WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RELIGION? - A Different Religious Problem

The interests of so many in the Bible created a different kind of religions problem in the former Soviet Union.  The Guardian newspaper of London, England, observed last year:  "The 'war on God' may have ended, but just  a decade after the humiliating defeat of the world's most avowedly atheist state, a new religious cold war in Russia may only be beginning."  What is this so-called  religious cold war that the newspaper refers to?

As noted in our preceding article, the Russian Orthodox Church worked hand in glove with Soviet leaders in order to survive and receive privileges.  The Guardian describes the continuation of such a relationship, explaining:  "The last ten years have also seen the church form an uncomfortably close  relationship with the largely unreformed state that one suppressed it, regularly supporting the Russian government (the Patriarch's endorsement of the war in Chechnya ) and wielding in return considerable political influence." 

The Los Angeles Times of February 10, 1999, drew attention to the exercise of the church's political  influence when commenting on the Law of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations.  The Los Angeles Times said that this law, signed by then President Boris Yeltsin in September 1997, was "promoted by the Russian Orthodox Church."  The law gave the church preferred status as a "traditional" religion, along with Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. Among other things, the law required that religious organizations in Russia re-register.

The New York Times of February 11, 1999, reported that after this law was passed, "the Orthodox Church kept pressures on its rivals."  The Times added:  "Last August, Aleksei II, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, called for a  ban on proselytizing faiths, particularly those that try to lure people away from the 'religions of their ancestors.' " Since then, efforts to ban the so-called proselytizing faiths  have continued, resulting in what has been characterized as a "religious cold war."

Next time: WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RELIGION? - One of the Targets

From the jw. org publications