This analysis is more enlightening for what it omits than for what it includes.
- Karl Marx would not have recognized that Soviet Union, China, or Cuba as Communist systems according to his philosophies. Among other things, Max would have decried the cult of personality surrounding the leaders of those nations, particularly Lenin, Stalin, and Castro.
- The distinguishing feature of the nations mentioned is that they used the rhetoric of Communism in the service of establishing dictatorships which were, in their actions, not terribly different from those of right-wing dictators such as Pinochet or, for that matter, the Czars.
- Dictatorships always oppose religion unless they can make it subservient to their cause. It's also interesting how the analysis omits any distinction between the vastly different religious traditions of Russia and Cuba on the one hand and China on the other, nor does it note that the Chinese government has never opposed religions unless/until they perceived them as competition. It is that abiliity to provide a voice for the people, not the involvement of God, that is the key reason totalitarian regimes generally oppose religion. For another example, consider the attitude of the Russian and Polish governments toward Solidarity in its early days. Whlie membership in a trade union is virtually compulsory in Communist countries, this is because those unions are basically part of the apparatus of state control. A true, independent union (such as Solidarity) was perceived as the same type of threat as an independent church.
- The Cultural Revolution in China was much broader than an attack on religion.
- For most of the history of mankind, religion has been the cause (or at least the ally) of tyrrany. From the earliest pagan religions, the priestly classes have used their special relationship with "God" to set themselves apart from (i.e., above) the masses they ostensibly serve. Declaring the head of state to be a God certainly didn't originale with Lenin; it was just as true of the Egyptian Pharoahs and Roman rulers, just to give a couple of examples.
During the most corrupt period of the history of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, the Church and most of the European states were indistinguishable. Was it the Church or the Spanish government that promulgated the Inquisition? It's a meaningless question, as the two were inseparable. The divine right of kings was seen as springing from God.
- Most Christian religious institutions are essentially (little-c) communist in nature. Read what Christ actually preached when he was on earth. Look at how his apostles lived together. Look at the structure of religious orders. Communal living is at the core of many important Christian institutions. Claiming that communism was invented by Marx or is inherently antagonistic to the Christian religion is preposterous in this context.