Red terror: Church wants Lenin inspected for extremism

The Russian Orthodox Church has come up with an initiative to check the works of the founding fathers of bolshevism for extremism.

“We have to discuss whether the works of Lenin, Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders can be considered extremist,” says Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Head of Church External Relations. “How should we treat them and those who continue to use the most radical elements of their texts in their political activities and propaganda?”He added that their works should be given a legal, moral and political assessment “as they justify mass repressions against innocent people”.“Propaganda of Nazism is banned in this country because we know that its practices, ideology and political structures were aimed at killing huge numbers of people,” Vsevolod Chaplin went on to say. “The works of the founding fathers of bolshevism also justify mass repressions and often contain direct calls for the ‘red terror’,” he said. At the same time, Archpriest Chaplin stressed that the Church is not against the leftist ideology and is open for dialogue with its proponents.“We are positive about both the Communist Party in which there are many believers and the so-called ‘new left’ who raise the issues of social justice.”