ATHEISTIC PROPAGANDA IN KHAKASSIA IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1970 - THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1980S (ON THE EXAMPLE OF PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITIES)

Abstract

Atheistic propaganda as an element of the Soviet stateconfessional policy continued to play an important role in the era of «stagnation», but was already carried out with much less intensity than in previous periods. At the same time, the atheistic propaganda in Khakassia during the period under review periodically intensified in places of localization of religious communities with a high degree of activity of believers. The phenomena of «religious extremism» and the emigration moods of the Pentecostals in the city of Chernogorsk attracted the authorities' special attention. Atheistic work among these groups of believers was carried out with a high degree of intensity. It included work with believers to register communities. Another important task for agitators during this period was to reduce the reproduction of new members of religious groups at the expense of the younger generation from the families of believers. The third important area of work was to increase social and political activity among believers employed in production.