ABSTRACT
Despite the 1929 legislation, the churches in the Soviet Union have in fact been allowed to run very few monasteries and theological educational establishments and to undertake only a small amount of publishing activity since the Second World War. The churches in the Soviet Union have, then, survived; they are also undergoing revival. Under Mikhail Gorbachev there has been open recognition of the moral collapse and corruption in Soviet society, and there has been widespread discussion of the potential role of religion in keeping a society morally sound. Gorbachev’s own pronouncements on religion have contained little that is new. His most publicized remarks in this field were made in November 1986 in Tashkent when he called for “a decisive and uncompromising struggle” with religion. The world view to unite human spirit in the struggle for survival should be described in moral terms common for all men.
