Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

rnational connections similar to the Masonic order, a special hazard to the state and society. During the first years of Soviet power anti-sectarian propaganda became less urgent, since the Bolsheviks were eager to crush the Orthodox Church first. Though persecution was soon extended to Russian Protestants, it had no ideological foundation until the late 1920s. In contrast, some Bolshe- viks considered Russian sectarianism to be “a progressive phenomenon’, a belief reflected in their speeches as well as legislative documents (e.g. 4 January 1919 “Decree on Non-Liability for Military Service due to Reli- gious Convictions’,,® 15 August 1921 “Resolution of the People’s Commis- sariat of Justice, Domestic Affairs, Agriculture, Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection”). In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks refuted some common accu- sations against sectarians (e.g., rumours of sexual orgies practiced by the sectarian Khlysty).'° During that period Baptists, along with Evangelical Christians and Teetotallers [Trezvenniki, followers of Ivan Churikov], were still consid- * A. Aparin, “Sektanty odoleli’, Moskovskie vedomosti, no. 234 (13 October 1910). * Zemshchina, no. 372 (28 July 1910). ®° Kolokol |The Bell], no. 1326 (1910). ” Russkoe znamia [The Russian Banner], no. 210 (18 September 1910). * Sobranie uzakonenii i rasporiazhenii rabochego i krest’ianskogo pravitel’stva [Collection of Statutes and Resolutions of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government] (SU), no.17 (20 May 1919). * SU, no. 60 (12 October 1921). '° For example, Fedor Putintsev, a leader of the Union of Militant Atheists [Soiuz voinst- vuiushchikh bezbozhnikov] (UMA), reported at the UMA congress in June 1929, “Though trials were numerous before the Revolution, there was not a single case when priests were able to prove that the cult of promiscuity existed and orgies took place during wor- ship services... There were no orgies during the worship services and we can prove it” Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv rossiiskoi federatsii [State Archives of the Russian Federation] (GA RF), f. R-5407, op. 1, d. 35, l. 47. 135 "ees OS ered the most significant and rapidly growing confessions.'' However, they continued to be referred to as sectarians. Thus when a full-scale attack on religion began in the late 1920s, Baptists became the preferred target of anti-sectarian accusations. For instance in 1930, the magazine Bezbozhnik [Atheist] published excerpts from an article allegedly printed in the British Daily News, accompanied by their own comments: “Nowadays Baptists are the most powerful religious organisation in the Soviet Union, esti- mating over fifteen million members.... Russian Baptists feel anger and hatred towards Karl Marx's teaching, but circumstances make them speak publicly in support of it and turn it to good account.’” It is not known what the Daily News really said, but the reference to a British newspaper made these claims seem more reliable. The