Candle in the Wind: Religion in the Soviet Union

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328 pp. Religion has held a unique place in Soviet society: it is the only officially tolerated form of divergent ideology. Successive constitutions since 1917 have guaranteed 'fre edom to perform religious rites.' In this volume, eleven authors survey the history and current situation of religion. They look at the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian bodies-Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox-and also at Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. They describe the laws and the government agencies used to repress and persecute religious believers, how various religious bodies have responded to repression, and the prospects for reform under the initiatives of Mikhail Gorbachev. CONTENTS: Religion in Russia: To 1917; Church and State 1917-1964; Legislative and Administrative Control of Religious Bodies; Anti-Religious Propaganda and Education; How Religious Bodies Respond to State Control; Religious Persecution and Discrimination; Buddhism; Islam; Judaism; The Religious Renaissance: Myth or Reality?; Gorbachev's Reforms and Religion. Show more