1880 Wellesley Drive        
 
                                  Detroit, Michigan         
 
                    Mr. Myron C. Taylor                     
 
                      Mayflower Hotel                       
 
                      Washington, D.C.                      
 
                    My dear Mr. Taylor:-                    
 
                                                            
 
 
  Since our pleasant meeting in Washington I have given   
much thought to the two propositions (Enc. A) which were drawn up as a   
suggested expression of the attitude of the Soviet Government towards   
religion, In reponse to criticisms on this point widely current in the   
other countries which have given adherence to the Declaration of The   
                      United Nations.                       
 
                                                            
 
 
  The issuance of a statement embodying these two   
propositions could not possibly do any good. In fact it would do harm for   
the evident untruth of the propositions would only confirm the suspicion   
of insincerity which rightly attaches to former Bolshevik pronouncements   
            on the subject of religious freedom.            
 
                                                            
 
 
  The first proposition is an attempt to justify what has   
been done to religion in Russia during the past twenty years. But even on   
its own assumption the attempt fails miserably. Even if the close   
connection between the Orthodox Church and the Tsarist Government made It   
inevitable that a revolution against that government would overthrow the   
political power of the Orthodox Church, that does not explain the   
relentless, systematic efforts to destroy the Orthodox Church as a   
religious entity through the closing of the churches, the desecration of   
the most venerated shrines, the ruthless suppression of religious   
teaching, the open, official fostering of anti-religious propaganda and   
government sponsored inculcation of atheism. The utter inadequacy of any   
such explanation is again evident from the fact that the Catholic Church   
was not in any way identified with the Tsarist Government, in fact was   
barely tolerated by it and had no political influence in our sense of the   
                   word, and yet was even