Abstract
This study analyzes how Enver Hoxha tried to abolish religions in Albania during the communist era. I argue that if atheism is not politicized and not exerted by force, its materialist damage is less. Yet, when atheization becomes a state policy and the government executes clergy, oppresses pious people, and destroys mosques and churches for the sake of atheism, irreligion then becomes a matter of state security. The study contends that when atheism is applied by force, atheist fundamentalism, which is no different than the religious version, emerges. Thus, irreligion becomes a threat to people’s lives and destroys society as in the case of Hoxha’s Albania. The study aims to shed light on the oppression stemming from adherence to non-belief.
Recommended Citation
Karataş, İbrahim
(2020)
"State-Sponsored Atheism: The Case of Albania during the Enver Hoxha Era,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 40
:
Iss.
6
, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol40/iss6/8
Included in
Eastern European Studies Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Religion Commons, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons