The Soviet Union made Marxism – Leninism into a civil religion , with sacred texts and many statues of Marx , Lenin , and Stalin . Stalin personally supervised the cult of Lenin and his own cult , which took advantage of the historic semi-religious adulation Russian peasants had shown toward the tsars . The Lenin icons were put into storage when communism fell in 1991 . The Stalin statues had been removed in the 1950s and mention of him was erased from encyclopedias and history books . However under Vladimir Putin in the 21st century the memory of Stalin has been partly rehabilitated in search of a strong leader who made the nation powerful . For example , school textbooks were rewritten to portray " the mass terror of the Stalin years as essential to the country 's rapid modernization in the face of growing German and Japanese military threats , and amid the inaction or duplicity of the Western democracies . " Civil religion is an important component of public life in America , especially at the national level for its celebration of nationalism . Sociologists report that its " feast days " are Thanksgiving , Veterans Day , and Memorial Day . Its rituals include salutes to the flag and singing " God Bless America " . Soldiers and veterans play a central role of standing ready to sacrifice their lives to preserve the nation . Bellah noted the veneration of veterans . The historian Conrad Cherry called the Memorial Day ceremonies " a modern cult of the dead " and says that it " affirms the civil religious tenets . " The American Revolution was the main source of the civil religion that has shaped patriotism ever since . According to the sociologist Robert Bellah : Albanese argues that the American Revolution was the main source of the non-denominational American civil religion that has shaped patriotism and the memory and meaning of the nation 's birth ever since . Battles are not central ( as they are for the Civil War ) but rather certain events and people have been celebrated as icons of certain virtues ( or vices ) . As historians have noted , the Revolution produced a Moses-like leader ( George Washington ) , prophets ( Thomas Jefferson , Tom Paine ) and martyrs ( Boston Massacre , Nathan Hale ) , as well as devils ( Benedict Arnold ) , sacred places ( Valley Forge , Bunker Hill ) , rituals ( Boston Tea Party ) , emblems ( the new flag ) , sacred holidays ( July 4 ) and a holy scripture whose every sentence is carefully studied and applied in current law cases ( the Declaration of Independence , the Constitution , and the Bill of Rights )
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Civil religion