1967 an Atheist political leader Enver Hoxha, the head of state of Albania, declared Albania to be the "first atheist state of the world" even though the Soviet Union under Lenin had already been a de facto atheist state.{{cite book |last1=Service |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9mbl_xbWpkC&dq=lenin+first+atheist+state&pg=PT119 |title=Lenin: A Biography |date=21 February 2011 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-0-330-47633-1}}{{cite web |title=Revelations from the Russian Archives: ANTI-RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGNS |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/anti.html |access-date=2 May 2016 |website=Library of Congress |publisher=US Government}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/religiouspolicys00rame |title=Religious Policy in the Soviet Union |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-521-41643-6 |editor-last=Ramet |editor-first=Sabrina Petra. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/religiouspolicys00rame/page/n23 4] |url-access=limited}} Atheist politicians in Albania claimed that religion was foreign to Albania and used this to justify their political enforcement of atheism and suppression of religion. {{R|"Hall_1999"}}

Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti was killed by atheist politicians for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.Sinishta, Gjon (1976). [https://books.google.kz/books?id=8OtJAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y The fulfilled promise: a documentary account of religious persecution in Albania]. Santa Clara: H & F Composing Service. ISBN 978-0-317-18715-1. OCLC 175170260.

Starting on 6{{nbsp}}February 1967, the party began to forcing radical Atheism in place of Abrahamic religions. Hoxha, who had launched a Cultural and Ideological Revolution after being partially inspired by China's Cultural Revolution, encouraged students and workers to use more forceful tactics in order to discourage people from continuing their religious practices; the use of violence was initially condemned.Enver Hoxha, "The Communists Lead by Means of Example, Sacrifices, Abnegation: Discussion in the Organization of the Party, Sector C, of the 'Enver' Plant", 2 March 1967, in Hoxha, E., Vepra, n. 35, Tirana, 1982, pp. 130–131. "In this matter violence, exaggerated or inflated actions must be condemned. Here it is necessary to use persuasion and only persuasion, political and ideological work, so that the ground is prepared for each concrete action against religion."

According to Hoxha, the surge in anti-theist militant Atheist activities began with the youth. The result of this "spontaneous, unprovoked movement" was the demolition or conversion of all 2,169 churches and mosques in Albania.{{Cite web |title=Albania – The Cultural and Ideological Revolution |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-170.html |access-date=14 June 2020 |website=www.country-data.com}} State atheism became official policy, and Albania was declared the world's first atheist state. Town and city names which echoed Abrahamic religious themes were abandoned for secular ones, as well as personal names. By 1968, militant Atheist Hoxha aggressively attacked religion and freedom of faith by stating in a hate speech that "Religion is a fuel kindling fires of all evils".{{Cite book |last=Hoxha |first=Enver |title=Speeches, Conversations, and Articles: 1967–1968 |publisher=The Naim Frashëri Publishing House |year=1969 |location=Tirana |pages=195 |language=English}} During this period religiously based names were also made illegal by Atheist politicians. The Dictionary of People's Names, published in 1982, contained 3,000 approved, secular names. In 1992, Monsignor Dias, the Papal Nuncio for Albania appointed by Pope John Paul II, said that of the 300 Catholic priests present in Albania prior to the Atheists coming to power, only 30 were still active.{{cite news |last=Kamm |first=Henry |date=27 March 1992 |title=Albania's Clerics Lead a Rebirth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/world/albania-s-clerics-lead-a-rebirth.html |access-date=29 May 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In 1990, the policy of state atheism was repealed.{{cite book |last1=Elsie |first1=Robert |title=A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture |date=2001 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-2214-5 |page=18 |language=en}}

{{main|Religion in China|Freedom of religion in China|Irreligion in China|Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party}}

China has adopted a political ideology of state atheism. The government has imposed radical atheism throughout the country by destruction of churches, mosques and other religious temples. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao instigated "struggles" against the Four Olds: "old ideas, customs, culture, and habits of mind".[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/111803/China/71854/Attacks-on-party-members Encyclopædia Britannica Online – China – History: Cultural Revolution]; accessed 10 November 2013 In 1999, the Communist Party launched a three-year drive to promote atheism in Tibet, saying intensifying propaganda on atheism is "especially important for Tibet because atheism plays an extremely important role in promoting economic construction, social advancement and socialist spiritual civilization in the region".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/253345.stm China announces "civilizing" atheism drive in Tibet]; BBC; 12 January 1999 According to Encyclopædia Britannica in 2022, around half of the population claimed to be nonreligious or atheist.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=China - Religion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China/Economic-policies |access-date=28 May 2022 |date= |author=}}

In April 2016, the General Secretary, Xi Jinping who is an Atheist, stated that members of the Chinese Communist Party must be "unyielding Marxist atheists"; in the same month, a government-sanctioned demolition work crew drove a bulldozer over two Chinese Christians who protested against the demolition of their church by refusing to step aside, resulting in death of a woman. Two members of the church demolition crew were later detained by police.{{Cite web |last=CNA |title=Woman bulldozed to death in China signals new wave of oppression |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/33794/woman-bulldozed-to-death-in-china-signals-new-wave-of-oppression |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}

File:Togchin temple ruins - Zuunmod (Mongolia).jpg, one of several 746 Buddhist monasteries destroyed by Atheist politicians.]]

Robert Rupen reports that in the 1920s there were over 112,000 Mongolian Buddhist monks, representing more than 13% of Mongolia's overall population. By the 1940s, nearly every monk was either dead or had apostatized.Jerryson, Michael K. (2007). Mongolian Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of the Sangha. Silkworm Books. ISBN 978-974-9511-26-8.

File:Horloogiyn Choybalsan.jpg. Mongol military general and "political Atheist" ruler of Mongolia, who persecuted Buddhism and forced "state atheism"]]

Atheist anti-buddhist persecutions during Khorloogiin Choibalsan reign

His appointment in 1931 as Minister of Livestock and Agriculture (a position he held until 1935) gave him even greater authority to enforce the policies. Traditional herders were forced off the steppe and into badly managed collective farms, destroying one third of Mongolian livestock.{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=James |title=The Bloody White Baron |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-571-23023-5 |location=London |pages=235}} Over 800 properties belonging to the nobility and the Buddhist faith were confiscated and over 700 head of mostly noble households were executed.{{cite book |last=Becker |first=Jasper |title=Lost Country, Mongolia Revealed |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year=1992 |isbn=0-340-55665-X |location=London |pages=123}}

Choibalsan and other atheist extremists killed17,000 buddhist monks (lamas) in order to impose political atheism.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Natalie |date=2018-06-04 |title=Young monks lead revival of Buddhism in Mongolia after years of repression. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mongolia-monks-idUKKCN1J104O |access-date=2023-07-06 |work=Reuters.}} Buddhist monks who were not murdered were forcibly atheized or secularized.{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=James |title=The Bloody White Baron |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-571-23023-5 |location=London |pages=237}} Thousands more dissident intellectuals, political and government officials labelled "enemies of the revolution," as well as ethnic Buryats and Kazakhs, were also rounded up and killed. Twenty-five persons from top positions in the party and government, 187 from the military leadership, and 36 of the 51 members of the Central Committee were executed.Baabar 1999, p. 362 Following the Russian model, Choibalsan opened gulags in the countryside to imprison dissidents.{{cite book |last=Sandag |first=Shagdariin |url=https://archive.org/details/poisonedarrowsst00sand/page/70 |title=Poisoned arrows: The Stalin-Choibalsan Mongolian massacres, 1921–1941 |publisher=University of Michigan |year=2000 |isbn=0-8133-3710-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/poisonedarrowsst00sand/page/70 70]}} Approximately 746 of the country's Buddhist monasteries were destroyed by Atheist extremists.{{cite web |last1=Chapple |first1=Amos |date=17 October 2024 |title=Mongolia, The Forgotten Soviet Satellite |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/mongolia-soviet-era-photos-communism-socialism-democracy/33155566.html |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=Radio Free Europe}}

File:Bullet holes at angkor wat.jpg bullet holes left at the Angkor Wat temple after forced Atheisation ]]

{{Main|Democratic Kampuchea|Religion in Cambodia}}

The Atheist politician Pol Pot and an atheist propagandists of Khmer Rouge actively persecuted Buddhists during their rule of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.Shenon, Philip (1992-01-02). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/02/world/phnom-penh-journal-lord-buddha-returns-with-artists-his-soldiers.html Phnom Penh Journal; Lord Buddha Returns, With Artists His Soldiers]". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331

Buddhist institutions and temples were destroyed and Buddhist monks and teachers were killed in large numbers by atheists. A third of the country's monasteries were destroyed along with numerous holy texts and items of high artistic quality. 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the Atheist regime. The persecution was undertaken because Pol Pot believed that Buddhism was "a decadent affectation". He sought to eliminate Buddhism's 1,500-year-old mark on Cambodia.

Under the political Atheist Khmer Rouge, all religious practices were banned.Gellately, Robert; Kiernan, Ben (2006). [https://books.google.kz/books?id=k9Ro7b0tWz4C&redir_esc=y The specter of genocide: mass murder in historical perspective]. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82063-9. OCLC 893888702. According to Ben Kiernan, "the Khmer Rouge repressed Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism, but its fiercest extermination campaign was directed against the ethnic Cham Muslim minority."

{{main|Religion in North Korea|Freedom of religion in North Korea|Irreligion in North Korea|6 = Persecution of Christians in North Korea}}

File:Map of state atheism.svg. Supporting sources listed as of January 22, 2018: Afghanistan;Albania; Angola; South Yemen; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Benin; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Cambodia; China; Croatia; Congo; Cuba; Czechia; East Germany; Estonia; Ethiopia; Hungary; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Latvia; Lithuania; Mexico; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Mozambique; North Korea; North Macedonia; Poland; Romania; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vietnam]]

North Korea has a state atheist persectuion of Christians. The North Korean government's Juche ideology has been described as "state-sanctioned atheism" and political Atheism is the government's official position.O'Brien, Joanne (1993). The state of religion atlas. Palmer, Martin., Barrett, David B., Swanston Graphics Limited. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-79376-0. OCLC 28585951

The Persecution of Christians in North Korea by Atheists is an ongoing and systematic human rights violation in North Korea.{{cite web |author=Benedict Rogers |date=22 July 2021 |title=The World Must Not Forgot North Korea's Crimes Against Humanity |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/the-world-must-not-forgot-north-koreas-crimes-against-humanity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905181059/https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/the-world-must-not-forgot-north-koreas-crimes-against-humanity/ |archive-date=5 September 2021 |access-date=5 September 2021 |publisher=The Diplomat}} The Workers' Party of Korea also considers religion a tool of American imperialism and the North Korean state uses this argument to justify its activities.{{cite web |last1=Casper |first1=Jayson |date=21 December 2020 |title=117 Witnesses Detail North Korea's Persecution of Christians |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/december/north-korea-persecution-christians-human-rights-report-kfi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901194615/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/december/north-korea-persecution-christians-human-rights-report-kfi.html |archive-date=1 September 2021 |access-date=1 September 2021 |website=Christianity Today}}

In 2002, it was estimated that there were 12,000 Protestants,{{cite news |author=Caroline Gluck |date=January 6, 2002 |title=Eyewitness: Christianity in North Korea |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1744847.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031209210139/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1744847.stm |archive-date=December 9, 2003 |access-date=August 4, 2012 |publisher=BBC}} and 800 Catholics in North Korea, but South Korean and international church-related groups gave considerably higher estimates, such as 406,000 Christians.Alton, 2013. p. 79. As of 2005 the agency "Religious Intelligence UK" estimated 3,846,000 believers of Korean shamanism, 3,245,000 Chondoists, 1,082,888 Buddhists, 406,000 Christians, and the rest non-believers.Chryssides, Geaves. 2007. p. 110Association of Religion Data Archives: [http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_123_2.asp North Korea: Religious Adherents, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116061455/http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_123_2.asp|date=2018-11-16}}. Data from the World Christian Database.

According to the Christian organization Open Doors, North Korea persecutes Christians more than any other country in the world.{{cite web |title=World Watch List 2012: North Korea No. 1 Persecutor of Christians for 10th Straight Year |url=http://www.opendoorsusa.org/press/press-release/2012/January/Islamic-Majority-Countries-Top-Open-Doors-2012-World-Watch-List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114071906/http://www.opendoorsusa.org/press/press-release/2012/January/Islamic-Majority-Countries-Top-Open-Doors-2012-World-Watch-List |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=Open Doors, January 2, 2012}}

In a study of 117 North Koreans who had been affected by Atheist state persecution which was conducted by the Korea Future Initiative, it was found that Christians made up about 80% of the people who were surveyed.{{Cite web |title=An exceptional report of Korea Future Initiative about religious persecution {{!}} IIRF |url=https://www.iirf.eu/news/other-news/an-exceptional-report-of-korea-future-initiative-about-religious-persecution/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821070026/https://www.iirf.eu/news/other-news/an-exceptional-report-of-korea-future-initiative-about-religious-persecution/ |archive-date=2022-08-21 |access-date=2021-11-01 |website=www.iirf.eu}}

Christian Solidarity Worldwide says that there are numerous reports of people being sent to prison camps{{cite web |title=North Korea: A case to answer, a call to act |url=http://docs-eu.livesiteadmin.com/c8880e0f-f6ed-4585-8f09-4e4b6d11e698/north-korea-a-case-to-answer-a-call-to-act.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021204741/http://docs-eu.livesiteadmin.com/c8880e0f-f6ed-4585-8f09-4e4b6d11e698/north-korea-a-case-to-answer-a-call-to-act.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 2007}} and subjected to torture and inhuman treatment because of their faith.{{cite web |title=50,000 Christians imprisoned in North Korea |url=http://www.radiovaticana.org/IN2/articolo.asp?c=479048 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908034043/http://www.radiovaticana.org/IN2/articolo.asp?c=479048 |archive-date=September 8, 2012 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=Vatican Radio, April 15, 2011}} The family members of reported Christians are also said to be targeted, including children. The youngest of these recorded detainees was two years old at the time of their arrest.{{Cite web |title=North Korea |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/north-korea/ |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=United States Department of State 2022 |language=en-US}}

Open Doors estimates that 50,000-70,000 Christians are held in North Korean prison camps.{{cite web |title=Death of Kim Jong-Il may not change much for North Korean Christians |work=Open Doors UK, December 2011 |url=http://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/kim_jong_il.php |access-date=January 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304015959/http://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/kim_jong_il.php |archive-date=March 4, 2012}}{{Cite web|title=Christians in North Korea face torture, execution by firing squad: USCIRF report|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/north-korean-christians-face-torture-execution-by-firing-squad.html|access-date=2021-09-11|website=The Christian Post|date=5 September 2021 |language=en-US|archive-date=2021-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911154838/https://www.christianpost.com/news/north-korean-christians-face-torture-execution-by-firing-squad.html|url-status=live}} According to the Korea Future Initiative, Christians are "disproportionally imprisoned" compared to North Koreans of other faiths.

According to interviews which have been given by refugees, if the North Korean authorities discover that North Korean refugees who were deported from China have converted to Christianity, they are subjected to harsher treatment, torture, and prolonged imprisonment.{{cite web |title=A prison without bars, Eyewitness accounts of the persecution of members of religious groups and repatriated refugees (p. 27–31) |url=http://northkoreanchristians.com/prisonwithoutbars.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227175933/http://northkoreanchristians.com/prisonwithoutbars.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, March 2008}}

According to AsiaNews, during an Atheist leader Kim Il Sung's administration, all non-foreign Catholic priests were killed,{{cite web |title=N. Korea martyrs slated for sainthood |url=http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view/post/11803293318500/N_Korea_martyrs_slated_for_sainthood/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314041217/http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view/post/11803293318500/N_Korea_martyrs_slated_for_sainthood/ |archive-date=March 14, 2013 |access-date=January 10, 2012 |work=Religion and Spirituality, May 28, 2007}} and Protestant leaders who did not renounce their faith were purged as "American spies."{{cite news |author=Andrei Lankov |date=March 16, 2005 |title=North Korea's missionary position |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC16Dg03.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318052905/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC16Dg03.html |archive-date=March 18, 2005 |access-date=August 4, 2012 |publisher=Asia Times}} The martyrdom of the Benedictine monks of Tokwon Abbey was documented{{cite web |title=Die Märtyrer von Tokwon: Historical Preliminary Notes |url=http://www.missionsbenediktiner.de/seligsprechung/cms/kategorie/index.php?kategorieid=59&parentid=59&languageid=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922223517/http://www.missionsbenediktiner.de/seligsprechung/cms/kategorie/index.php?kategorieid=59&parentid=59&languageid=1 |archive-date=September 22, 2013 |access-date=January 10, 2012 |website=Missionsbenediktiner}} as the process of beatification was initiated for them.{{cite web |title=North Korean Martyrs, the first process for beatification gets underway |url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9368 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925222950/http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9368 |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |access-date=January 10, 2012 |work=Asia News, May 25, 2007}}

There are reports of public executions of Christians,{{cite web |title=North Korea crushing churches |url=http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=5af3e8a1-30ed-4726-9643-e04eec4e3879 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215021406/http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=5af3e8a1-30ed-4726-9643-e04eec4e3879 |archive-date=February 15, 2012 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=National Post Canada, November 18, 2005}}{{cite web |date=27 November 2005 |title=New Reports Tell of Executions, Torture of Christians in North Korea |url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/new.reports.tell.of.executions.torture.of.christians.in.north.korea/4623-2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813102840/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/new.reports.tell.of.executions.torture.of.christians.in.north.korea/4623-2.htm |archive-date=August 13, 2012 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=Christian Today, May 27, 2005}} with a North Korean defector reporting that one Christian was publicly executed in front of a thousand people. For example, Ri Hyon-ok was allegedly publicly executed in Ryongchon on June 16, 2009, for giving out Bibles, while her husband and children were deported to the Hoeryong political prison camp.{{cite web |date=24 July 2009 |title=North Korea executes woman for giving out bibles |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/item_RtoJPergqcqj7mhgvIhyoM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920233928/https://nypost.com/2009/07/24/north-korea-executes-woman-for-giving-out-bibles/ |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=New York Post, July 24, 2009}}

From 1949 to the mid-1950s, under the rule of Kim Il Sung, all churches were closed.{{cite web |title=Destroyed Church in Wonsan Vicinity |url=http://picasaweb.google.com/WillibrordDriever/TokwonAbteikircheNachDerZerstorung#5318714733524560162 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718033834/http://picasaweb.google.com/WillibrordDriever/TokwonAbteikircheNachDerZerstorung%235318714733524560162 |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |access-date=January 10, 2012 |work=Willibroard's Gallery}}{{cite web |date=22 December 2007 |title=First Church Building Opened in Communist North Korea |url=http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0809_Church_opened_North_.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129115833/http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0809_Church_opened_North_.html |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |access-date=January 10, 2012 |work=The Forerunner, December 2007}} However, since 1988, 4 church buildings have been erected in Pyongyang with foreign donations:{{cite web |title=Giving Out Bibles Leads to Executions |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/25/report-giving-out-bibles-led-to-execution/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226184514/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/25/report-giving-out-bibles-led-to-execution/ |archive-date=December 26, 2014 |access-date=October 7, 2014 |work=Washington Times, December 8, 2006}} one Catholic, two Protestant and one Russian Orthodox. The services are used to bring in foreign currency from foreign visitors, including South Koreans. It is claimed that the churches are solely there for propaganda purposes.{{Cite news |date=2002-01-06 |title=Eyewitness: Christianity in North Korea |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1744847.stm |access-date=2021-11-01 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}{{cite web |date=2 August 2005 |title=Bongsu Church in Pyongyang a Fraud, Only for False Propagation of Freedom of Religion |url=http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01600&num=237 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122133545/http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01600&num=237 |archive-date=January 22, 2014 |access-date=January 11, 2012 |work=Daily NK, August 2, 2005}}{{Cite news |date=2016-12-26 |title=Remembering North Korea's Christian martyrs |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38404012 |access-date=2021-10-19 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Defectors to South Korea claim that most North Koreans are unaware the churches exist.{{Cite web |title=North Korea |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom/north-korea/ |access-date=2022-01-28 |website=United States Department of State 2020 |language=en-US}} According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, it is known that underground churches are mainly located along the western region of North Korea, possibly due to its proximity to China. These underground churches operate on a very small scale or within family units. The distribution of religious materials and evangelism are carried out in very small groups, maintaining an extremely high level of secrecy.{{cite news |last=Kim |first=Shin ui |date=11 September 2024 |title="北, 종교 자유와 인권 악화 불구... 지하교회와 성경 요청 증가" |trans-title=Despite the worsening of religious freedom and human rights in North Korea, requests for underground churches and Bibles are increasing. |url=https://www.christiantoday.co.kr/news/363752 |access-date=12 September 2024 |newspaper=Christian Today |language=ko}}

The Bible is reported to have been banned in North Korea and several incidents have emerged in which Christians were arrested or executed for possessing and/or selling the book, while other reports state that they have their own translated Bible.{{Cite web |date=June 24, 2021 |title=VOM Korea uses Bibles translated by the North Korean government |url=https://www.mnnonline.org/news/vom-korea-uses-north-korean-bible-translation/ |website=Mission Network News}}{{cite news |last=Tertitskiy |first=Fyodor |date=6 June 2016 |title=The good things in North Korea: Taking a moment to recognize good art, good scholarship and good people |url=https://www.nknews.org/2016/06/the-good-things-in-north-korea/ |publisher=NK News}}{{cite web |last=Dillmuth |first=Timothy |date=14 May 2014 |title=Where Did Our North Korean Bible Translation Come From? |url=http://dotheword.org/2014/05/14/where-did-our-north-korean-bible-translations-come-from/ |publisher=Do the Word}}

In 2014, an American citizen, Jeffrey Edward Fowle, was detained for several months for proselytism after authorities discovered him leaving a Bible behind in a public restroom during his vacation in the country.{{Cite web |date=2014-08-02 |title=U.S. Tourist Was Detained In North Korea For Leaving Bible In A Bathroom |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeffrey-fowle-north-korea_n_5643464 |access-date=2021-11-01 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}

There are only 5 Christian churches in Pyongyang, 3 of them are Protestant, one of them is Eastern Orthodox, and one of them is Catholic.{{cite web |title=Religion in Pyongyang, North Korea |url=https://www.koreakonsult.com/Attraction_Pyongyang_religion_eng.html}}

After 1,500 churches were destroyed during the rule of Atheist political leader Kim Il Sung from 1948 to 1994, three churches were built in Pyongyang.

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."[https://web.archive.org/web/20071023151637/http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=10278 30Giorni - Korea, for a reconciliation between North and South (Interview with Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk by Gianni Cardinale)]". 30giorni.it. Archived from [http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=10278 the original] on 2007-10-23 In November 2013, it was reported that the repression of religious people led to the public execution of 80 people, some of them were killed for possessing Bibles."[https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-publicly-executes-80-some-for-videos-or-bibles-report-says/ North Korea publicly executes 80, some for videos or Bibles, report says | Fox News]". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2019-05-20.

{{main|Religion in Russia|Religion in the Soviet Union|Irreligion in Russia|Irreligion in Kazakhstan|Irreligion in Azerbaijan|Irreligion in Estonia|Secularism in Georgia (country)|Soviet anti-religious legislation}}

File:Bezbozhnik u stanka 22-1929.jpg in 1929, the magazine of the Society of the Godless. The first five-year plan of the Soviet Union is shown crushing the gods of the Abrahamic religions.]]

File:Bezbozhnik u stanka 15-1929.jpg

State atheism or political atheism (gosateizm, a syllabic abbreviation of "state" [gosudarstvo] and "atheism" [ateizm]) was a major goal of the official Soviet ideology. This phenomenon, which lasted for seven decades, was new in world history. Atheist political leaders and atheist propagandists engaged in extremist activities such as destroying places of worship, executing and killing of religious leaders, flooding schools and media with anti-religious Atheist propaganda. It sought to make religion disappear by various means. Thus, the USSR became the first state to have as one objective of its official ideology the elimination of the existing religion, and the prevention of the future implanting of religious belief, with the goal of establishing state atheism (gosateizm).{{harvnb|Anderson|1994|page=[https://archive.org/details/religionstatepol0000ande/page/3 3]}}

From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, such organizations as the League of Militant Atheists ridiculed all religions and harassed believers. The league was a "nominally independent organization established by the Communist Party to promote atheism". It published its own newspaper, and journals, sponsored lectures, and organized demonstrations that lampooned religion and promoted atheism. Anti-religious and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every portion of soviet life from schools to the media and even on to substituting rituals to replace religious ones.

Within about a year of the revolution, radical Atheists in the period from 1922 to 1926, killed 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests (a much greater number was subjected to persecution)."[https://countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm Russia - The Russian Orthodox Church]". countrystudies.us. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2025-02-25. Most seminaries were closed, and publication of religious writing was banned. A meeting of the Antireligious Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) that occurred on 23 May 1929 estimated the portion of believers in the USSR at 80 percent, though this percentage may be understated to prove the successfulness of the struggle with religion.Mandelstam Balzer, Marjorie (2009). [https://books.google.kz/books?id=DEufvUyRcygC&redir_esc=y Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader]. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-2415-4. The Russian Orthodox Church, which had 54,000 parishes before World War I, was reduced to 500 by 1940. Overall, by that same year 90 percent of the churches, synagogues, and mosques that had been operating in 1917 were either forcibly closed, converted, or destroyed by radical Atheist political leaders.

{{Main articles|Red Shirts (Mexico)|Cristero War}}

{{Main article|Red Terror (Spain)|White Terror (Spain)}}

In 2023 China, North Korea,{{R|"Obrien_1993_p108"}} and Vietnam, are officially atheist. Cuba was an atheist state until 2019.

Various persecutions of Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Falun Gong are ongoing by Atheist politicians of China.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Anderson |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/religionstatepol0000ande/page/3 |title=Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-521-46784-5 |location=Cambridge, England |page=[https://archive.org/details/religionstatepol0000ande/page/3 3] |url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book |last=Doyle |first=William |author-link = William Doyle (historian) |title = The Oxford History of the French Revolution |title-link = The Oxford History of the French Revolution |year=1989 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn = 978-0-19-822781-6 }}

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