p The issue of freedom of conscience and of putting this democratic principle into effect cannot be regarded in the abstract. There are two concepts of freedom of conscience: one is bourgeois, the other socialist. The bourgeois concept does not differ in essence from the one traditionally expounded by the church. Bourgeois ideologists regard freedom of conscience as man’s attitude toward God, thus reducing it to a choice between religions and types of worship. And although the demands for freedom of conscience, separation of church from state and school from church, to stop persecution for religious convictions and to grant equal rights to all regardless of belief or unbelief had been advanced by the bourgeoisie as it fought against feudalism, it gave up these demands when in power because religion was needed to spiritually enslave the masses.

p Having proclaimed freedom of conscience and separation of church from state and school from church in principle, the bourgeoisie never put these propositions into practice anywhere. After seizing power it supported the church in fighting atheists. Even today the disestablishment of the church in some capitalist countries is only used as a cover to protect religion against atheism and provide freedom for the exploitative classes to manoeuvre as atheism steadily increases and various religions raise their discordant voices. Church is a part of the state machinery de facto and sometimes even de jure in many capitalist countries. The state provides financial support to the church and uses it for its class interests.

p The constitutions of many capitalist countries establish advantages for one religion while restricting others. For example, the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the official religion in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The Greek government supports the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Church of England dominates in Great Britain. Roman Catholicism is the established church in Spain. This recognition of an official status for one nomination in itself puts the other faiths and atheism into an unequal position. Nevertheless, this state of affairs is common in modern world. The special status of Islam is formalised by law in 17 countries of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa, and the constitutions of 14 European and Latin American countries set out advantages for the Roman Catholic Church. Only a member of the established church can become head of state in 22 bourgeois countries. Argentina, Liberia and Iran also make this requirement for other official positions. What is the point of freedom of conscience when, for example, Catholics in Northern Ireland are discriminated against politically and Protestant extremists have declared an open war on them, supported by the ruling circles of Britain?

p Conversely, Protestants were cruelly persecuted in Catholic Spain. They were not employed by government agencies or allowed to teach at schools or promoted to officer’s rank in the army.

p Although freedom of conscience and disestablishment of the church have been formally declared in the United States, many government institutions are still consecrated by religion or by celebration of religious rites. Sessions of Congress, for instance, are opened with prayers. When government officials and even the President take office, they have to take a religious oath. The preambles of the constitutions in 42 states contain appeals to God. Courts in some states do not recognise testimony given by atheist witnesses. Atheists cannot be appointed to the government staff. The constitution of the State of Delaware binds all the citizens to attend public prayers.

p Freedom of conscience is still understood in capitalist countries today only as freedom of worship, i.e. as freedom of choice of religion, and even that choice is denied in many places.

p Current legislation in many capitalist countries binds even 153 atheist parents to bring up their children in a religious spirit. The constitution of Norway, for example, demands that all citizens should educate their children in the spirit of the established Evangelical Lutheran Church. In West Germany, the church owns many children’s institutions and schools. Confessional schools in some Lands, for example, in Bavaria, make up 96 per cent of all the schools. Catholic and Protestant religions run two-thirds of the primary (6-year) and many secondary schools in Holland. Greek law requires that teaching in secondary and primary schools is aimed at shaping national identity along the lines of the “ideological principles of Greek Christian culture”. Israel has a state council for religious instruction and Judaism is recognised as the official religion.

p A scandal that broke out in the British Parliament in late 1975 and a noisy campaign launched by the so-called free press are good illustrations of the bourgeois approach to freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and of the press. The outcry was caused by an open letter written by Dr. Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, printed in the Morning Star, the British communist newspaper, in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s pastoral letter published in the Sunday Times. The Archbishop appealed to all Englishmen “to renew in people a sense of moral purpose" in Great Britain because violence, hooliganism, drug-addiction and alcoholism were growing rife in the country. Answering the pastoral appeal and the Sunday Times, Dr. Mervyn Stockwood said that man’s character is largely shaped by his environment and the social and economic conditions of his life. “An economic system which is based on selfishness and greed and which leads to class divisions, injustice and unemployment is bound to produce social chaos,” Dr. Stockwood wrote. The Bishop admitted that all those who had visited the USSR and socialist countries in recent years could see for themselves that socialist society had done away forever with the vices that plague Britain. Although the Bishop of Southwark is one of the top dignitaries in the Church of England, his honest and truthful statement produced an outrage of those who saw his views as an infringement on “the established order”. When told about the bishop’s letter, Peter Rost, a Conservative MP in the House of Commons, hastened 154 to promise that he would request Dr. Stockwood’s resignation in the House of Commons. “I say to him for God’s sake—go,” said Robert Adley, another Tory. The bourgeois press, so boastful of their freedom of opinion, began badgering the Bishop. The ruling classes were especially angry that Dr. Stockwood had said that the Soviet Union and other socialist countries grant more freedom and ensure more favourable conditions for their citizens’ development than Britain does. “He let the side down badly not just in England but throughout the world for expressing his views in a Communist newspaper,” fumed Tory MP John Stokes. The Bishop was accused of seeing “the roots of vice" in the very structure of society and, particularly, because he had set the socialist countries as an example. This is what freedom of speech and conscience mean in modern Britain. It proves again how correct the Marxist evaluation of bourgeois democracy really is. All bourgeois freedoms are utterly false, said Lenin, and only serve to mask capitalist deception, coercion and exploitation.  [154•1 

p The founders of Marxism-Leninism exposed the hypocrisy of the bourgeois law, and stressed that the bourgeois concept of freedom of conscience was only formal. There is not a single capitalist country whose constitution would guarantee, while proclaiming freedom of worship, the right of citizens not to believe in God and inadmissibility of discrimination against atheists. Communists have always been against such one-sided interpretation of freedom of conscience and against any restrictions in matters of belief or unbelief.

p The classics of Marxism-Leninism have thoroughly substantiated the need for freedom of conscience to include the freedom not to recognise any religion and the right to freedom of atheistic propaganda in addition to freedom to believe in God. The point is that complete freedom of conscience is assured only where the law guarantees freedom for citizens to be atheists and provides opportunities for them to carry on atheistic propaganda, along with freedom for believers to satisfy their religious needs.

p Communists proclaim and guarantee freedom of worship, but they do not limit their concept of freedom of conscience to religious freedom alone. The Marxist-Leninist concept of freedom of conscience is a thorough use of scientific achievements for the purpose of liberating people’s minds from religion. Religion continues to be a powerful tool for spiritually oppressing the working people. The individualistic attitudes based on religious ideas of personal salvation and of a God-chosen nation that have been instilled for centuries, and the mistaken interpretation of the life’s meaning have held the masses in darkness and ignorance. The socialist system and the implementation of a genuine freedom of conscience in the USSR and other socialist countries have provided access to scientific knowledge and cultural achievements for the working people.

Real, unrestricted freedom of conscience helps to educate the broad masses of working people to respect man and his dignity regardless of his religion, and to awaken interest in the spiritual values of other nations. It promotes the desire for international communication and strengthens friendship among nations.