Moscow News
www.MN.Ru
December 6, 2007
The Kremlin and the Church: Historic Ties
How does religion influence civil society, and what role does it play in our system of government?
By Daria Chernyshova
On the eve of the State Duma elections, at a Kremlin event commemorating the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate on November 19, President Putin couldn't help mentioning that he hoped Orthodox Christians would go to the polls. Among all the issues the nation faces, he highlighted the necessity of cooperation between the church and state.
"The government respects all the traditional and other religions, that are an important spiritual support for the citizens," the president said.
In answering the prayers of the Patriarch, Putin promised financial support and other assistance in launching radio and television programs with less "vicious examples of behavior."
So are we witnessing the reconsolidation of the state and the church? And if so, for how long?
Today, nobody expects religion to have such close links with the state. Long ago, the church was considered to be part and parcel of the law. In fact it was a law itself, as it provided the rules of behavior - commandments that reflected the appropriate conduct for each member of society. But when the church lost its position and became a separate point of spiritual leadership, no longer connected with the state, it suffered a major setback.
In the beginning, the church was necessary for the state as it embodied the grounds for trusting authorities. The church served as a cover, which legitimated the power of government. Looking back at Russian history, let me highlight some events to prove this statement.
Why did the Russian princes decide to baptize Rus? Was there a real necessity for this move? Certainly. It was a successful attempt to create a strong united government. Before, each tribe practiced a different religion. Since there was no state, Prince Vladimir sought a power to unify them all. Even though most of the tribes had a similar "set" of deities, each one had a different primary one. That couldn't provide the government with strong power - and could never become the foundation of government.
So in 988, Vladimir suggested the Christianization of Kievan Rus. From that day forward Rus emerged onto the international arena. By the same token it influenced the formation and development of state institutions. Religion was the binding substance of government.
The Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus provides another example. During this period, the church supported an endangered state. It could influence the mood of the people and encourage them. But as soon as the Mongols were thrown off, the ties between government and church became outdated - but during that period the church legitimated power and provided it with public support.
During the Soviet period religion was banned, and was replaced by the ideology of the Communist party. No purely ideological government can exist with religion within its borders. Communism was a subform of Christianity. Two state religions can't co-exist.
But history demonstrated the necessity of having religion around at least as an idea. That may be easily proved by the lack of choices. What themes should guide a person? There are three variants. The First is that a person should decide everything himself, no matter what others say. His own opinion is all that matters. But do you really believe that is worth doing? Should all people follow only their own desires, as each has his own view and acts in compliance with them? There is no interaction in such society, which is impossible, as a state implies cooperation.
The second way is following someone's opinion - but that doesn't seem to be valuable. And the third method is in following an idea - or following the rules of religion. There are no problems looking for the truth.
It means a concrete method of achieving social stability and the only way to create a united viewpoint.
As Voltaire said: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him."
Thus it is obvious that after the collapse of the Soviet Union the first president of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, Russia's current president Vladimir Putin regularly go to church, attend religious holidays and claim being orthodox. It is important to point out that religion in this case distinguishes the guiding principles of the state, to define what it is in its essence and what are its aims and purposes.
Today, some people may say that they are atheists and that God doesn't exist. This announcement may eventually damage the foundation of government. But that is a topic of discussion for another day.