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Will teaching religion in schools become obligatory?
THE MOST FAITHFUL TEACHINGBy Svetlana Solodovnik
Ezhednevnyi zhurnal, 28 September 2006
It seems that the war over the Foundations of Orthodox Culture, which has gone on for almost ten years, has reached its final phase. This war from the very beginning had a rather strange character. While the proponents of Foundations, representatives of the church, and Orthodox activists continually accused perfidious officials of working against them, the officials did not do anything to hinder them. Former Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov signed a letter legalizing the optional teaching of the subject in the schools back in 1993. An infrastructure was erected in the countryside for training teaching and curricula were prepared. The only thing that the state, in the person of the ministry, did not consent to was to make the subject obligatory (which would have violated all the laws) and to produce the textbook.
In essence, the interests of two parts of society clashed in these battles, which was, and is, the eternal conflict between Slavophiles and westerners. But to the extent that one part of society did something and the other part only spoke a decisive "no," now the combination of energy and inertial is clearly working in favor of the proponents of Foundations. Also working for them is the conjunction of the idea of Orthodoxy as the ideology cementing the state and nation together, which had been promoted by a rather narrow political spectrum, which has now expanded to all layers of administration and consequently to all spheres of life subject to these administrations. The most active proponent of this idea, the retired Metropolitan Yuvenaly Tarasov of Kursk and Rylsk, back at the beginning of the 90s began talking about the need to have Orthodoxy in the schools and he initiated this project in his diocese in 1996.
This summer the leadership of two provinces, Belgorod and Briansk, announced the decision to make classes on Foundations of Orthodox Culture obligatory for the local public schools.
No frightening news about interconfessional strife, which the opponents of Foundations fear, has arrived out of these provinces, but it is a big question whether the children who are better trained in Orthodox culture are more moral, tolerant, and "communal," as the proponents of Foundations claim. The problem is that disputes about the necessity and legality of the subject are going on in the caitals, but the teaching of the subject, to a great extent, is being done in the countryside. An now, at the height of the dispute, some publications have sent their correspondents to the cities and forests and everyone has the most diverse impressions. Some are quite positive, while other are not so positive. Deputies, sociologists, priests, journalists, writers, and officials are discussion the hot topic at round tables.
But the interesting thing is that there was a noisy hubbub over the Foundations of Orthodox Culture textbook byt Alla Borodina, which even led to a legal battle (and many of the accusations against the author were thoroughly justified), but now at a round table at RIA Novosti Alla Borodina boldly declared again the merits of her work, although in a updated version.
One would like to know whether anyone has evaluated all of this diversity of opinions. Have they looked into the nuances and compared which textbook is worse and which better and identified the mistakes and the successes? Such conversations are not heard. To be suire, the vice-chairman of the Duma Committee onf Affairs of Pub lic Associations and Religious Organizations, Alexander Chuev, proposed at this same meeting in RIA Novosti to create a special working groups for the Ministry of Education and Science, which would include participants from the main confessions and "jointly develop approaches to religious education." But the ministry and the patriarchate had already created a Coordinating Council, as a result of whose work the then Ministry of Education Vladimir Filippov distributed to the regions a sample curriculum for the Foundations of Orthodox Culture subject, word-for-word repeating a seminary class. The uproar then was enormous and the ministry had to rescind its letter. Why repeat old mistakes? After all throughout the 90s supporters and opponents of Foundations preferred talking either directly with the state or with the offices of prosecutors. If now the problem is being discussed so widely, wouldn't it be better to create some kind of public collegial organ which would take up appropriate work? Sometimes one must learn how to come to agreement with people, and not just those closest to your views, or else everything will always be decided by the government. But the round table at RIA Novosti again ended with the sad conclusion that the conversation between proponents and opponents of Foundations is being conducted in different languages.
The real intensification of disputes had been provoked not only by regional initiatives but also by whether a textbook on the history of religions will be prepared, upon which the Ministry of Education has been insisting. Officials of the ministry base their position on the multiconfessional nature of the country, but, in my opinion, this is another problem. It is clear how an ordinary history of religions can be written; the methodology of religious studies has been worked out, so long as it is free of the view, obligatory in soviet times, that religion is a survival of the remnants of the past. There are specialists for doing this. But who will write the Foundations of Orthodox Culture course? Where are our bearers of Orthodox culture who are able to present it as an abstract academic discipline? I am afraid that such are not to be found even among the majority of priests. It is not in vain that none opf them has up to now undertaken the creation of the desired resource. More secular authors are engaged in the writing, man of whom became acquainted with Orthodox culture a month or two before taking up their pen. So it turns out that beneath the conversations about culture there is a groundwork of overt lack of culture.
In my experience of talking with teachers of Foundations of Orthodox Culture, and I have talked with them at the Christmas Readings almost every year, the proportion of inspired enthusiasts who are really knowledgeable and are trying to give the subject a moral intent is approximately equal to the proportion of extremists of all hues who ascribe to "Orthodoxy" their own antihumane convictionsÑand that is not very large.
The main mass of people are sincere and well-intentioned scholars who are used to feeling the firm ground of a unified and codified morality under their feet. The moral code of the builder of communism vanished into thin air. Somehow democratic rights are forgotten; we don't like recogfnizing the rights of others, especially if they threaten our interests. Now the techers' views have turned to "traditional values." The favorite class for young schoolchildren is cutting out crosses and pasting them to all the surfaces they can find, which in the older classes they study reproductions of icons and learn which saint to pray to for preservation from which troubles. Some teachers simply read stories to the children: "You know, nobody reads to children nowadays and they have never even heard of Kurochka Riaba," one distraught teacher complained to me.
So then we are not soon going to reach the time of which Deacon Andrei Kuraev dreams. In his article about Foundations of Orthodox Culture he suggests that potential writers of textbooks orient themselves to the works of Aleksei Losev, Mikhail Bakhtin, Sergei Averintsev, Yury Lotman, Aron Gurevich, and the like. That would of course be wonderful, but this can hardly happen any sooner than writers of literature texts begin to orient themselves to Averintsev and Lotman.
The deacon himself accuses those who prepared the resources of dishonestyÑ"They called in 'culturology' but they wrote the 'law of God.'" I think it would be possible, even without Averintsev and Lotman, to create a worthy textbook on Foundations, if one clearly realizes what to expect from it. Unfortunately, the church hierarchy does not recognize this and they continue to insist that Foundations of Orthodox Culture should not be replaced by the history of religions, because history does not teach morality, but the "culturological" Foundations of Orthodox Culture subject supposedly does teach it. If the culturological subject is scientific (and only such a subject can be taught by the secular school) then what would be more effectve for teaching morality than scientific knowledge of history? It is a puzzle.
The hierarchs maintain that 80 percent of the citizens of Russia are Orthodox and they want to study the Foundations of Orthodoxy; that also is a deception. For the demonstration before the Public Chamber that was supposed to review the regional initiative in obligatory teaching of Foundations of Orthodox Culture in the schools, even the fiery fighter "for the rights of Ortghodox people," Kirill Frolov, was able to muster only twenty people. But this did not keep him from declaring demagogically that the Orthodox community will not accept "the secular, atheistic subject of 'Foundations of World Religions."" It seems that there is no Orthodox community in Ekaterinburg; there, according to survey data gathered by the "School Life" newspaper, 76 percent of older schoolchildren objected to studying Foundations of Orthodox Culture.
It means that whatever the government permits is what will be. It seems that the central government is not prepared to make any sharp turns. Thus Education Minister Andrei Fursenko will not rescind the illegitimate decision of regional leadership. The law "On Education" permits local authorities to determine for themselves the contents of the regional curriculum, provided that it does not violate the rules of the ministry. The minister asked the Public Chamber to deal with it and it is still thinking it over. However Foundations of Orthodox Culture is saddled with forces that are trying to make political capital out of it. But without success. This same Public Chamber included in its list of organizations applying for state grants the Union of Orthodox Citizens, an organization famed for its noisy demonstrations (which recently is more often cooperating with overt extremists like the Orthodox Standardbearers) and for its "uncompromising statements" calling for "a comprehensive Orthodox mobilization of experts and journalists for delivering a worthy rebuttal to the antichurch lobby." However, even Bishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz, who is a member of the Public Chamber, thinks that "it is necessary to restore Orthodox, if not as a state ideology, at least as a national public ideology," to which Kirill Frolov adds his own attempts. And now the state, most likely, will oblige him. It will be interesting to see whether Kirill Frolov's "mobilized forces" will become louder or quieter because of this.
In any case, it is not clear what will become of Orthodox culture. It is not even clear who the patriarchate so persistently refuses to spend its money on this. There is money for everything, for construction of supermarkets footsteps away from churches, for developing a network of cheap hotels, and for revival of failed collective farms. But for teaching courses to train qualified teacher in the specialty of "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy relies on the "free-will donations" of the students. There is not even money in the central church budget for seminary education, which is the most immediate source of Orthodox culture. Dioceses must get along as best they can. So the state has to take care of this.
So citizens will await the decision of the Public Chamber regarding obligatory teaching of "Foundations of Orthodox Culture." It will show the near-term prospects for ideological Orthodoxy. If the situation really has changed, they we all will soon have the opportunity to experience the degree of tolerance and moral substance of proponents of "traditional foundations." (translated by PDS, posted 29 September 2006)
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Patriarch promotes teaching religion in schools
PATRIARCH ALEXY: ARGUMENTS AGAINST TEACHING ORTHODOX CULTURE IN SCHOOL ARE FAR-FETCHEDInterfax, 29 September 2006
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has pointed to the successful experience of teaching Basic Orthodox Culture (BOC) and believes the arguments of opponents to this discipline to be far-fetched.
'The far-fetched character of counter arguments becomes increasingly apparent. The spiritual traditions safeguarded by the Church constitute an essential part of our traditions in general. A society that has rejected spiritual traditions or has been forcibly deprived of them has no future', the patriarch said in an interview published in the Moskovskie novosti daily.
Pointing out that the BOC and other similar disciplines are already taught in many regions in Russia, Alexy II added that it was done to implement the will of teachers, parents and schoolchildren themselves.
'Nowhere has it led to inter-religious or inter-ethnic conflicts - a threat used by opponents of teaching the positive knowledge of one of the religions in school. Nor any negative consequences have been generated by the teaching of Islam in several regions or the teaching of the same Islam and Judaism in ethnic schools', the primate of the Russian Church stressed.
He also called upon the school not to evade ethical education including ethical education based on religious ethics.
'It is not enough to know dry historical facts or have an idea of cultural movements. Children should be reminded of traditional religions' attitude to divorce and adultery, ethnic enmity and terrorism, debauchery and drugs', Patriarch Alexy added. (posted 29 September 2006)
EXCERPT
Moskovskie novosti, 29 September 2006
--Nowadays much is being said about the need for the spiritual and moral rebirth of society. What does the church propose for preserving the national traditions?
--The basis for the rebirth is the moral sensibility placed by God in the human spirit, which presupposes first of all love for God and neighbor. An important evidence of the spiritual renewal of society is the readiness of some of its members to act for the sake of faith, and a multitude of such examples are known to our church. A clear manifestation of spiritual rebirth is the restoration and construction of churches and monasteries and the development of parish church life. There are more youth and middle-aged people in the churches; elderly women, upon whom our church survived in the soviet years, have now become a minority at church holidays and worship services. More and more young families with children. The publishing and informational activity of the church has undergone an unprecedented flourishing. Today more books and periodical literature are being produced than before the revolution, to say nothing of radio, television, and the Internet.
However, the rebirth of the nation cannot continue if the younger generation is deprived of knowledge of its spiritual roots, which are in Orthodoxy. Thus we advocate the introduction into the schools on an optional basis, but in school hours, of the cultural course "Foundations of Orthodox Culture."
--Opponents of this subject cite the fact that it is impermissible to promote religion through the state schools.
--How far fetched the arguments "against" are has become more and more clear. The spiritual traditions that have been carefully preserved by the church are an essential part of our traditions in general. A society that rejects its spiritual traditions or is deprived of them by force is being deprived of its future. Unfortunately, not everyone by any means considers the spiritual realm to be necessary because they are in thrall to their own passions and adhere to the cult of libertarianism. Such people experience disillusionment both in this life and in the life to come. But our church is ready to extend to them a saving hand.
Actually "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" and other such subjects are already being taught in many regions of the country. This is being done at the behest of pedagogues, parents, and the students themselves. Nowhere has this led to inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflicts, with which the opponents of the teaching of positive information about one of the religions try to frighten us. Even the teaching about Islam and Judaism in a number of Islamic regions has not led to any kind of negative consequences.
It is my profound conviction that every person must know the history of the culture of his country, and our whole history is based on Orthodoxy. I hope that the state will guarantee the right for this practice in all regions of Russia. Of course, the contemporary person must know something about all religions that are traditionally represented in our country. Such knowledge can be taught in the form of a separate subject, but primarily within the framework of courses in history, literature, and social studies. In any case, such teaching must not exclude the profound achievement of the culture, namely its religion. After all, parents have the right for their children to get an education in accordance with those convictions to which the family adheres.
The most important thing is that the schools much not shirk moral education, including that which is based on religious ethics. It is not enough to know dry historical facts or to recognize the cultural monuments. Children need to remember how the traditional religious think about divorce and marital fidelity, about ethnic strife and terrorism, and about drunkenness and drug addiction. (translated by PDS, posted 29 September 2006)
Pentecostal leader protests broadcast slander
"VESTI" PROGRAM SLANDERS PENTECOSTALSReligiia v svetskom obshchestve, 29 September 2006
A declaration from the president of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), Bishop Sergei Riakhovsky, has been published regarding the "Vesti" program aired on 27 September on the "Russia" state television channel. According to the bishop, many pastors and believers of churches that are members of the Russian Associated Union were upset by the information given in this broadcast.
"A comparison by the 'Vesti' program of religious organizations that are registered by justice agencies of the Russian federation with totalitarian, destructive occultic sects is impermissible and alarming," the text states. Likening Pentecostals to sects was taken by believers as "an insult that does not correspond with reality" "Information broadcast by the 'Vesti' program by the 'Russia' channel not only does not correspond to reality but it also infringes the rights and legal interests of believers who are parishioners of protestant religious associations," Riakhovsky insisted.
"We request the organs of state power and administration and offices of state prosecutors to take active measures for the defense of the rights and freedom of believers that are guaranteed by the constitution of the Russian federation. We consider that such a program leads to the arousing of religious strife within Russian society and inhibits the realization of the policies of the Russian state that are intended to strengthen constitutional rights and freedoms and toleration within society," the statement of the Pentecostal leader said. (traqnslated by PDS, posted 29 September 2006)
DOCUMENT
Declaration of Public Chamber member, President of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), Bishop S.V. Riakhovsky
Representing the interests of religious organizations that are members of the centralized structure of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), we express our protest in connection with the information broadcast by the RTV television company on the program "Vesti," aired on 27 September at 20.00, which besmirched the honor and dignity of tens of thousands of believers and hundreds of religious associations on the territory of Russia and countries of CIS. Many pastors and parishioners of churches that are members of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (ROSKhVE) have appealed to us, expressing their anxiety over the information broadcast by the program. They viewed this program as a hostile attack against the churches of which they are members, and they were offended by the information broadcast by the program, which, in essence, was fantasy and falsification. They took the production of such a program on air as a threat to freedom of confession of faith and an attempt to incite religious strife and hostility.
The "Vesti" program's comparison of religious organizations, which are registered by organs of justice of the Russian federation, to totalitarian, destructive, and occultic sects is impermissible and worrisome.
The information broadcast by the program profoundly wounded the religious feelings of many thousands of believers, who were extremely upset by the fact that Pentecostals and so-called "charismatic" churches were likened to sects. Such a comparison is nothing other than a profound insult and does not correspond to reality.
More than 100 religious organizations of the "Word of Life" churches are members of ROSKhVE, and, in their doctrine, are like the Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals). Information about the basics of their doctrine and practice in accordance with it by the organizations has been registered with organs of justice of the Russian federation.
The information broadcast by the "Vesti" program on the "Russia" television channel not only does not correspond with reality but also infringes the rights and legal interests of believers who are parishioners of protestant religious associations.
We request that organs of state authority and administration and offices of prosecutors take active measures for protecting the rights and freedoms of believers that are guaranteed by the constitution of the Russian federation. We consider that such programs facilitate the arousing of religious strife within Russian society and hinder the realization of the policies of the Russian state directed to the strengthening of constitutional rights and freedoms and of tolerance within society.
29 September 2006
(translated by PDS, posted 29 September 2006)
Orthodox patriots fight for teaching religion in schools
NEW DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF "FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX CULTURE"Religiia v svetskom obshchestve, 28 September 2006
On 28 September, the Union of Orthodox Citizens (SPG) conducted a new demonstration in support of the "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" course outside the building where the Public Chamber was meeting. About thirty persons participated in the demonstration. SPG Press Secretary Kirill Froov told the Agency of National News that there is an attempt to decide the fate of "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" "behind the backs" of believers: "Our predictions have been confirmed. The session of the Commission on Questions of Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience was held today, when the Orthodox hierarchs who are members of the Public Chamber were in St. Petersburg for the reinterment of the remains of Empress Maria Fedorovna or at the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations," on Rodos island.
Frolov recounted a meeting with a member of the Commission on Questions of Toleration, Valery Tishkov: "He gave us two arguments. That he is a supporter of the textbook on the history of world religions and that if we have Foundations of Orthodox Culture and the Muslims have foundations of Islamic culture, then they will likely be more successful in penetrating into Russian schools." In reply believers cited the opinion of Patriarch Alexis II, who opposes the replacement of Foundations of Orthodox Culture by a course on the history of world religions. "Muslims have full rights to conduct foundations of Islamic culture in regions where they are concentrated," Frolov said. "Besides, 'Foundations of Orthodox Culture' has a more developed methodological base. New developments will appear. Such of our prominent culturologists as Vladimir Mokhnach, Deacon Andrei Kuraev, Egor Kholmogorov, and Arkady Maller are producing magnificent textbooks. Thus we are not afraid of healthy competition, but we will not permit any conflicts and hostilities."
On the same day there was a demonstration outside the prison where the leader of the "For Human Rights" movement, Lev Ponomarev, is being held, after being sentenced to three days of administrative detention for organizing an unsanctioned demonstration in memory of the victims of the terrorist act in Beslan. "We are quite satisfied with the arrest of Mr. Ponomarev, because this man organized a campaign of slander against the author of the textbook 'Foundations of Orthodox Culture' by Alla Borodina," the SPG press secretary said. He said that Lev Ponomarev had set himself against the "Orthodox majority of citizens of Russia and the entirety of our Orthodox culture." "Because he tried to make dubious political capital out of the Beslan tragedy, he received the normal response from the state. Justice has triumphed and we hope that such a fate will await other opponents of Orthodox culture," Frolov stressed. (translated by PDS, posted 29 September 2006)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Synanogues attacked in two Russian cities
RUSSIAN JEWISH CONGRESS CONCERNED BY SERIES OF ATTACKS ON SYNAGOGUESInterfax, 25 September 2006
The Russian Jewish Congress has expressed concern over a series of attacks on synagogues in the cities of Astrakhan and Khabarovsk in the past two days.
"It is absolutely obvious that the culprits were driven by ethnic and religious hatred. By pelting the synagogues with stones, they delivered a mighty blow to the feelings of believers," Vyacheslav Kantor, the congress's president, said.
He noted that this was not the first instance when the synagogues were attacked. The Khabarovsk synagogue has been attacked three times since the beginning of the year, and the Astrakhan synagogue, two times in the last 24 hours, he said. "In this context we are surprised by the inactivity of local authorities, which show little reaction. Connivance with anti-Semitism and xenophobia in our country is unacceptable," he said.
In the investigation of these crimes, law enforcement and judicial authorities should act with the same firm hand as in Alexander Koptsev's case, he said. Koptsev was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for stabbing worshippers in a Moscow synagogue.
"It is necessary to find and severely punish the culprits. It will show the public that the sentence to anti-Semite Koptsev was not an isolated case, but a first step in the state's sweeping fight against nationalism. It is possible to fight anti-Semitism only by fighting xenophobia in general," he said.
(posted 28 September 2006)
Muslims oppose teaching Orthodoxy in schools
TATAR CONGRESS AGAINST ORTHODOX CULTURE BEING TAUGHT IN SCHOOLSInterfax, 28 September 2006
The Executive Committee of the World Congress of Tatars, headquartered in Kazan, Tatarstan, has expressed protest against the proposed introduction of a course in the fundamentals of Orthodox culture to be taught in state schools.
"Defending the interests of millions of Tatars, we express our resolute protest against the disregard for the constitutional principles of a secular state and the introduction of the fundamentals of Orthodox culture as a compulsory subject," the organization's Executive Committee said in a statement on Thursday.
This could spark ethnic and inter-religious tensions in Russia, it said.
Only the teaching of history and of traditional religions will help bring up children in a spirit of tolerance and patriotism, the authors of the appeal said.
Congress coordinator Milyausha Gumerova told Interfax that the statement would be handed to Russian ministries and agencies in the near future.
The World Congress of Tatars comprises 331 Tatar national-cultural organizations, including 140 headquartered abroad.
(posted 28 September 2006)
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