Russia is a multiconfessional state. This happened historically, because in the territory that the Russian Federation occupies today, a great many peoples have lived for millennia. All of them differed in many respects from each other - in their traditions, national culture, and, of course, beliefs, and then religion. And despite all these differences, all of them constantly interacted with each other, communicated, carried on trade, and as a result of this, some gradually migrated to others, and vice versa, they exchanged accumulated experience, gradually their cultures acquired common features.
As for religion, everything here was much more complicated. It was on this basis that various conflicts most often arose. To avoid this, the state should always regulate interfaith relations. This should be done very carefully and unobtrusively.
Interfaith Relations: What Is It?
Let us first define the meaning of the word "denomination." It has a Latin origin. Translated into Russian confessio means "religion." As a rule, this term is used when defining a direction within the framework of a particular religion. It follows that interfaith relations are the interaction between faiths and religions. And they are slightly different from interreligious.
Story
As already noted, since ancient times, the peoples who lived nearby and shared the same territory respected a foreign culture, gradually adopting from it those elements that they liked. Almost never one people ridiculed or belittled any features of the neighboring people. So, for example, if the Tatars celebrated their national holiday Sabantuy, then the Russians showed interest in it, although they did not celebrate it themselves. Recently, in the framework of the program of interfaith relations, this holiday was recognized as All-Russian, and now it is celebrated by Russians, Tatars, and people of other nationalities, not only in Tatarstan, but throughout the Russian Federation.
And in general, our state is trying to keep everything in balance so that every nation, regardless of its faith, traditions and customs, is comfortable living in the country. After all, one of the main tasks of the state is to protect the interests of all ethnic groups that inhabit it. Under the Soviet Union, everything was much simpler: everyone considered each other to be brothers, besides this, atheism was promoted in the country, and conflicts on a religious basis were practically impossible.
Interfaith Relations Today
After the collapse of the USSR, with colossal changes in politics, economics, social relations, there was an increase in the national identity of each of the peoples. As a result of this, interethnic stratification and separation began to occur in society, which often degenerated into national intransigence and intolerance. All this, of course, had a negative impact on society as a whole. And in order to maintain the necessary strength, the state should deal with the harmonization of interfaith relations, and the basis of the civil society of the Russian state should be the recognition of the multicultural and multi-ethnic structure of our statehood. We will be supported by a flexible national policy and the formation of interethnic friendly relations.
State and religion
According to article 14 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Russia is a secular state, therefore, none of the religions existing in the world should and cannot be established as a mandatory state. In view of this, all religious associations operate separately from the state and they are all equal before the law. It follows from this constitutional article that the state, although not opposed to the existence of a particular religious organization in the country, does not, however, encourage any one of them, even if the head of the state professes one or another religion.
Indeed, according to the above article, citizens of the Russian Federation may not be believers, may be adherents of any of the existing religions, and this is their personal choice and deed. However, the state should take this under control and deal with the harmonization of interethnic and interfaith relations so that religious conflicts do not arise between peoples living side by side.
In the Soviet Union, this was achieved: Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and Jews almost never clashed. After the collapse of the “great and mighty,” much has changed, and interethnic and inter-confessional conflicts broke out immediately. In order to keep these processes under control, a Council on Interethnic and Interfaith Relations was created in the Russian Federation. Further in the article, we will consider what this body is.
Presidential Council on Interethnic and Interfaith Relations
This is an advisory body to the president of the country. It was created to ensure the harmonious interaction of regional and federal authorities, as well as public, scientific and other organizations during the consideration of issues related to the implementation of national state policy. Interestingly, the chairman of this council is V.V. Putin, and A. Khloponin and S. Kirienko are his deputies.
The main goal of the Council is to improve the state. policies regarding interethnic relations, as well as the solution of inter-religious problems at the state level. Interfaith relations, as a rule, are not considered separately in this context. This government council has fifty members. Among them are members of the Presidential Administration, representatives of the government and federal bodies of state power, various public associations and scientific organizations.
The main tasks of the Council
The first thing the council members focus on is the study of the conceptual foundations, tasks and goals of the country's national policy, followed by the determination of the forms, methods and stages of its implementation. The council most often discusses the practice of implementing a system for monitoring interethnic and interfaith relations. For its formation, the council members are preparing proposals, which are subsequently submitted to the country's president, who, in turn, determines the priority areas of the state national policy of the Russian Federation. Among the tasks of the council is monitoring of interethnic and interfaith relations.
Separation of religious associations from the state
The principle of separation of religion from the state implies non-interference of the state, that is, its bodies, officials in those issues that determine the attitude of people to religion, as well as in the internal organization of religious associations, of course, if their activities do not pose a threat to peace in the country Does not violate her laws.
On the other hand, the state should in no case finance religious organizations or promote certain beliefs. And these associations, in turn, should not interfere in state affairs; they cannot participate in the election of government bodies or in the management of the activities of political parties.
However, religious ministers as individuals, along with other citizens, have the right to participate in the political activities of the country. This is the peculiarity of modern interfaith relations. So, for example, any minister of the church can run for deputies, and even, in theory, can run for president.
The participation of religious denominations in public life
Despite the fact that Russia, according to the current constitution, is a secular state, religion, nevertheless, penetrates into all areas of public life, including in areas that should be completely separated from the faith, for example, state. organs, schools, science, the army and education. So, for example, in secondary schools in Russia, subjects such as the "foundations of religious cultures" began to be taught. Similar disciplines are taught in universities, by the way, in some of them there is even a specialty such as "Theology". Chaplains - military priests - are in the army.
Since Russian citizens profess several religions, the state should engage in the formation of a monitoring system for interethnic and interfaith relations. We need to take everything under control to prevent the development of conflicts. Despite the fact that Christmas is a holiday exclusively for adherents of the Christian faith, nevertheless this day has been declared an official non-working holiday in Russia. Naturally, for representatives of other religions this cannot be a holiday, for them it is simply a day off, an extra day off.
Opportunities for meeting religious needs
All three Russian presidents were adherents of the Christian faith, but they have always been involved in the regulation of interfaith relations in Russia. Thus, since 2000 , more than 7,000 mosques have been restored or rebuilt in the country. Of course, there are many times more repaired Christian structures, their number is about 17 thousand. There are only 70 synagogues in the Russian Federation.
As for the Buddhists, in the Northern capital there is a magnificent Buddhist temple, which was built before the 1917 revolution. It is called "Gunsechoynei". Today it is a valuable tourist attraction. There is information that a new Buddhist temple will be built in Moscow soon.
The state has taken upon itself the obligation to create conditions for satisfying the religious needs of all its citizens, which, in essence, will contribute to the harmonious development of interfaith relations. A plan of action to be taken in this direction was developed in all regional administrations of the country.
The interaction of religions and faiths in our country
Let us once again give a definition of this concept. So, interfaith relations are relations between areas within the same religion, that is, denominations, and between communities and followers of the main world religions. Moreover, in society, one denomination differs from another in its ideology, the group of believers, clergy, people sympathizing with them.
Peaceful Coexistence of Denominations
From time immemorial, religious affiliation has been a very important factor in social life. Today, despite many transformations, this also remains relevant. The stability of society in many respects depends on harmonious interfaith relations. This is the key to a healthy society. There is another feature: over time, one of the faiths in the country becomes dominant, however, representatives of others should not feel flawed and oppressed. And this will happen if the state takes the dominant side.
Competitive Interfaith Relations
This is the main problem in this matter. Sometimes, some of the representatives of a religious direction are convinced that their ideology and faith are the best and only right. It is precisely because of this that religion is being drawn not only into interethnic, but also into interstate conflicts. Sometimes religion appears as a strong point. Moreover, interfaith relations and their condition are much more dependent not on the ideology of confessions, but on the mood and intentions of politicians and representatives of the higher clergy who favor them. The level of development of believers also plays an important role here. After all, this is directly related to their ability to accept the right of people to free choice without aggression and arrogance, as well as the opportunity to coexist peacefully.
Relation to Gentile Religious Organizations
The Russian Federation is one of the largest countries in the world, which includes a huge number of different peoples, ethnic and religious groups. That is why the state should from time to time carry out various regulatory measures. Interfaith relations should be, if not friendly, then at least neutral. Especially when it comes to the two largest religions in terms of number of followers - Orthodoxy and Islam.
Most often, when they talk about interfaith and interreligious relations, they primarily mean the relationship between representatives of these two religions. And if you look at the problem more broadly and imagine that the opponents are not single followers of a particular faith, but whole countries? Can you imagine the scale of a likely conflict? Therefore, the state should monitor interethnic and interfaith relations taking into account all existing religious groups.
Peaceful coexistence of Christians and Muslims - an ancient tradition
We should be happy to state that during all the years of the existence of the Russian Federation there have been practically no serious conflicts on the basis of faith between the representatives of these two religions. On the territory of our country there are many ethnic groups professing Islam. Many of them came to Russian soil along with the nomadic tribes entering the Great Horde, and did not leave after Russia was able to free itself from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. These include the Volga, Siberian, Astrakhan and Caucasian Tatars, that is, Azerbaijanis.
Therefore, despite the fact that the Russians themselves have been Christians for more than 1000 years, Islam is also the country's native religion. In addition, some Caucasian peoples are Muslims - Dagestanis, Avars, Adyghe, Chechens, etc. The state should not allow neglect of the interests of its Muslim citizens. After all, this will be fraught with the emergence of conflicts on religious grounds.
In addition to the state, the leaders of religious denominations themselves should be interested in this. They should deal with the detection of dogmatic coincidences, doctrinal parallels, and identical ethical postulates. All this, undoubtedly, will speak about the prospects of the dialogue path in order to bring several positions closer. But deepening into ethnic and dogmatic details, of course, will not lead to rapprochement, although it can promote mutual understanding. For example, an in-depth study of the foundations of Islam and Christianity can lead to such striking and significant correspondences that in this field one can even talk about the close relationship of the two faiths.
Nevertheless, theologians understand that there is a doctrine of the doctrine between these religions. Despite this, the tops of both religions should promote tolerance and tolerance of other religions among believers and not contribute to the incitement of inter-religious conflicts, so that peaceful coexistence of representatives of various religious groups, faiths on the same land is possible.
Religious Tolerance (RT)
RT, depending on the object, can be of several types:
- tolerance in relation to representatives of various religions, for example, Christians to Muslims or Buddhists to Muslims, Christians to Buddhists, all of the above religions to Jews;
- tolerance towards adherents of other faiths within the same religion, for example, Catholics against Protestants, Catholics towards the Orthodox or representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church (all of them are Christians) or Sunnis towards Shiites (Muslims);
- the tolerance of representatives of major religions to various sectarian movements, as well as the tolerance of followers of various sects to each other;
- tolerance between atheists and believers.
Ways of resolving interfaith conflicts
Despite the fact that many measures are being taken today to prevent such conflicts, completely peaceful, non-conflict coexistence of various faiths does not work. That is why in this matter it is very important state intervention, which will help to ensure normal relations between religions, and therefore between faiths. This is what is called a culture of interfaith relations. , . .