“The Soviet Union despised religion, and could have used this to attack religion.”
And thereby givng up secrecy. And what does religon have to do with this subject?
You must not be familiar with Genesis 6.
"The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything: ‘And a dog is an omen and a cat is a mystery, and a pig is a mascot and a beetle is a scarab, calling up all the menagerie of polytheism from Egypt and old India, … and all because you are frightened of four words: 'He was made Man.'"
- Emile Cammaerts, The Laughing Prophet: The Seven Virtues and G.K. Chesterton