Baptists in the U.S.S.R. Some Facts and Hopes, J. H. Rushbrook, 1943

no way disturb the State school system of the U.S.S.R. ; in the removal of the veto on Bible classes, prayer meetings, etc. ; in the concession of freedom to train preachers and other church workers ; and in the granting of permission to print Bibles. Baptists throughout the world would rejoice if action along such lines 14 should make it possible for them whole-heartedly to acclaim the existence of religious liberty in the Soviet Republic. Object of Nothing could be further from the purpose this Pamphlet, of this pamphlet than to stir up controversy. It has been written in response to pressing and repeated requests for a statement of the reasons for the definite assertion by responsible persons in the United States of America and in our own land, that religious freedom, as understood in the English-speaking world, is not yet found in the U.S.S.R. It seeks simply to state facts, in so far as their statement may he helpful at this time ; and the writer is one who ardently desires the ending of any conditions that, by providing fuel for isolationist groups, tend to weaken the influence of those who are working for the co-operation of the Western democracies and the U.S.S.R. Let it be said as emphatically as possible that no community can be more ready than the Baptist to acknowledge the many benefits flowing from the Soviet Revolution. It has overthrown, we trust for ever, an ancient and deep-rooted tyranny. It has brought a larger life to the common people, and above all, a new hope for the young. It has triumphed over race prejudice. Education is far more general than in pre¬ revolution days. The industrialisation of the country has advanced miraculously, and the forecast is entirely credible that within twenty-five years the Soviet Union’s production will be the largest in the world. Such unique achievements demand full and frank recognition. If, as Christians, we are constrained to regard the Communist view of man as inade¬ quate, since it excludes the infinite and eternal values arising from his relation to God, we are also under obligation honestly to appraise the vast practical advances in human welfare, and the genuinely altruistic spirit of many who have laboured to achieve them. I bear my own testimony that from the lips of Russian Communists I have heard noble expressions of an ethical outlook truly Christian, for which — though they might be reluctant to admit this — they are historically indebted to the influence of Jesus Christ. In the present struggle against the enslavement of mankind the Soviet Union has