wfn.org | Adventist News Network: Russians Grapple with Problems of

["Beckett, John" <BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org>]

> ANN Bulletin
> Adventist News Network
> www.adventist.org
> Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
> February 5, 2002
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> ANN Feature: Russians Grapple with Problems of "Two-Tier" Religion Law
> Moscow, Russia .... [Rebecca Scoggins/Valery Ivanov]
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Defining religions as traditional or non-traditional is
> anti-constitutional, say the participants of a recent roundtable meeting
> in Moscow, Russia.
> 
> The discussion group, made up of Protestant journalists, noted religion
> scholars, and several government representatives, met at the Izmailovsky
> Hotel in January to address proposed changes in Russia's religion law.
> Sponsors of the meeting included a local association of Christian
> journalists, a Russian journal of religious studies, and the Moscow
> Helsinki Group, which is a prominent human rights organization.
> 
> Representatives of several denominations and academic institutions
> strongly criticized the Russian government's practice of dividing
> religious faiths into "traditional" and "non-traditional" categories.
> Roundtable members also suggested eliminating the preamble to Russia's
> 1997 law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations. This
> controversial document refers to the Orthodox Church as more historic than
> other confessions.
> 
> While Russia's constitution guarantees equal treatment to all faiths, most
> minority groups say that equality is impossible as long as the government
> is allowed to define the acceptability of various religions. 
> 
> "Officially our church is defined as traditional," says Valery Ivanov, who
> represented the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the meeting. "But in rare
> cases a local government will decide that we are non-traditional or even a
> sect. Then we are not allowed to rent halls or conduct public work. And
> for many denominations, the situation is much worse."
> 
> "During the roundtable I especially appreciated the comments of Yury
> Noskov, who is a noted military colonel and philosopher," says Ivanov.
> "Noskov pointed out that the very concept of traditional and
> non-traditional faiths is inappropriate in legal discussions. It defies
> the laws of logic. 'Non-traditional' implies something is not authentic,
> not good, not true. But who has the right to determine what is truth? That
> is private and personal."
> 
> In practice, Russian government officials refer to four different
> categories of religions. According to Keston News Service, one official
> defined the groups as 1) the Russian Orthodox Church and in some areas
> Islam, 2) "confessions deeply rooted in Russian society," such as Old
> Believers, 3) Protestant organizations with a history in Russia longer
> than 100 years, and 4) new organizations which began working in Russia in
> the early 1990s. On another occasion, the same official divided the groups
> somewhat differently, but still based on the principle that newer
> religious groups are ranked lower than older groups.
> 
> "Mainly, we are concerned about the future," says Ivanov. "For now, the
> Russian constitution provides protection to minority faiths. But we will
> have a problem if the government continues this practice of calling
> churches 'traditional' or 'non-traditional.' Eventually, someone will want
> to change the constitution to reflect reality."
> 
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