The challenge: get meaningful Stalin worship in democratic Western nations, especially the United States. I'm not talking about the usual group of Soviet-apologist socialists that have always been around--I mean flat-out, literal deification of Uncle Joe with shrines, songs of praise, prayers, rites--the whole nine yards.
Bonus points for it not being strictly connected to the national communist movements in these nations like CPUSA. Extra-bonus points for getting it to happen in the 1930s when the cult of personality is in full force in the Soviet Union. Mega-ultra bonus points if the purges, famines, and massacres done by Stalin somehow manage to increase the worship, i.e. they are called proof of his awesome divine wrath or whatever. (I suppose you could call his victory over Nazi Germany the same thing, but few people would be intrinsically repulsed by that.)
Best chances for PoDs leading to this:
1: Walter Duranty's journalistic fictions become so tremendously popular in the Depression era that some of the more simpleminded among us wonder if the "heaven on earth" created by the Soviet Union in this otherwise bleak time is indicative of supernatural force.
2: The aura of awe in the west as the Soviet Union first survives the onslaught of, and then gradually beats back and finally utterly crushes, Nazism is stronger than IOTL and results in epiphanies, swoonings, and revelations.
3: Marxist-leaning professors in western universities, long after Stalin's horrors have passed, are not so militantly atheistic for whatever reason and begin to promote the godhood-of-Stalin idea to their (gullible) students.
CHALLENGES
1: While Stalin is in power, just about all Western nations are still solidly Christian in at least name, and often practice. There is not the great openness to new-age/pagan/eastern/esoteric/metaphysical and otherwise unconventional religions that is commonplace today.
2: Strict Marxism is, of course, solidly atheistic. Therefore good communists shouldn't be worshipping Stalin as God. The reason this happened IOTL in the Soviet Union (besides that refusing to do so would get you and maybe your whole family killed) was because the vast majority of Soviet citizens in 1930 were not educated and had no better understanding of pure, authentic Marxist doctrine than the average European peasant in 1030 did the Bible.
3: The atrocities he did are sort of hard to get around.
So... your thoughts? I don't think this is ASB, but I acknowledge it will be tricky.
ArmchairPhilosopher