Some Differences Between Religion in Chinese and Russian Communism

The Chinese faith has been mainly unchanged for almost three thousand years and, most importantly, their religions (Zen, Buddhism, Confucianism) were never state-religions. In other words, the political power and people's faith are two different things. Zen is people's faith, without priests. All their religions are not hierarchical, that is organised in an official structure so that it would be nothing to abolish on an official way. It is not surprising that Chines communists did not forbid religious fetes. Mao Tze Dun, who was a clever man, probably thought that mixing politics and faith would be a mistake.
Lenin instead did it but it is not surprising too. Why? I shall try to explain. He had an European education. Most Europeans are Christians. Lenin was as well but not entirely. Marx and Engels, his ideological mentors, were not at all.
In Europe, beginning with Carol the Great, who accepted the crown from the Pope in the year 800, all the countries had Christianity as state-religion till 1789 when France removed the monarchy and religion at the same time. (It is not the French that invented democracy but they made the most noise around it.) The mentors of Communism thought to replace the Christian doctrine with the communist one. That's why they saw in religion their ideological enemy.

For those who lived under the soviet influence it was clear that the communist party, as the single party, and the Inquisition of 14-15 centuries are more similar than different. The communists had one more reasons to be afraid by the church. They started from the idea that, in any democracy, the politicians come to power thanks to the people's vote. We want universal vote, don't we? Most people are non educated and easy to handle with simple and lying arguments.
This is the essence of the communist doctrine: handling people with simple ideas. Intellectuals and priests used to be the communists' enemies. That's why the first thing which the Russians did in Romania after the II WW was to kill them. I assure you of their efficiency.

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