Wikilatief--The existence of a former communist state. The country used to forbid its people from converting to religion, but now it's not. The country is:
Albania
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| Albania flag |
And the leader:
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| Enver Hoxha |
Was Albania a communist country?
Albania under the regime of Enver Hoxha (1944–1985) banned religion and from various communist countries both dead and still existed, Albania is just one of the communist countries in the world that blatantly forbids religion.
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In the early days of Enver Hoxha's leadership, religion was already a target of the government.
His first step was to confiscate and nationalize places of worship and assets belonging to religious institute.
Religious institute is prohibited from raising funds for infaq, establishing schools, and owning property.
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| Albania |
Even so, Albanians can embrace religion but are limited to the places of worship and must be loyal to the government.
This applies to four religions in Albania. Most importantly, religion should not be involved in politics.
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Of the four religions in Albania namely Catholic Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam, and Bektashi Islam, Catholic
Christianity received the worst treatment from the Enver Hoxha regime. Foreign nuns and bishops were expelled from Albania.
Many local bishops were arrested and thrown into internment camps. A small part of them was executed.
Catholics received the most severe treatment due to their ties to the Vatican and their links to Italian fascists. Italy briefly occupied Albania from 1939–1943.
Islam gets the best treatment among the four religions because it does not have a strong and massive organizational structure like Christianity.
In fact Enver Hoxha sought to create propaganda that proved that Islamic and Communist relations could be harmonious. However, the government is still trying to undermine the influence of Islam.
Anti-religious campaign posters
A new anti-religious campaign was launched in 1967 when Enver Hoxha delivered a campaign against religion inspired by the Cultural Revolution in China. He said:
"Religion is the opium of society. We must do our best so that everyone understands that even who has been poisoned (not least). We have to heal them. It's not an easy task but it's not impossible either."
Enver Hoxha in his speech also regarded religion as cancer and poison, retarded, supporters of the bourgeois and foreign.
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Therefore, he asked that religion be fought and crushed. The religious resistance was like a war against imperialism.
Since the anti-religious campaign was launched, at least 2169 places of worship consisting of 740 mosques, 608 orthodox churches and 157 Catholic churches have been closed, destroyed or converted.
Clerics, bishops, and other religious leaders were sent to internment camps and performed forced labor.
The families of religious leaders also could not live comfortable. They're constantly being watched by the government.
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| Radio Tirana |
Radio Tirana, a government-owned radio company, proudly proclaimed Albania as the world's first atheist country.
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| Albania map |
Was religion banned in Albania?
In 1976, religion was officially banned in Albania with the ratification of a constituency stating that the government was obliged to spread atheist propaganda. Forms of suppression of religious activities by the Enver Hoxha regime are:
- It is forbidden to have scriptures and perform religious activities.
- Religious attributes such as cross necklaces, hijabs, and others are prohibited.
- Words that Muslims commonly say, such as "insyallah" and "masyallah" are prohibited.
- Children are asked by the state to spy on their parents who perform religious activities. They are lured with good grades if they successfully report their parents who carry out their religious teachings.
- Those who break the rules will be sentenced to 3-10 years in prison.
Mesonjtorja, one of the anti-religious films
In addition to establishing repressive laws against religion, the government also makes anti-religious propaganda.
Anti-religious films were screened hundreds of times on state-owned TV. Articles in government newspapers also contain writings that invite readers to leave religion by portraying bishops / clerics as traitors or enemies of the people.
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| only for sweetening |
Enver Hoxha has a high hatred for religion because he considers religion to be a break-up of Albanian unity.
Although religious activities are prohibited by the government, Albanians still practice their religious teachings secretly.
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Bishops and clerics do the same. There was a bishop baptizes children in concentration camps and he gets the death penalty.
There are even people who do not leave the house during the Regime of Enver Hoxha because he prefers to adhere to religious teachings that is to wear religious attributes when going outside the house.
Enver Hoxha died in 1985 and was replaced by Ramiz Alia. Regulations on religious prohibitions are still in place in the government of Ramiz Alia.
Prohibitions and penalties for religious attributes and possession of scripture are still in place.
It was only when the religious ban was lifted in 1990 when there was a wave of massive demonstrations.
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Finally, religious activities can be done overtly again. However, in the early period of the lifting of the religious ban, Albanians had little knowledge of the religion they were involved in.
However, based on the 2011 census, the majority of Albanians are religious. It can be seen that the person who declares himself an atheist is only about 2.5%.
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| Only for sweetening |
The history of Albania was a communist country