RIAKHOVSKY
CALLS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ALLIANCE A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
by
Ruslan Krivobok
The
International Religious Freedom Alliance that was created with
the
participation of the U.S.A. is a political organization, which
may become an
instrument for influence in other countries, while there is also
the hope that
the alliance will fight for the rights of believers, including
in the U.S.A.
itself, Sergei Riakhovsky, the ruling bishop of the Russian
Associated Union of
Christians of Evangelical Faith, told RIA Novosti.
Earlier,
the American secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reported that the
Baltic
countries and Georgia and Ukraine had joined the Religious
Freedom Alliance
that was created by the U.S.A. Pompeo noted that the
international coalition
for promoting the issue of religious liberties is forming at the
level of
national leaders, and the member countries intend to fight
against violations
of the freedom of religious confession. Among the members of the
alliance are
Austria, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Great
Britain, Hungary,
Gambia, Greece, Georgia, Israel, the self-proclaimed republic of
Kosovo,
Colombia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland,
Senegal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Togo, Ukraine, Croatia, Czech Republic, and Estonia.
"That
this will be a political structure is clear, because it is being
created by
politicians. There is a great danger that the struggle for
religious liberties
will be used for political pressure on countries in which, from
the point of
view of the countries of the alliance, believers' rights are
being
violated," Riakhovsky said.
He
recalled that in the world there already exists the
International Religious
Liberty Association (I.R.L.A.) which includes representatives of
all principal
world confessions. And in Russia there is the Russian
Association for the
Protection of Religious Liberty, which cooperates actively with
I.R.L.A.
"I.R.L.A.
was created by religious leaders, experts, and scholars in the
area of
religion, and that is its value. The Russian Association for the
Protection of
Religious Liberty also includes the main confessions of Russia.
We compose an
annual report on religious liberty. The difference between
R.A.P.R.L. and the
alliance consists in the fact that in the alliance the problem
of religious
liberty will be dealt with by national leaders and not by
religious
organizations," the representative of Russian protestants
thinks.
Riakhovsky
called attention to the fact that among the members of the
alliance there are
states "in which the rights of believers really are being
violated and at
the same time countries in which there is religious liberty."
"One
would hope that the alliance really will deal with protection of
believers'
rights, including in the U.S.A., where there is a great conflict
between
believers and liberal-minded politicians and public leaders,"
the bishop
explained.
He
also noted that there is no public access to the charter
documents of the
organization and a list of those who signed the founding
document from the
member countries.
"When
the alliance publishes a memorandum, charter documents, there
will perhaps be a
road map and Russia should think about whether to cooperate with
the alliance.
But since religious leaders are not mentioned here, it is
probably a question
for the politicians," the news agency's interlocutor said.
According
to information on the website of the American State Department,
on 5 February,
American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at a dinner of the
Religious
Freedom Alliance, which was attended by representatives of the
member countries
of the alliance. He noted that he recently returned from a trip
in eastern
Europe and Central Asia, where he met with representatives of
the so-called
Orthodox Church of Ukraine, who "are fighting to be able to
worship
freely, without interference by the government of Russia." The
next
meeting of the Religious Freedom Alliance at the level of
ministries of foreign
affairs will be held in July 2020 in Warsaw. (tr. by PDS, posted
10 February
2020)
EXPERT
COMMENTS ON
CREATION IN U.S.A. OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS ALLIANCE
The
creation with the
participation of the U.S.A. of the Religious Freedoms Alliance
may impose on the
world the values of American society and the evaluation of the
level of liberty
made by the alliance may be politicized, since this is not a
religious
association, Alexander Kudriavtsev, the chairman of the
Council of the Russian
Association for the Protection of Religious Liberty, told RIA
Novosti.
Earlier,
the American
secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reported that the countries
of the Baltic,
Georgia, and Ukraine had joined the Religious Freedoms
Alliance created by the
U.S.A. He noted that the international coalition for promoting
the issue of
religious liberty is being formed at the level of national
leaders, and member
countries intend to fight against violations of the freedom of
religious
confession. [. . .]
"I
think that
since the 'ears stick out' from the U.S.A., the alliance is
another structure
that will impose their values: execute and pardon at their
discretion.
Although, for example, the level of antisemitism in the U.S.A.
is much higher
than in Russia," Kudriavtsev said.
He
said, Americans
always have considered themselves the chief defenders of
religious values in
the world. "The State Department is monitoring religious
liberty in the world
and every year it publishes a corresponding report where
Russia is placed
alongside China and other countries in which there are
problems with religious
liberty," the expert explained.
He
called attention
to the fact that, judging by materials in news media, the
alliance involves not
religious organizations but member countries. "It is not the
business of
government to make evaluations of religious liberty. Most
often such
evaluations are made by public organizations and
representatives of
confessions. The state pursues primarily its political goals,"
Kudriavtsev
thinks.
He
cited the example
of the Russian Association for the Protection of Religious
Liberty, which
exists in the form of a Russia-wide public organization and
its founders are
individual persons.
According
to
information on the website of the American State Department,
on 5 February,
American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at a dinner of
the Religious
Freedom Alliance, where representatives of the member
countries of the alliance
were present. He noted that he had returned recently from a
trip in eastern
Europe and Central Asia, where he met with representatives of
the so-called
Orthodox Church of Ukraine, who "are fighting in order to
worship freely,
without interference of the government of Russia." It is
expected that the
next meeting of the alliance will occur in July 2020 in Warsaw
at the level of
ministries of foreign affairs of member countries. (tr. by
PDS, posted 10
February 2020)
MUFTI:
THE GOALS OF
THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS ALLIANCE CREATED BY U.S.A. ARE UNCLEAR
The
Religious
Freedoms Alliance that has been created may turn into a kind
of
"supra-religious institution," which the U.S.A. and other
western
countries may use as yet another instrument for influence in
the foreign policy
sphere, Mufti Albir Krganov, the chairman of the
Ecclesiastical Assembly of
Muslims of Russia, suggested.
Earlier
American
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported that the countries of
the Baltic,
Georgia, and Ukraine had joined the Religious Freedoms
Alliance created by the
U.S.A. He noted that the international coalition for promoting
the issue of
religious liberties had been formed on the level of national
leaders and the
member countries intend to fight against violation of the
freedom of religious
confession. [. . .]
"We
ask
ourselves, why was the initiative of the creation of such a
structure
conceived, because its goals and purposes are not very clear.
Apparently it is
some kind not only of a supra-governmental but also a
supra-religious
institution, and somehow the fate of religious organizations
and questions of
religions will be resolved by ministers of the states,"
Krganov told RIA
Novosti.
He
said that if one
looks at the list of those countries that are represented in
the alliance, then
the majority of them are members of various international
organizations under
the aegis of the U.S.A. For example, the countries of NATO are
represented in
the organization.
The
mufti thinks that
Russian state structures engaged in international activity,
principally the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RF, should give special
attention to the
creation of the new structure and more intensely "conduct
monitoring and
analysis of how actively the West today is trying to use the
religion theme in
foreign policy and other activity."
"This
may become
some problem and threat for our country, and this factor must
be kept in the
focus of attention. Recently, the field of such global
experiments,
ideologically directed and religious, has become not just the
Near East—and
where all that leads we see very well—but today this has
spread to countries of
Europe," the news agency's interlocutor noted.
In
particular, he
called attention to the fact that leaders of a number of
European states
"in service of some neoliberal values do not promote the
preservation of
religious traditions of their countries and a certain
de-Christianization is
going on, and so forth."
"Today
it is
ever more difficult for believing people to conduct a
religious form of life,
because of interference in life by politicians, who hinder
religious notions.
This is not the believer's life with God, work within,
changing one's self. Religion
has now become some part of politics, and of course this
concerns us," the
Muslim leader added.
Krfanov
also recalled
that the American State Department every year publishes a
report about
religious liberties, and religious leaders of Russia,
representatives of
various confessions, have already stated often that "they do
not agree
with these assessments, which diplomats give there. They do
not correspond to
reality." "We do not say that there are absolutely no
problems. There
are some, but not to the politicized degree that these reports
write
about," the mufti acknowledged.
Nevertheless,
he did
not rule out that the initiative still may give some positive
results.
"Time will tell." . . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 10 February
2020)
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