Bezbozhnik u Stanka

Bezbozhnik u Stanka (Russian: «Безбожник у станка»; translation of the name: «The Godless at the Workbench») was a monthly antireligious magazine of the Moscow Committee of the AUCP(b). The magazine has been published since December 1923. The circulation is 70 thousand. The magazine was designed for the mass working reader.[1][2]

Bezbozhnik u Stanka (Безбожник у станка)
Cover of the magazine «Bezbozhnik u Stanka» 1929, No. 19. (anti-alcohol)

 Above caricature inscription (by hand): «A Modern Variation of the Subject of Drunkenness in Cana of Galilee»

 Under the caricature the inscription: «The Very First and Wickedest Moonshiner is Named Jesus Christ»
EditorMaria Kostelovskaya
Categoriesantireligious
FrequencyMonthly
Year foundedDecember , 1923
Final issue1931
CountrySoviet Union/Russia
Based inMoscow
LanguageRussian

The magazine criticized religion from the point of view of Marxism. On its pages the questions of socialist construction, culture, anti-religious propaganda in the USSR were highlighted in a popular form, the connection of religious organizations with the exploiting classes was revealed. Criticism was directed at the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and other religions. The magazine had the following sections: 1) the class essence of religion, 2) religion and the class struggle abroad, 3) eastern religions, 4) in the camp of white emigrants, 5) the significance of religion in the USSR, as brakes on material and spiritual culture, 6) the reactionary role of religions in family life, 7) religion and class struggle under tsarism, 8) religion and revolution, 9) pioneer page, 10) methods of anti-religious propaganda, 11) materialism and idealism (religion), as two class systems of understanding of nature, human and social life, 12) questions and answers, 13) bibliography.[3] The editor-in-chief of the magazine «Bezbozhnik u Stanka» was Maria Kostelovskaya[4]

The first edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia reports that the magazine from the moment of its appearance began to penetrate abroad, especially to America, and met with lively interest from the workers; 1924, in the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury protested against the distribution of the magazine in England, saying that the Bolsheviks "encroached on the highest achievement of human culture" – on religion; from the spring of 1925 the magazine in England was banned.[5]

However, in publications and illustrations of the magazine, often brutal attacks against religion were made, which offended the religious feelings of believers. For this, the magazine has been criticized more than once in the party press and by party organizations.[6]

Examples of issues
  • "Anti-alcoholic" issue of Bezhbozhnik u Stanka from 1929 portraying Jesus as a moonshiner
  • Bezhbozhnik u Stanka issue from 1929 showing Jesus being dumped from a wheelbarrow by an industrial worker; the text suggests the Industrialization Day can be a replacement of the Christian Transfiguration Day.
  • issue #11 of 1931
gollark: Not that I have any chance of actually getting it, anyway...
gollark: *ponders being somewhat evil and keeping it if he finds it*
gollark: ***grow***
gollark: What sort of other stuff do you want?
gollark: Or decline them all for no good reason and wait for better offers!

See also

References
  1. «Безбожник у станка» / Большая советская энциклопедия (1-е издание)
  2. Атеистический словарь / [Абдусамедов А. И., Алейник Р. М., Алиева Б. А. и др. ; под общ. ред. М. П. Новикова]. - 2-е изд., испр. и доп. - Москва : Политиздат, 1985. - 512 с.; 20 см / С. 51
  3. Большая советская энциклопедия / гл. ред. О. Ю. Шмидт. - Москва : Советская энциклопедия, 1926-. - 26 см. Т. 5: Барыкова - Бессалько. - 1927. - (404) с., (29) л. ил., портр., цв. карты : ил., карты, портр., табл. /С. 180 - 181
  4. Православие: Словарь атеиста / Под ред. Н. С. Гордиенко. — М.: Политиздат, 1988. — 270[2] с.; 17 см.; ISBN 5-250-00079-7 : / Стр. 35
  5. «Безбожник у станка» / Большая советская энциклопедия (1-е издание)
  6. Православие: Словарь атеиста / Под ред. Н. С. Гордиенко. — М.: Политиздат, 1988. — 270[2] с.; 17 см.; ISBN 5-250-00079-7 : / Стр. 35

Notes
    • Атеистический словарь / [Абдусамедов А. И., Алейник Р. М., Алиева Б. А. и др. ; под общ. ред. М. П. Новикова]. - 2-е изд., испр. и доп. - Москва : Политиздат, 1985. - 512 с.; 20 см / С. 51
    • Siegelbaum, Lewis H. Soviet state and society between revolutions, 1918-1929 / Lewis H. Siegelbaum. - [Repr.]. - Cambridge [etc.] : Cambridge univ. press, 1994. - XIII, 284 с.; 23 см. - (Cambridge soviet paperbacks; 8).; ISBN 0-521-36987-8 (paperback)/ p. 161
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