The Party’s objectives inside religious groups are several: 1. _To gain “respectability”_: “... a church is the best front we can have.” Comrades, by associating in church circles, secure an “acceptable” status in the community, greater credence for their opinions, and the lulling of noncommunist suspicions. 2. _To provide an opportunity for the subtle dissemination of communist propaganda._ Churches are convincing places in which to identify communist programs with such genuine religious values as “peace,” “brotherhood,” “justice.” One member bragged how in a church talk he had “plugged” for Marx. The communists are careful, however, not to overdo it. One fellow was too ambitious. He was challenged by alert church members and relieved of his leadership duties. 3. _To make contact with youth_: through class discussions, recreational affairs, etc. The object is not necessarily to recruit (although in one church several young people did join) but to plant a seed of Marxist-Leninist thought. 4. _To exploit the church in the Party’s day-to-day agitational program._ In the 1930’s and 1940’s the approach was chiefly through “immediate economic and political” problems, with the Party attempting to exploit the church’s legitimate interest in better housing and the elimination of social injustices. Today this tactic is overshadowed by the “peace” issue. Every possible deceptive device is being used to link the Party’s “peace” program with the church. One Communist Party section issued instructions that every clergyman in the community be contacted to give a sermon on “peace.” Encourage “Party church members” to organize discussion groups, perhaps showing a “peace” film. If possible, circulate “peace” literature. If you can’t get inside, stand outside. One organizer said: “We are to dress up like other people and stand outside churches in our neighborhoods and use the slogan, ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men.’” 5. _To enlarge the area of Party contacts._ One Party section advocated: Join small churches (100 to 500 membership), so that one can more easily work himself into a position of leadership. Make as many personal contacts as possible. Learn where the church member works, what his hobbies are, etc. Someday he might be used. One Party member, active in youth work, learned that the parents of several young people were working in an industrial plant. Securing this information was most important, he said. 6. _To influence clergymen._ A dedicated clergyman, being a man of God, is a mortal enemy of communism. But if he can, by conversion, influence, or trickery, be made to support the communist program once or a few times or many times, the Party gains. If, for example, a clergyman can be persuaded to serve as sponsor or officer of a communist front, to issue a testimonial or to sign a clemency petition for a communist “victim of persecution,” his personal prestige lends weight to the cause.