[Niall]

Originally Posted by angus58

No, the oppression of communism was. Communism was the secular "religion" forced onto the populace. Communism is every bit as oppressive and restrictive as any religion. As the saying goes: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That really wasn't the main problem the USSR faced though. I think the brutal ways the government had of dealing with political dissenters and the censorship of the media along with poor economic planning contributed a lot more to the downfall of the Soviet Union. Religion had a small part to play in the grand scheme of things.

And Communism is in no way a religion - its a political ideology. Also, Communism isn't actually meant to be restrictive, at heart its all about giving everyone an equal world with equal chances but like you said, power does corrupt.