[1] While Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, state atheism was enforced and religion was suppressed from public life.
Christian rituals were also replaced with secular Soviet equivalents, including alternatives to marriage and religious fasting.
[1] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania adopted a new constitution that guaranteed freedom of religion.
[3] In 2005, Eurobarometer found that 12% of Lithuanians do not believe in "any sort of spirit, god, or life force.
This discrimination may be attributed in part to the association of atheism with the oppressive Communist rule under the Soviet Union.