And then the system was enforced with force from above. A religion is supported by many true believers, and if the numbers fall or don't reach a certain point, then it is a cult. I think most people in Soviet Russia then from the mid 20th Century on don't believe in Communism. The big religions are full of true believers, which to me is more dangerous, considering the power they have.

Communism was lacking the afterlife, which is a big selling point with successful religions and cults

Oligarchs and capitalism, yes.

But when it did exist, there was everything that a religion had

It is frequently demonized and falsely accused of horrors that should actually be blamed on the totalitarian dictators that took over the country.

After the Bolshevik revolution, in 1918, after they had rid themselves of their abusive feudal king, the US attacked Russia along with other countries to stop the communist because of capitalism. Oh yeah, President Wilson claimed it was about an Eastern Front or democracy. But really it was all about the rich regaining their wealth by forcing capitalism on the Russian people.

The filthy rich were very afraid of the communist revolution in Russia. They preferred feudalism because it was easier for them to extract wealth. But capitalism is also a handy tool to take away a nation's wealth, especially if you have a dictatorship.

So, with all this pressure from the filthy rich, in other countries and even outright invasions, Russia eventually devoled so that it became easier for a dictator to take control.

So, no, it was not a religion or cult so much as it was a failed experiment in communal sharing of power and resources.

But even the Russians today don't understand their communist revolution. They don't see that it was not only an effort to get rid of feudalism, it was an effort to be rid of the filthy rich, inequality and capitalism.

But Leninism, and later Stalin, introduced the idea of cult of personality

This is a hallmark of religion/cults

What with Putin getting "voted" in all the time.

I feel sorry for the Russian people. They have great ideas but like you say, the cult of personality takes over. I think it's a reflection of their filthy rich trying to extract all the wealth from a poor economy. At least for awhile here in the US our oligarchy let us have some wealth for a short time, but then they changed their minds.

Lenin and Trotsky had a hard task to perform

The Romanovs had been killed to end any idea of "Tsar=/=God"

The people were longing for something, something beyond themselves

So Lenin and Trotsky, mostly Lenin, decided that they would promote the idea of the "New Soviet Man"

It was minor at first, but it was aligned with the idea of ultimate sacrifice for the proletariat

Vladimir Lenin presented himself as that, but more so when he was dying and Stalin was trying to take over

Lenin dies, Trotsky is outed, and Stalin wants to be that "god"

Not only that but he wants to kill Trotsky, someone who had fought against this cult of personality from the beginning

Stalin remakes himself as "Uncle Joe" -- protector of the revolution

They use all the tricks religion has used: even to the point of using "baby Lenin" for New Years celebration, in place of the baby Jesus

It works, and people are now stuck on the deification of a man

It's a cult, which IS a religion and it lasts for a while

Khruschev tried to end all that, and for the record so did Brezhnev, because no man wants to be a living god

But one could describe all of it as a religion in a sense

There was the "promised land" which was "true communism"

There was eternal life as evidenced by the "model worker" statues around the ex-USSR

The USSR also promoted many martyrs as living saints, worthy of being "painted"

No difference than the devotion of Icons in the Russian Orthodox Church

I visited the USSR under Gorbachev

Every family you met wanted to show you all the medals they had received as "model workers" or "model soldiers"

There was religion at work there, even disguised as atheist

I think humanity will benefit greatly when it gets rid of religion

But it can't be forced

And you can't switch gods

That's madness

What we in the US would describe as patriotism. I always felt that patriotism had echos of religious worship.

Interesting analysis.

Soviet communism was.