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Any Slavic Atheists/Agnostics out there? What about immigrants or family that were immigrants, what was your experience? Or Were you part of a super religious culture?

It seems like we're a rare breed, Eastern Europe seems super religious when compared to Western Europe. I'm a 2nd generation Ukrainian American. My grandparents were both WWII refugees who spent most of their childhood in Nazi Germany in Labor Camps. As much as I love the culture, there are some flaws. When I was about 2 months out of christianity I had to hold up a huge birch cross for a cultural gathering that commemorated the deaths of Ukrainians under Stalin for about an hour, It was very awkward for me. You can't really escape the church, where the culture is (which I like)--the church is also. Ukrainians think atheist=communist/stalinist. Also based on my old church's website they blame "atheist ideology", what ever that means, for the deaths and genocide of millions of their countrymen. I get Stalin was undoubtedly terrible, especially in regards to Ukrainian history, but is it really the fault of atheism? The church undermined and challenged Stalin's dictator power so he purged it and replaced it with a cult of personality. He basically eliminated anything and anyone that challenged his power. I doubt I'll ever profess my lack of belief in this culture, they'll crucify me lol. I'd like to add that the only thing required to be an atheist is to not believe in god(s) we can form what ever philosophy and follow what ever we want beyond that. For instance, I subscribe to secular humanism not stalinism.

AustinSkepticus 7 Mar 9
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My ancestry is Eastern European, but Jewish. My parents were an atheist and an agnostic who hated organized religion but ostracized me because I married outside the religion and celebrated the Christian holidays with my not very religious, but Greek Orthodox husband. (Who is burning in Hell for not baptizing our children according to a priest I met. ) Jews aren't like Christians, they won't welcome you into the fold as an adult without sponsorship and $$. The Christians seem to want a lot of time, money and commitment as well. While they talk a good game, few walk the walk. (I was a widow with three children (14, 8 and 6), I was desperate for some positive guidance and fellowship for my children's sake and got zip.)

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I'm a second generation American. My family lives in Slovenia. The first time we visited in 2001 and the country was much more about the church than the second time we visited in 2012. Some family member are still devout Catholics but some are not yet still choose to recognize some traditions more for nostalgic reasons. It seemed that the more educated and the younger people are more likely not to believe like their parents. Sometimes you need to just go along with it, you know what you believe. There is a lot to be said for keeping the peace too, if you are not out to win people over to your point of view.
I'd like to do a DNA test because I believe we are actually Ukrainian originally. Last name 'Renko'

-enko is a common last name ending in Ukraine.

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I have met several non religious Eastern Europeans. My ex-wife from Slovakia and a woman I dated from Kiev. Religion was not encouraged during the Soviet rule in those countries and was often practiced in secret. So there was not the intense indoctrination of children we have in the US. But now, the government finds pushing religion a convenient placebo to control the population, just as it does here in the US.

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My mom came here when she was 3. Her dad is Ukranian. Her dad spent 10 years in a prison camp in Siberia. He escaped.

My mom was an interpretor for Ukrainians who came here after the wall came down. I went to a few Ukranian services when I was young at the nagging of my parents. I hated it. I didn't know the language and they went on for hours. Pentecostal types. While I am Ukranian I have no connection to the culture. They certainly looked down on us born in America.

My grandfather was Greek Orthodox and he died never having learned English. My uncles were also here from the Ukraine but they lived a few states away. I remember an uncle doing the traiditonal Cossack dancing when they would visit.

I am the only non-religious person in any side of my family (except one cousin who keeps it hidden).

Cool. I had a great uncle who died in the Siberian prison camp. I had a choice to be part of the culture, but my parents did not. They certainly like forcing you in, no doubt. I do the dancing and also I have a cossack bloodline on my grandmothers side.

@AustinSkepticus I did not grow up around the Ukranian relatives, or maybe the culture would have been more in our household. My mom ran away from Philly with my dad when she was 14 and went to Northern NY. We only saw our Ukranian relatives every few years or so.

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My mom was the only one of her family born here, the 2 siblings and both parents were born Slavic. All devout Lutherans, hated/feared Catholics.

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I am Bulgarian and generally I believe Bulgarians are very non-religious, most people visit church only on holidays and rather because it is part of the celebration rather than because of some devoted belief.

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OK, read your full post. A lot of religious trappings, like In God We Trust and adding Under One God to the pledge, came about in the 50s during the Red Scare. I think the point of Stalin and all dictators is that they are totalitarian. Religious or not, it is all about absolute power.

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Both of my great grand parents on my daddy's side were born in what is now the Czech Republic. I don't think of that end of the family being hyper religious, but they were unquestioningly Catholic. A lot of my generation has wandered off into Protestantism. There might be a few fellow heathens in the group, too.

I think Czechia is a sort of anomaly in the slavic world in modern times. It has the highest percentage of nonreligious people out of all slavic countries.

@AustinSkepticus I keep forgetting to call it Czechia. Everything I've read indicates it is a tremendous place to live. Oh and my middle name? Cyrill, one of the two saints that brought christianity to the Slavs.

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