Sept. 26, 1962 - The Soviet Communist party called today for a more effective campaign against religion. An editorial in Pravda, the leading party newspaper, demanded that greater attention be given to the “training of qualified propagandists of atheism to instruct all our members — all Communists, all our youth — to make everyone into a militant anti-religionist.” “There are still quite a few Soviet people in the captivity of religious ideology,” the editorial said. In the Soviet propaganda poster below, the creepy man’s shadow becomes a cross with “religion” written across it. In his pocket is a Bible. The caption reads: “Step across the ominous shadow and join the crowd in the joyful bustle of the day!” Although the Communists report progress in their fight against organized religion, there is evidence of vitality in the Russian Orthodox Church, by far the most important religious body in the Soviet Union.
