This study analyzes the influence of the ideologeme «socialist emulation» on the anti-religious struggle in the late 1920s in terms of the campaign to close the Roman catholic temple in the city of Samara. The main source of the study is official regulations, business documentation and press materials. The author has shown that the campaign to close the catholic temple began as part of the socialist emulation between German and Polish-origin activists after the closure of the Lutheran temple. The closure of the Samara temple took place with the active participation of the Poles-workers, who, within the framework of the Soviet ideology, opposed the Poles-believers. The usage of the ideologeme «socialist emulation» in this campaign shows that, having initially emerged in the sphere of labor relations to encourage labor activity, «socialist emulation» penetrated into other spheres of public life. The author assumes that the soviet authorities indoctrinated most important elements of ideology in order to manipulate the consciousness of the population. Thus, the ideologeme «socialist emulation» contributed to the intensification of the struggle against religious associations of believers in the framework of public work. At the same time, while in production it was easy to determine the winner of the socialist competition, within the framework of the antireligious struggle, it was not so much victory that was important as participation. Otherwise, the refusal to compete could become the basis for accusations of counter-revolutionary actions.