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An early form of mass antireligion was expressed during the [[:en:Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], as early as the 17th century. [[:en:Baron d'Holbach]]'s book ''Christianity Unveiled'' published in 1761, attacked not only Christianity but religion in general as an impediment to the moral advancement of humanity.{{cn|date=April 2017}} According to historian [[:en:Michael Burleigh]], antireligion found its first mass expression of barbarity in [[:en:French Revolution|revolutionary France]] as "organised ... irreligion...an 'anti-clerical' and self-styled 'non-religious' state" responded violently to religious influence over society.<ref>[[:en:Michael Burleigh]] ''Earthly Powers'' p 96-97 {{ISBN|0-00-719572-9}}</ref> [[:en:Criticism of religion|Critic of religion]] [[:en:Christopher Hitchens]] was a well-known antireligionist of the 20th century who maintained opposition to religion, arguing that [[:en:Freedom of speech|free expression]] and scientific discovery should replace religion as the method of teaching [[:en:ethics]] and defining human civilization.
An early form of mass antireligion was expressed during the [[:en:Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], as early as the 17th century. [[:en:Baron d'Holbach]]'s book ''Christianity Unveiled'' published in 1761, attacked not only Christianity but religion in general as an impediment to the moral advancement of humanity.{{cn|date=April 2017}} According to historian [[:en:Michael Burleigh]], antireligion found its first mass expression of barbarity in [[:en:French Revolution|revolutionary France]] as "organised ... irreligion...an 'anti-clerical' and self-styled 'non-religious' state" responded violently to religious influence over society.<ref>[[:en:Michael Burleigh]] ''Earthly Powers'' p 96-97 {{ISBN|0-00-719572-9}}</ref> [[:en:Criticism of religion|Critic of religion]] [[:en:Christopher Hitchens]] was a well-known antireligionist of the 20th century who maintained opposition to religion, arguing that [[:en:Freedom of speech|free expression]] and scientific discovery should replace religion as the method of teaching [[:en:ethics]] and defining human civilization.


Antireligionism became increasingly violent with the rise of [[:en:communism]], where hostility to all religions as political enemies of the state was realized at the national level.{{fact|date=April 2017}}
Antireligionism became increasingly violent with the rise of [[:en:communism]], where hostility to all religions as political enemies of the state was realized at the national level.


The [[:en:Soviet Union]] adopted the political ideology of [[:en:Marxism-Leninism]] and viewed religion as closely tied with foreign nationality.  It thus directed varying degrees of antireligious efforts at varying faiths, depending on what threat they posed to the Soviet state, and their willingness to subordinate itself to political authority.  These antireligious campaigns were directed at all faiths,<ref name="countrystudies.us">http://www.countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm</ref><ref name="country-data.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12521.html| title=Soviet Union: Policy toward nationalities and religions in practice| date=May 1989| website=www.country-data.com| accessdate=2017-04-25}}</ref> including [[:en:Christian]], [[:en:Islamic]], [[:en:Buddhist]], [[:en:Jewish]], and [[:en:Shamanist]] religions. In the 1930s, during the [[:en:Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]ist period, the government destroyed church buildings or put them into secular use (as museums of religion and atheism, clubs or storage facilities), executed clergy, prohibited the publication of most religious material and persecuted some members of religious groups.<ref name="countrystudies.us"/><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=125428|pages=20–30|last1=Timasheff|first1=N. S.|title=The Church in the Soviet Union 1917 - 1941|volume=1|issue=1|journal=Russian Review|year=1941|doi=10.2307/125428}}</ref><ref name="USGOV1">{{cite web|title=Revelations from the Russian Archives: ANTI-RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGNS|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/anti.html|website=Library of Congress|quote=The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. Toward that end, the Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in the schools. Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed.|publisher=US Government|accessdate=2 May 2016}}</ref> Less violent attempts to reduce or eliminate the influence of religion in society were also carried out at other times in Soviet history. For instance, it was usually necessary to be an atheist in order to acquire any important political position or any prestigious scientific job; thus many people became atheists in order to advance their careers. Sources disagree on the results of the antireligious campaigns, with some claiming the death of 21 million [[:en:Russia]]n [[:en:Orthodox Christians]] by the Soviet government, not including other religious groups or persecutions without killings,<ref>World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200, p.230-246 Tables 4-5 & 4-10 By David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, Christopher R. Guidry, Peter F. Crossing NOTE: They define 'martyr' on p235 as only including christians killed for faith and excluding other christians killed</ref> and other sources stating that only up to 500,000 [[:en:Russia]]n [[:en:Orthodox Christians]] were persecuted by the Soviet government, not including other religious groups.<ref>[http://www.pravmir.ru/skolko-repressirovannyx-v-rossii-postradali-za-xrista Емельянов Н.Е. Сколько репрессированных в России пострадали за Христа?]</ref> The [[:en:Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]] targeted numerous clergy for arrest and interrogation as enemies of the state,<ref name=mphdr>{{ro}}Martiri pentru Hristos, din România, în perioada regimului comunist, Editura Institutului Biblic È™i de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, BucureÈ™ti, 2007, pp.34–35</ref> and many churches, mosques, and synagogues were converted to secular uses.<ref name="BrezianuSpânu2010">{{cite book|last1=Brezianu|first1=Andrei|title=The A to Z of Moldova|accessdate=21 July 2016|date=26 May 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|language=English|isbn=978-0-8108-7211-0|page=98|quote=Communist Atheism. Official doctrine of the Soviet regime, also called "scientific atheism." It was aggressively applied to Moldova, immediately after the 1940 annexation, when churches were profaned, clergy assaulted, and signs and public symbols of religion were prohibited, and it was applied again throughout the subsequent decades of the Soviet regime, after 1944. ... churches were either pulled down or turned into facilities designed to serve secular or even profane purposes ... the Transfiguration Cathedral (previously dedicated to St. Constantine and Helena) housed the city's planetarium.}}</ref>
The [[:en:Soviet Union]] adopted the political ideology of [[:en:Marxism-Leninism]] and viewed religion as closely tied with foreign nationality.  It thus directed varying degrees of antireligious efforts at varying faiths, depending on what threat they posed to the Soviet state, and their willingness to subordinate itself to political authority.  These antireligious campaigns were directed at all faiths,<ref name="countrystudies.us">http://www.countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm</ref><ref name="country-data.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12521.html| title=Soviet Union: Policy toward nationalities and religions in practice| date=May 1989| website=www.country-data.com| accessdate=2017-04-25}}</ref> including [[:en:Christian]], [[:en:Islamic]], [[:en:Buddhist]], [[:en:Jewish]], and [[:en:Shamanist]] religions. In the 1930s, during the [[:en:Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]ist period, the government destroyed church buildings or put them into secular use (as museums of religion and atheism, clubs or storage facilities), executed clergy, prohibited the publication of most religious material and persecuted some members of religious groups.<ref name="countrystudies.us"/><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=125428|pages=20–30|last1=Timasheff|first1=N. S.|title=The Church in the Soviet Union 1917 - 1941|volume=1|issue=1|journal=Russian Review|year=1941|doi=10.2307/125428}}</ref><ref name="USGOV1">{{cite web|title=Revelations from the Russian Archives: ANTI-RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGNS|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/anti.html|website=Library of Congress|quote=The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. Toward that end, the Communist regime confiscated church property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in the schools. Actions toward particular religions, however, were determined by State interests, and most organized religions were never outlawed.|publisher=US Government|accessdate=2 May 2016}}</ref> Less violent attempts to reduce or eliminate the influence of religion in society were also carried out at other times in Soviet history. For instance, it was usually necessary to be an atheist in order to acquire any important political position or any prestigious scientific job; thus many people became atheists in order to advance their careers. Sources disagree on the results of the antireligious campaigns, with some claiming the death of 21 million [[:en:Russia]]n [[:en:Orthodox Christians]] by the Soviet government, not including other religious groups or persecutions without killings,<ref>World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200, p.230-246 Tables 4-5 & 4-10 By David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, Christopher R. Guidry, Peter F. Crossing NOTE: They define 'martyr' on p235 as only including christians killed for faith and excluding other christians killed</ref> and other sources stating that only up to 500,000 [[:en:Russia]]n [[:en:Orthodox Christians]] were persecuted by the Soviet government, not including other religious groups.<ref>[http://www.pravmir.ru/skolko-repressirovannyx-v-rossii-postradali-za-xrista Емельянов Н.Е. Сколько репрессированных в России пострадали за Христа?]</ref> The [[:en:Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]] targeted numerous clergy for arrest and interrogation as enemies of the state,<ref name=mphdr>{{ro}}Martiri pentru Hristos, din România, în perioada regimului comunist, Editura Institutului Biblic È™i de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, BucureÈ™ti, 2007, pp.34–35</ref> and many churches, mosques, and synagogues were converted to secular uses.<ref name="BrezianuSpânu2010">{{cite book|last1=Brezianu|first1=Andrei|title=The A to Z of Moldova|accessdate=21 July 2016|date=26 May 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|language=English|isbn=978-0-8108-7211-0|page=98|quote=Communist Atheism. Official doctrine of the Soviet regime, also called "scientific atheism." It was aggressively applied to Moldova, immediately after the 1940 annexation, when churches were profaned, clergy assaulted, and signs and public symbols of religion were prohibited, and it was applied again throughout the subsequent decades of the Soviet regime, after 1944. ... churches were either pulled down or turned into facilities designed to serve secular or even profane purposes ... the Transfiguration Cathedral (previously dedicated to St. Constantine and Helena) housed the city's planetarium.}}</ref>
The [[:en:People's Republic of Albania]] had an objective for the eventual elimination of all religion in [[:en:Albania]] with the goal of creating an atheist nation, which it declared it had achieved in 1967.  In 1976, Albania implemented a constitutional ban on religious activity and propaganda.<ref name="ReferenceA">http://countrystudies.us/albania/56.htm</ref> The government nationalised most property of religious institutions and used it for non-religious purposes, such as cultural centers for young people. Religious literature was banned. Many clergy and theists were tried, tortured, and executed. All foreign [[:en:Roman Catholic]] clergy were expelled in 1946.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200, p.230-246 Tables 4-10 By David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, Christopher R. Guidry, Peter F. Crossing</ref> Albania was the only country that ever officially banned religion.{{cn|date=April 2017}}
The [[:en:People's Republic of Albania]] had an objective for the eventual elimination of all religion in [[:en:Albania]] with the goal of creating an atheist nation, which it declared it had achieved in 1967.  In 1976, Albania implemented a constitutional ban on religious activity and propaganda.<ref name="ReferenceA">http://countrystudies.us/albania/56.htm</ref> The government nationalised most property of religious institutions and used it for non-religious purposes, such as cultural centers for young people. Religious literature was banned. Many clergy and theists were tried, tortured, and executed. All foreign [[:en:Roman Catholic]] clergy were expelled in 1946.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200, p.230-246 Tables 4-10 By David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, Christopher R. Guidry, Peter F. Crossing</ref> Albania was the only country that ever officially banned religion.


Authorities in the [[:en:People's Republic of Romania]] aimed to move towards an atheistic society, in which religion would be considered as the ideology of the bourgeoisie; the régime also set to propagate among the laboring masses in science, politics and culture to help them fight [[:en:superstition]] and [[:en:mysticism]], and initiated an anti-religious campaign aimed to reducing the influence of religion in society.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Leustean|first1=Lucian|title=Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65|date=2009|publisher=la University of Michigan|isbn=3447058749|page=92-93|url=|quote= One of the main aims of the regime was to transform Romania into a communist atheist society in which religion was considered the ideology of the bourgeoise. Thus in 1949, the Society for the Popularisation of Science and Culture was established. The main objective of this anti-religious society was 'to propagate among the labouring masses political and scientific knowledge to fight obscurantism, superstition, mysticism, and all other influences of bourgeois ideologies'. ...the regime's anti-religious campaign aimed to discredit the church and to reduce the influence of religion in society.}}</ref> After the communist takeover in 1948, some church personnel were imprisoned for political crimes.<ref name="Referenceb">January 23, 1999, issue of the London Tablet by Jonathen Luxmoore,  Published by Chesterton Review Feb/May 1999</ref>
Authorities in the [[:en:People's Republic of Romania]] aimed to move towards an atheistic society, in which religion would be considered as the ideology of the bourgeoisie; the régime also set to propagate among the laboring masses in science, politics and culture to help them fight [[:en:superstition]] and [[:en:mysticism]], and initiated an anti-religious campaign aimed to reducing the influence of religion in society.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Leustean|first1=Lucian|title=Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65|date=2009|publisher=la University of Michigan|isbn=3447058749|page=92-93|url=|quote= One of the main aims of the regime was to transform Romania into a communist atheist society in which religion was considered the ideology of the bourgeoise. Thus in 1949, the Society for the Popularisation of Science and Culture was established. The main objective of this anti-religious society was 'to propagate among the labouring masses political and scientific knowledge to fight obscurantism, superstition, mysticism, and all other influences of bourgeois ideologies'. ...the regime's anti-religious campaign aimed to discredit the church and to reduce the influence of religion in society.}}</ref> After the communist takeover in 1948, some church personnel were imprisoned for political crimes.<ref name="Referenceb">January 23, 1999, issue of the London Tablet by Jonathen Luxmoore,  Published by Chesterton Review Feb/May 1999</ref>
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