Russian Life & People Digest
Question by astraldaemon: If Stalin was an atheist, why was Trotsky opposed to him?
Trotsky’s ideas remain a major school of Marxist thought that is opposed to the theories of Stalinism.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Tom1
Their disagreement was due to Stalin’s perversion of Communism and was irrelevant to religion.
Read all the answers in the comments.
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jtrusnik says
Geez…this is a very complicated question. However, it had nothing to do with their shared atheism.
Trotsky was against the accelerating bureaucraticization of the early Soviet Union. He led a movement to reform this and other practices that Stalin was endorsing. He also didn't believe in the truce that Stalin had forged with Hitler before WWII, as he was an ardent opponent of fascism.
Stalin frequently consolidated his own power by having the opposition expelled from the party, and that's what happened to Trotsky and his supporters. Trotsky went into exile but, because he continued speaking out against Soviet policies, he was eventually assassinated by the KGB while living in Mexico (the classic legend is that he was stabbed in the back of head with an ice axe, although the scene at the home indicated a brief struggle; the initial attack was clumsy).
As for why Stalin and Trotsky had different ideas, it's complicated and based deep in the fundamentals of Marxist though. Trotskyists claim that the October revolution, which brought Lenin to the forefront, was the true Proletariat revolution, which installed a classless society. A Stalinist, however, would point out that the October revolution didn't really solve the problems of the previous society, and so a temporary government of the bourgeousie came to power in order to lead the transition.
Their separate ideas are seen throughot Communist thought, affecting the outlook on how third world nations should eventually achieve socialism, whether or not Maoism makes sense, how foreign relations should be conducted in the modern world, etc.
robin_lionheart says
It wasn't being an atheist that Trotsky was opposed to.
If Reverend Fred Phelps* is a Christian, why are many other Christians opposed to him?
* Reverend Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for GodHatesFags.com and for organizing protests at funerals of homosexuals and US soldiers.
The Great Gazoo says
Stalin was in seminary to be a priest. He only entered politics after he failed out. It's hard to know what he thought.
Other communists were critical of the free reign he gave the Russian Orthodox Church. So maybe he was an atheist…..maybe he wasn't.
Creation Crusher 300 says
Who cares?
smoking frog (rides says
thank you tom1.
thank you
The Reverend Soleil says
You keep this up, there's not going to be enough FAIL for the rest of the Internet…