Written by Alex on 22 December 2009
OK, let’s talk about religious holidays and how they survived within socialism environment. I’ll try to keep short but informative. Therefore I’ll move straight on by saying that I won’t support any illusions of peaceful co-existence of church and socialist state (if America becomes one), just because America is so special and is much different than Russia was before October Revolution in 1917.
I watch closely what’s going on in this country in relation to religion since my first visit to the States in 1992 as a guest of a large ministerial association. Later same year because of my positive activity I was given an honorary citizenship in one of US cities. I’m not saying that to boast, but to show you that if I cared for you and your country 17 years ago while living in the Ukraine, I care even more now as I live here, being married to a beautiful American citizen and raising two precious little US citizens. So now I pay even closer attention to what is the attitude of American people and government towards religious freedom in this country, which includes the freedom to celebrate religious holidays of your choice. Comparing things then and now I see clearly the threats and dangers coming either directly from communists and socialists, or from organizations and people, especially politicians and lawyers, supported by them. When politicians ignore the Constitution and lawyers misinterpret and distort its meaning and when these two groups bond together then the threats and dangers are materialized in dictatorship and persecution. And that’s what they up to! Their goal is to control where you live, how long you live, how many children and how much money you can have, what you eat and even what holidays you can celebrate. Socialists and other left “-ists” always knew that they cannot successfully control the masses if they completely remove religious holidays from people’s lives. They knew that people need holiday’s celebrations to stay happy and that happy slaves are better slaves. Therefore they replaced faith in God and eternal life with faith in communism and its bright utopian future. And they replaced religious holidays with their substitutes while also adding other holidays dedicated to unholy history of socialism. Unlike American calendar, Soviet calendar didn’t have any religious holidays in it.
Here is the list of major Soviet holidays:
February 23rd – Soviet Army and Navy Day;
March 8th – International Woman’s Day;
May 1st – International Worker’s Solidarity Day;
May 9th – Victory Day;
November 7th – Great October Socialist Revolution Holiday; and finally,
December 31st – January 1st – New Year.
Lets look inside these Soviet holidays to see if we’ll find there a trace of God and holiness, or simply to learn what kind of holidays socialists will have in their New World Order calendar.
Military service was mandatory for every Soviet man who reached his 18th birthday. Therefore every boy was seen as potential motherland defender, except those disabled or seriously ill. Every school had military preparedness class where, besides disassembling and assembling AK 47 and putting on gas mask we were indoctrinated into our future roles as defenders of socialist motherland. And February 23rd holiday served that purpose. Before end of WWII it was Red Army Day. In spite of its military origins, many former Soviet citizens still celebrate this day simply as Men’s Day. Among all former Soviet republics I know for sure that Russia renamed it into Defender of Fatherland Day, while keeping the same date. Ukraine has such holiday on January 29th.
March 8th – International Women’s Day was seen as counterpart to Man’s Day. It was and still is a custom to celebrate and give flowers to all women: mothers, wives, daughters, sisters. Comparing to American holidays it was probably like Valentine’s and Mother’s Days combined (just add daughters and sisters there!) On the surface this holiday looks nice and innocent. Men were happy to give and women – to receive all gifts, respect and appreciation. However, like with many other international holidays, it’s origins are deeply rooted in paganism, in rebellion against God-given women’s role, as described in the Bible. With such disrespect of Judeo-Christian values it was adopted by ungodly International socialist movement. According to history reference, the first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. In 1910 the first international women’s conference was held in Copenhagen by the Second International and an ‘International Women’s Day’ was established, which was submitted by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, who as I remember was highly respected by Soviet Communist Party. But, why they chose spring for Women’s Day? I tend to think that there is connection to Eostre, pagan goddess of spring and fertility. Now, guess where the name “Easter” comes from? Evidently, because socialists hate Passover and Resurrection of Christ, they also needed to fill springtime with something that would divert people’s attention away from God. While socialists propagate atheism, declaring that there’s no God, they employ well demons and pagan gods to attack Biblical faiths.
Another springtime holiday was on May 1st – International Worker’s Solidarity Day, known simply as May Day, although received its inspiration from the United States’ Haymarket Affair, eventually became propaganda platform for socialists from Second International and labor movement. In Soviet Union workers were forced or, more precisely, financially motivated to carry huge signs praising Soviet regime at crowded May Day demonstrations. As anti-socialist kids we had our own interpretation of that word as “demon’s show”.
Probably the most respected holiday was the Victory Day celebrated on May 9th. Although it was extensively praised as almost exclusively Soviet victory in WWII with other participants rarely mentioned, anyone in the world should agree that soviet people paid the greatest price in that war. While rightfully bashing Soviet government for mistreating own soldiers, especially for sending many of them from German camps straight to Soviet camps, I’d like to say “thank you” to all who fought for our freedom from fascism. But, unlike in Soviet celebration of Victory, when only human achievement was praised, I’d like also to thank God for saving us from greater horror.
The most sickening of all Soviet holidays was so called Great October Socialist Revolution Holiday, because soviet people were brainwashed into celebrating their own destruction, godlessness, steep moral decline, lawlessness imposed by revolutionaries under Lenin’s command. As the result of communist power grab, Russian Czar and his family were murdered, churches destroyed, priests killed and religious holidays removed from calendar, while atheist propaganda worked day and night to remove it also from people’s minds and souls. If propaganda had no effect, then GULAG was next. Understanding all such greatness of socialist revolution, I’d rather celebrate December 26, the day after Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, I’ll celebrate the death of Soviet Union, the cancellation of all revolution’s achievements on that day the year 1991.
And the last on my list of most important Soviet holidays is the New Year, celebrated the night of December 31st and January 1st, well as almost everywhere in the world. Celebration of Russian style Christmas on January 7th was left for officially recognized churches like Russian Orthodox and even there soviet militia would stay outside church property and under pretense of guarding the order, they would limit who could enter and how many. For example, they didn’t allow young people to get in the church unless young person was helping elderly. Officially most of Western Christmas characters and items were transformed and adopted in New Year celebration. The goal, of course, was to kill Christianity and its influence in people’s lives. In the course of transformation Santa lost his holy image and became Ded Moroz, which translates as Grandfather Frost. In the school few days before New Year we had official celebration around… no, not Christmas tree, but so called New Year Tree, usually Fir Tree. Grandpa Frost would walk in with his long magical staff in one hand and large bag full of gifts – in another, accompanied by Snegurochka or ‘Snow Maiden,’ his granddaughter.
True celebrations of religious holidays in USSR were kept in secret, because leaders of underground churches and synagogues taught people actual meaning of these holidays which also was considered anti-soviet agitation and propaganda. Soviet people, be it Christians or Jews, often paid with years spent in GULAG camps or even with their lives simply for celebration of Biblical holidays. Unfortunately, with all freedom American people still have, I see and hear more about selling Santa, than free gift of Christ, more bunnies and eggs, honoring pagan fertility goddess, than death and resurrection, presented in the Bible. That’s what socialism is interested in, not God. All Soviet holidays I just described, excluded God. Socialists, communists understand that they are loosing when people throw away all the dross from their religious holidays and call on God’s name. That’s what America needs now, in this holiday season, as it is written in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know”.
My Russian New Year joke. It is well know that Russians drink a lot on New Year eve. One man asks his friend: How did you meet New Year?
Like a gift!
What do you mean?
Well, all I remember is waking up under New Year Tree.
Tags: Bible, Chanukkah, Christmas, communism, communist, Ded Moroz, Eostre, fertility, God, Grandfather Frost, GULAG, holidays, lenin, New World Order, New Year, pagan, podcast, propaganda, religious, Russia, Santa Claus, Snegurochka, Snow Maiden, socialism, socialism survival, socialist, soviet, Soviet Union, spiritual, stalin, survival, tyranny, USSR
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