Russia Confronts Islamic Extremism

On April 26, 2013, Russian authorities arrested 140 people at a Moscow mosque on suspicions of involvement with Islamic extremism.  Apparently the mosque has in the past been visited by Islamic extremists who have been connected with terrorist attacks.  Within the past decade alone, two attacks have been associated with Islamic extremists from the Caucasus.  The first, in 2004, involved the slaying of 330 innocent people at a school.  The second, in 2011, was a bombing of Russia's busiest airport, which killed 36.  Compounded with this growth in Islamic fundamentalism and the recent Boston bombings associated with two supposed Islamic extremists from Chechen, this seems to indicate a growing religious tension in Russia, which for centuries has maintained a strong connection between the Russian government and Russian Orthodox Christianity.  Whether or not these 140 arrests reflects a legitimate threat or the Russian authorities irrational fear of Islam remains to be seen.  It could be that Russian authorities have thwarted a diabolical terrorist plot. More likely, in my opinion, is that Russian authorities have arrested more innocent (though perhaps misguided) people than would-be terrorists, regardless of the supposedly rising Islamic extremism in Russia.

Church Slavonic: Russian's Religious Brother

Church Slavonic is a language from the Slavic family that is used for the liturgy (music, prayers, etc.) of many Orthodox Churches, including the vast majority of Russian Orthodox parishes.  Originally written in Glagolitic script, the Cyrillic script took prominence and has been used since at least 1491.  Up until the 18th century, Church Slavonic was not exclusively a liturgical language but also used in other forms or Russian literature and thus has been regarded by some as a higher form of Russian.

While Russian uses the same alphabet and shares words with Church Slavonic, some differences in pronunciation are noteworthy:

• There is no vowel reduction, so "е" and "о" are pronounced the same under stress and not under stress
• No word-final devoicing
• The letter ё does not exist
• The letter г can be pronounced as a voiced fricative velar sound or devoiced to a [х] sound as in Бог, often pronounced [Бох]
• The г in the endings -его and -ого is pronounced as written instead of as a [v] sound as it is pronounced in standard Russian.

Check out this sample of a Russian Orthodox litany sung in Church Slavonic.  It may be a bit difficult to follow in some places, but pay particular attention to the lack of vowel reduction and the pronunciation of -его and -ого.

Russian Church Architecture: the Onion Dome

One of the most distinctive features of Russian church architecture is the onion dome.  Historians debate the origin of the onion dome's popularity in Russian church architecture.  Some claim that the dome emerged after the Russian conquest of the Khanate of Kazan during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and thus was inspired by Islamic architecture.  Others claim that Russian churches had onion domes as early as the 13th century.  The purpose of the onion dome also is not clear.  Some propose that it emerged as a functional solution to alleviate snow buildup on the church's roof while others claim that its aesthetic purpose is to make the church appear taller.  Further along aesthetic lines, some claim that the onion dome on top of a drum or tower is meant to resemble a burning candle.

Check out these golden domes on the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin:

And these colorful domes on St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow:

The onion domes on top of this church at the Taize ecumenical community in France are reported to have been added after the fall of the Soviet Union as a symbol of welcome to and reconciliation between the constituent states of the fallen Soviet Union:

Visarrion: Jesus of Siberia

While the predominant religion in Russia is Russian Orthodox Christianity, with 75% of the population identifying as Orthodox and 150,000,000 adherents worldwide, a unique religious movement emerged 21 years ago that has attracted over 5000 followers and has piqued the interest of religious seekers worldwide.  The fall of the Soviet Union, according to the movement's founder, provided the necessary ripe conditions for his religious movement--as well as other religions--to develop and flourish in Russia.  

Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop--who has come to be known as Vissarion, the Teacher, and the Messiah by his followers--established the Church of the Last Testament after a revelation in which he claims that he discovered that he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.  Around 4000 of Vissarion's followers live together in a community in the town of Petropavlovka in the Siberian taiga, where they lead simple lives purified of alcohol, tobacco, meat, and swearing.  The Vissarionites embrace a very patriarchal family dynamic in which wives are expected to serve as their husbands' "assistants"; during the teenage years, boys typically join the monastery to prepare for their careers in the community, and girls attend school to learn how to be good wives.

The community has developed its own rituals and liturgy, inspired in part by Russian Orthodoxy, but also incorporating beliefs and practices from other faiths and philosophies. The Holiday of Good Fruits, reports Rocco Castoro, is essentially the Church of the Last Testament's equivalent to Christianity's Easter, as it commemorates Vissarion's revelation of messiahship.  It is during this holiday that the Teacher delivers a brief annual sermon to thousands of pilgrims, affirmed followers and curious seekers alike.

As Castoro notes in his documentary on Vissarion and his Church, the cult-like vibe of the community scares many away from the community and Vissarionites in general.  However, Castoro and the religious seekers who curiously stumble into the village also affirm that there is something intriguing, even alluring, about this community of people who have withdrawn from the luxuries and hassles of society.  While the Church of the Last Testament diverges from traditional Russian society, it is fascinating to see how the fall of the Soviet Union opened up the room for such a unique community to establish itself and find its niche in the remote Siberian taiga.

If you have 30 minutes to spare, I recommend that you check out Castoro's documentary here.

Jehovah's Witnesses - Their Dilemma in Russia (Tito Feliciano Portfolio Post Unit 1)

The Jehovah's Witnesses, a christian group of an estimated 7 million members, has been subject to legal persecution in Russia for many years now, and as of 2004, they were banned from practicing their religion by law. This was due to the fact that the political leaders in Russia thought that the Jehovah's Witnesses were "it encourag[ing] younger members to disown families and neglect civic duties".

This ruling was taken to the European Court of Human Rights and it decided that the ruling "to dissolve the Moscow branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses was illegal" and "was based on insufficient grounds".

The result was that, for a while, the court's decision went unchallenged. However, on the 9th September, 2010, Russia officially challenged the unanimous decision by the ECHR, requesting "that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber."

"The unanimous decision of the ECHR made clear that the liquidation and ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses was in violation of fundamental human rights guaranteed by the European Convention, including freedom of religion and freedom of peaceful association. Reversing the ban on the Witnesses and restoring their status as an officially registered religious association in Moscow would be an important step forward for Russia regarding freedom of worship. However, the Russian government’s request for a rehearing of the matter by the Court’s Grand Chamber delays Russia’s compliance with the Court’s ruling and adds fuel to an already heated environment of religious intolerance against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

The Moscow ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, based on a June 16, 2004, ruling of the Moscow City Court, has been systematically used by officials to justify a campaign of hostility with the aim of banning the Witnesses throughout Russia. Since then, a series of negative court rulings in Russia threaten freedom of worship. In particular, the December 8, 2009, ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarding the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses has led to a dramatic increase in the number and intensity of incidents against Witnesses. There have been arson attacks on their places of worship, physical attacks on individuals, and unwarranted arrests. These and hundreds of other documented acts of religious intolerance, either instigated or condoned by the Russian government, continue unabated.

Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide look to the European Court either to allow the present ruling to stand or to reinforce it by an affirming ruling from the Grand Chamber."

Dialogues: David Kinkaid posted our dialogues on a blog post of his.

Sources: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/06/10/Court-supports-Russian-Jehovahs-Witnesses/UPI-57201276218114/

http://www.jw-media.org/rus/20100914a.htm

Russian Orthodox Church

We haven't talked much on the religions of Russia, so I thought I'd take a quick peek at the Internetz... Here's what I found on http://countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm :

The Russian Orthodox Church has a thousand-year history of strong political as well as spiritual influence over the inhabitants of the Russian state. After enduring the Soviet era as a state-controlled religious facade, the church quickly regained both membership and political influence in the early 1990s.

Beliefs and Ritual

Orthodox belief holds that the Orthodox Church is Christianity's true, holy, and apostolic church, tracing its origin directly to the institution established by Jesus Christ. Orthodox beliefs are based on the Bible and on tradition as defined by seven ecumenical councils held by church authorities between A.D. 325 and 787. Orthodox teachings include the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the inseparable but distinguishable union of the two natures of Jesus Christ--one divine, the other human. Among saints, Mary has a special place as the Mother of God. Russian Orthodox services, noted for their pageantry, involve the congregation directly by using only the vernacular form of the liturgy. The liturgy itself includes multiple elaborate systems of symbols meant to convey the content of the faith to believers. Many liturgical forms remain from the earliest days of Orthodoxy. Icons, sacred images often illuminated by candles, adorn the churches as well as the homes of most Orthodox faithful. The church also places a heavy emphasis on monasticism. Many of the numerous monasteries that dotted the forests and remote regions of tsarist Russia are in the process of restoration. The Russian Orthodox Church, like the other churches that make up Eastern Orthodoxy, is autonomous, or self-governing. The highest church official is the patriarch. Matters relating to faith are decided by ecumenical councils in which all member churches of Eastern Orthodoxy participate. Followers of the church regard the councils' decisions as infallible.

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There's more on that page, if you're interested, and there's a Wiki page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Church . I'm not Catholic, but after reading through some of these descriptions, it does sound very similar.