Less Godless

Soviet Editors scarcely knew where they stood on religion last week, printed such official facts as that the League of Militant Godless (i. e., atheists) has fallen in membership from 5,000,000 to 2,000,000; that the Commissariat of Education has just closed five big anti-religious museums which until a few weeks ago were one of the major tourist sights of the Soviet Union; and that the Komsomols or Young Communist Leagues have now abandoned their anti-religious propaganda among Russian youths. All this must gratify every Russian Orthodox, but it infinitely pains every Old Bolshevik. Since J. Stalin, although he was a theological student at the Orthodox Seminary in Tiflis during his youth, has not yet actually come out for religion, having merely buried his wife in consecrated grounds, Izvestia last week took the chance 'of printing an editorial which screamed warning that Russian priests are "taking advantage of the new Constitution" to stage a religious revival and will attempt to run priests as candidates in the next Soviet election.

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