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  Albanian Catholic Bulletin
  The Triumph of Atheist Thought
  As the classics of Marxism-Leninism have
  emphasized, under the socialist order, society
  passes from the reign of necessity into that of
  freedom. This also includes the freedom of the
  human consciousness, the freedom to organize
  society's entire activity in compliance with the
  objective laws of development. Comrade Enver
  has said that 'the ideal of socialism is not only to
  liberate workers socially and economically, but
  to liberate them from the spiritual enslavement
  of foreign ideologies. Socialism is the only order
  which creates all the conditions for the realization of the people's all-round emancipation.
  . . . throughout our country's history religions and cults have not only been the loaded
  weapon used by social reaction, but also a
  weapon of the occupying enemies. Our people
  have never confused faith with nation, religion
  with the homeland. The slogan of the (19th
  century Albanian national liberation movement)
  the Renaissance: "The religion of the Albanian
  is albanianism'', is a synthesis of this evaluation
  in the consciousness of the Albanian people.
  Having seen that religion's obedient clergy
  were servants of every occupier and every
  enemy, and having seen that they changed their
  flag according to the foreigner's emblem, experience convinced our people that churches and
  mosques were the nest of anti-Albanianism and
  of the highest treason against the homeland.
  This experience was made even more clearly
  evident by the national liberation struggle when,
  very openly, the Catholic clergy and that of other
  faiths, welcomed Fascism and Nazism and followed them in all their activities in opposition to
  the people's aspirations and patriotic spirit. The
  people could not forgive even the clergy who
  held themselves to be 'holy' for this betrayal.
  The great socio-economic transformations in
  these four decades of socialism have also been a
  convincing experience that everything in society
  is created solely through the people's toil, without any 'heavenly' aid, but by relying totally on
  our own strength. The implementation of the
  principle of relying upon our internal strength
  and the achievements of socialism in compliance
  with that principle have shown that nothing falls
  from the sky. (If we exclude the rain!)
  The socialist ideology, as our country's ruling
  ideology, has created the subjective conditions
  under which the people's minds can be enlightened by scientific truth. Due to its proletarian class nature, socialist ideology cannot
  coexist with the opium of religion, with deception and demagogy.
  Other people's bitter experience has also convinced our people that religion is inextricably
  tied to reaction of all hues. The re-establishment
  of capitalism in the Soviet Union also brought
  about the revitalization and flourishing of religion, because it is the best instrument with which
  to pacify the workers' consciousness. Today the
  Soviet revisionists praise themselves because
  they have "created the possibility for the Tad-
  zhikistan women to go to the mosque". The
  U.S. Congress has included in the text of its oath
  these words: "This people under God. ..."
  The propaganda of the Vatican and U.S. diplomats who say that "Albania has persecuted
  religious leaders", and that "there is terrorism
  against believers", is part of their hostile activity
  against socialist Albania, the people, and the
  revolution. Socialism does not act against the
  clergy and the believers with persecution and
  reprisals, as Bismark did against the Catholic
  Church in Germany under the pretext of the
  so-called "Kulturkampf". Our Party's struggle
  against religious faith has always been a struggle
  to raise human dignity. It argues and opposes
  every kind of faith, but respects its bearers who
  have become believers under particular historical conditions and who, thus, cannot be im
  mediately liberated from this.
  Liberating our people's consciousness from
  unfounded religious belief has been a gradual
  process of conviction. The separation of the state
  and schools from the Church, the daily education
  of society's members with socialist ideals, the
  unmasking of the clergy's hostile activity, and
  the revolutionary movement against religion and
  backward customs have been some of the steps
  through which this struggle has passed.
  Throughout this movement we have always respected Comrade Enver's saying:
  to believe or not to believe is each
  person's right. It is a matter of cosnci-
  ence and not a matter of institutions, or
  the desires of the mullahs, despots or
  the Pope of Rome.
  In our country, religion was not fought with
  laws and state decrees, or with constrictions and
  force. This was also expressed by a mother of the
  Greek minority when she answered a foreign
  journalist who asked her ' 'Where is your church
  and your priest?"
  She answered that' 'neither the church nor the
  priest saved me from the landlords. When they
  ruled, they neither gave me bread to eat, nor
  water to drink, nor electricity, nor did they
  educate my sons and daughters.... That is why
  I love the Party and not the priest. ..."
  Whole generations are being raised in Albania
  without any religious feelings. They look at the
  preserved religious buildings and see in them
  only their artistic beauty. Our society continues
  even today to cleanse the consciousness from he
  remnants of religion and faith which cannot be
  rooted out in one day or several years, but with a
  continual revolutionary struggle.
  Translated from the Albanian, Zeri i Popullit
  October 26, 1983
  34
  
  Albanian Catholic Bulletin
  The Triumph of Atheist Thought
  As the classics of Marxism-Leninism have
  emphasized, under the socialist order, society
  passes from the reign of necessity into that of
  freedom. This also includes the freedom of the
  human consciousness, the freedom to organize
  society's entire activity in compliance with the
  objective laws of development. Comrade Enver
  has said that 'the ideal of socialism is not only to
  liberate workers socially and economically, but
  to liberate them from the spiritual enslavement
  of foreign ideologies. Socialism is the only order
  which creates all the conditions for the realization of the people's all-round emancipation.
  . . . throughout our country's history religions and cults have not only been the loaded
  weapon used by social reaction, but also a
  weapon of the occupying enemies. Our people
  have never confused faith with nation, religion
  with the homeland. The slogan of the (19th
  century Albanian national liberation movement)
  the Renaissance: "The religion of the Albanian
  is albanianism'', is a synthesis of this evaluation
  in the consciousness of the Albanian people.
  Having seen that religion's obedient clergy
  were servants of every occupier and every
  enemy, and having seen that they changed their
  flag according to the foreigner's emblem, experience convinced our people that churches and
  mosques were the nest of anti-Albanianism and
  of the highest treason against the homeland.
  This experience was made even more clearly
  evident by the national liberation struggle when,
  very openly, the Catholic clergy and that of other
  faiths, welcomed Fascism and Nazism and followed them in all their activities in opposition to
  the people's aspirations and patriotic spirit. The
  people could not forgive even the clergy who
  held themselves to be 'holy' for this betrayal.
  The great socio-economic transformations in
  these four decades of socialism have also been a
  convincing experience that everything in society
  is created solely through the people's toil, without any 'heavenly' aid, but by relying totally on
  our own strength. The implementation of the
  principle of relying upon our internal strength
  and the achievements of socialism in compliance
  with that principle have shown that nothing falls
  from the sky. (If we exclude the rain!)
  The socialist ideology, as our country's ruling
  ideology, has created the subjective conditions
  under which the people's minds can be enlightened by scientific truth. Due to its proletarian class nature, socialist ideology cannot
  coexist with the opium of religion, with deception and demagogy.
  Other people's bitter experience has also convinced our people that religion is inextricably
  tied to reaction of all hues. The re-establishment
  of capitalism in the Soviet Union also brought
  about the revitalization and flourishing of religion, because it is the best instrument with which
  to pacify the workers' consciousness. Today the
  Soviet revisionists praise themselves because
  they have "created the possibility for the Tad-
  zhikistan women to go to the mosque". The
  U.S. Congress has included in the text of its oath
  these words: "This people under God. ..."
  The propaganda of the Vatican and U.S. diplomats who say that "Albania has persecuted
  religious leaders", and that "there is terrorism
  against believers", is part of their hostile activity
  against socialist Albania, the people, and the
  revolution. Socialism does not act against the
  clergy and the believers with persecution and
  reprisals, as Bismark did against the Catholic
  Church in Germany under the pretext of the
  so-called "Kulturkampf". Our Party's struggle
  against religious faith has always been a struggle
  to raise human dignity. It argues and opposes
  every kind of faith, but respects its bearers who
  have become believers under particular historical conditions and who, thus, cannot be im
  mediately liberated from this.
  Liberating our people's consciousness from
  unfounded religious belief has been a gradual
  process of conviction. The separation of the state
  and schools from the Church, the daily education
  of society's members with socialist ideals, the
  unmasking of the clergy's hostile activity, and
  the revolutionary movement against religion and
  backward customs have been some of the steps
  through which this struggle has passed.
  Throughout this movement we have always respected Comrade Enver's saying:
  to believe or not to believe is each
  person's right. It is a matter of cosnci-
  ence and not a matter of institutions, or
  the desires of the mullahs, despots or
  the Pope of Rome.
  In our country, religion was not fought with
  laws and state decrees, or with constrictions and
  force. This was also expressed by a mother of the
  Greek minority when she answered a foreign
  journalist who asked her ' 'Where is your church
  and your priest?"
  She answered that' 'neither the church nor the
  priest saved me from the landlords. When they
  ruled, they neither gave me bread to eat, nor
  water to drink, nor electricity, nor did they
  educate my sons and daughters.... That is why
  I love the Party and not the priest. ..."
  Whole generations are being raised in Albania
  without any religious feelings. They look at the
  preserved religious buildings and see in them
  only their artistic beauty. Our society continues
  even today to cleanse the consciousness from he
  remnants of religion and faith which cannot be
  rooted out in one day or several years, but with a
  continual revolutionary struggle.
  Translated from the Albanian, Zeri i Popullit
  October 26, 1983
  34