This paper discusses the challenges faced by Soviet sociology of religion from 1960 to 1989. It had the contradictory tasks of objectively studying religion in Soviet society while also promoting "scientific atheism" based on Marxist ideology. Researchers developed the concept of "religiosity" to describe religious characteristics beyond just religious institutions in order to better understand religious representations. However, sociological studies also had to justify claims of religion's "death" and promote its elimination, fulfilling the Communist Party's requirement to construct an atheist society. This balancing act positioned the discipline on the boundary between science and ideology.
"In the twenty-first century West the role of institutional religion is in retreat and
the rise of personal spiritualities is clearly observable (Partridge 2004-2005).
The oppositional cultural trends of the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment
(which promoted rationality and scientific experiment), and Romanticism
(which championed emotion and experientialism), are visible in both the public
acceptance of secularism, science, and technology, and the private emergence of
a plethora of new self-concepts that embrace the contemporary narrative of the
self as central, the creator of reality, and of self-actualisation as the fundamental
spiritual quest and ultimate goal of life (Cusack 2015: 181-182; Lyon 2002
[2000]: 73-96). An important strand of contemporary Romanticism is magical
thinking. Since the publication of Lupa’s A Field Guide to the Otherkin (2007)
scholarly interest in Otherkin (people who believe and live as if they are partly
other-than-human, for example, part-dragon, unicorn, vampire, angel, fae or
other mythological or supernatural creature) and Therianthropy (a term derived
from the Greek for ‘beast-man’ and applied to a group generally distinguished
from Otherkin by the ‘otherness’ of their selves being animal, such as wolf, horse,
eagle, ram, and so on) has grown (Robertson 2015a; Robertson 2015b). This is
partly due to the facilitative nature of the Internet, which has enabled hitherto
separate individuals to form communities (Shane 2014: 263), and partly due to
scholarly interest in such crafted identities and niche spiritual communities,
which has grown steadily since the Australian scholar Danielle Kirby published
her pioneering book chapter “Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical Questing and
Virtual Community Among the Otherkin” (2006).
2"
Europe, Ukraine and Russia – perspective 2020uisgda_uisgda
The document discusses the religious mobilization of masses in Ukraine and Donbass during the 2014 events. It notes a surge in public religious displays and activities that helped mobilize groups opposed to the new Ukrainian government.
It also discusses the rise of non-denominational social consolidation around religious ideologies as a form of social protection. Powers use religious mobilization by spreading concepts like "I am Charlie" to different communities.
Three global projects are identified as alternatives to the West - the Russian world project, Chinese core values project, and an Islamic caliphate project - that aim to form supranational religious communities opposed to the West while still using Western methods. These quasi-religious formations secularize traditional religions
This document provides an overview of key concepts related to religion and secularism in international relations. It discusses definitions of religion, secularism, and atheism. It examines the historical causes of secularism in Western societies. It also outlines the resurgence of religion globally and challenges of integrating religion into theories of international relations. The document considers the Islamic revival movement and its potential implications for the future development of international relations.
Post-Islamist Intellectual Trends in Pakistan: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and His Di...HusnulAmin5
Eurocentric and essentialist approaches are applied to make sense of the complex
Muslim societies. These approaches reduce complex social processes to certain
immutable, fixed and unchanging traits. With such reductive theoretical lens, such
readings of Islam, presuppose an inherent rigidity in the nature of Islamic text. When
Muslim societies and its social trajectories are understood in the light of such
immutable texts, as a logical conclusion, Islam turns out to be incompatible with
modern values of liberty and democracy. Islam and Muslim societies are constructed
as entities essentially distinct from Europe and the West. Even if a transition from
authoritarian form of political order to a more democratic one is intended, it will
have to be a secularized form of Islamic democracy wherein the separation of religion
and state is ensured. However, in the recent past, a growing number of academic
enquiries have challenged the validity of such reductive and essentialist approaches
toward understanding Muslim societies and its societal trajectories. Multiple
intellectual voices and social trends have been identified that construct harmonious
relationship between Islam and democracy, and in more general terms, between Islam
and modernity. Some scholars argue that reformation of religious thought followed by
the articulation of an “Islamic Theory of Secularism” may pave the way for
democratization in Muslim societies. As intermediaries, between the Divine text and
the general public, the role of scholars, institutions and social movements is thus
crucial in creating bonds of complicity (or otherwise) between Islam and democracy.
As an empirical example, this research explores and highlights the emergence of an
intellectual community in Pakistan led by a religious scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi.
The genesis, intellectual biography and unprecedented popularity gained by Ghamidi
and his close associates, also reveal mutation, discontinuity and change from their
previous religious position. The present paper aims to achieve two humble purposes: to
discuss the emergence of a post-Islamist intellectual trend with specific focus on
Ghamidi, and to provide a descriptive analysis of Ghamidi’s post-Islamist turn, and
the way he and his interpretive community construct a harmonious relationship
Peter Herman is a PhD candidate at Georgetown University studying theological and religious studies. He has published several refereed journal articles and book reviews on topics comparing Buddhism and Christianity. Herman has taught courses on Buddhism, theology, and religious inquiry at Georgetown University and Marymount University. He is currently completing his dissertation titled "Overcoming Whiteness: A Critical Comparison of James Cone's Black Liberation Theology and Shinran's Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism."
Willow Smith's album Ardipithecus critiques modern society's level of consciousness and calls for a return to spiritual values through songs discussing topics like ancient civilizations, mysticism, and higher states of awareness. The album is an ideological critique of capitalism and classism, arguing they preserve social hierarchies that oppress non-dominant groups. Specifically, her song "Organization and Classification" criticizes how social constructs of class and race limit perception and divide society. It asserts these systems strategically benefit those in power by exploiting others.
This document discusses different sociological perspectives on the role and functions of education. It outlines the functionalist view that education socializes students, transmits cultural values, and allocates people to jobs based on ability. The Marxist view argues education legitimizes inequality and reproduces class divisions by conditioning working class students to accept their place in society. The document also examines the New Right perspective that emphasizes market competition and parental choice in education.
"In the twenty-first century West the role of institutional religion is in retreat and
the rise of personal spiritualities is clearly observable (Partridge 2004-2005).
The oppositional cultural trends of the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment
(which promoted rationality and scientific experiment), and Romanticism
(which championed emotion and experientialism), are visible in both the public
acceptance of secularism, science, and technology, and the private emergence of
a plethora of new self-concepts that embrace the contemporary narrative of the
self as central, the creator of reality, and of self-actualisation as the fundamental
spiritual quest and ultimate goal of life (Cusack 2015: 181-182; Lyon 2002
[2000]: 73-96). An important strand of contemporary Romanticism is magical
thinking. Since the publication of Lupa’s A Field Guide to the Otherkin (2007)
scholarly interest in Otherkin (people who believe and live as if they are partly
other-than-human, for example, part-dragon, unicorn, vampire, angel, fae or
other mythological or supernatural creature) and Therianthropy (a term derived
from the Greek for ‘beast-man’ and applied to a group generally distinguished
from Otherkin by the ‘otherness’ of their selves being animal, such as wolf, horse,
eagle, ram, and so on) has grown (Robertson 2015a; Robertson 2015b). This is
partly due to the facilitative nature of the Internet, which has enabled hitherto
separate individuals to form communities (Shane 2014: 263), and partly due to
scholarly interest in such crafted identities and niche spiritual communities,
which has grown steadily since the Australian scholar Danielle Kirby published
her pioneering book chapter “Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical Questing and
Virtual Community Among the Otherkin” (2006).
2"
Europe, Ukraine and Russia – perspective 2020uisgda_uisgda
The document discusses the religious mobilization of masses in Ukraine and Donbass during the 2014 events. It notes a surge in public religious displays and activities that helped mobilize groups opposed to the new Ukrainian government.
It also discusses the rise of non-denominational social consolidation around religious ideologies as a form of social protection. Powers use religious mobilization by spreading concepts like "I am Charlie" to different communities.
Three global projects are identified as alternatives to the West - the Russian world project, Chinese core values project, and an Islamic caliphate project - that aim to form supranational religious communities opposed to the West while still using Western methods. These quasi-religious formations secularize traditional religions
This document provides an overview of key concepts related to religion and secularism in international relations. It discusses definitions of religion, secularism, and atheism. It examines the historical causes of secularism in Western societies. It also outlines the resurgence of religion globally and challenges of integrating religion into theories of international relations. The document considers the Islamic revival movement and its potential implications for the future development of international relations.
Post-Islamist Intellectual Trends in Pakistan: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and His Di...HusnulAmin5
Eurocentric and essentialist approaches are applied to make sense of the complex
Muslim societies. These approaches reduce complex social processes to certain
immutable, fixed and unchanging traits. With such reductive theoretical lens, such
readings of Islam, presuppose an inherent rigidity in the nature of Islamic text. When
Muslim societies and its social trajectories are understood in the light of such
immutable texts, as a logical conclusion, Islam turns out to be incompatible with
modern values of liberty and democracy. Islam and Muslim societies are constructed
as entities essentially distinct from Europe and the West. Even if a transition from
authoritarian form of political order to a more democratic one is intended, it will
have to be a secularized form of Islamic democracy wherein the separation of religion
and state is ensured. However, in the recent past, a growing number of academic
enquiries have challenged the validity of such reductive and essentialist approaches
toward understanding Muslim societies and its societal trajectories. Multiple
intellectual voices and social trends have been identified that construct harmonious
relationship between Islam and democracy, and in more general terms, between Islam
and modernity. Some scholars argue that reformation of religious thought followed by
the articulation of an “Islamic Theory of Secularism” may pave the way for
democratization in Muslim societies. As intermediaries, between the Divine text and
the general public, the role of scholars, institutions and social movements is thus
crucial in creating bonds of complicity (or otherwise) between Islam and democracy.
As an empirical example, this research explores and highlights the emergence of an
intellectual community in Pakistan led by a religious scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi.
The genesis, intellectual biography and unprecedented popularity gained by Ghamidi
and his close associates, also reveal mutation, discontinuity and change from their
previous religious position. The present paper aims to achieve two humble purposes: to
discuss the emergence of a post-Islamist intellectual trend with specific focus on
Ghamidi, and to provide a descriptive analysis of Ghamidi’s post-Islamist turn, and
the way he and his interpretive community construct a harmonious relationship
Peter Herman is a PhD candidate at Georgetown University studying theological and religious studies. He has published several refereed journal articles and book reviews on topics comparing Buddhism and Christianity. Herman has taught courses on Buddhism, theology, and religious inquiry at Georgetown University and Marymount University. He is currently completing his dissertation titled "Overcoming Whiteness: A Critical Comparison of James Cone's Black Liberation Theology and Shinran's Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism."
Willow Smith's album Ardipithecus critiques modern society's level of consciousness and calls for a return to spiritual values through songs discussing topics like ancient civilizations, mysticism, and higher states of awareness. The album is an ideological critique of capitalism and classism, arguing they preserve social hierarchies that oppress non-dominant groups. Specifically, her song "Organization and Classification" criticizes how social constructs of class and race limit perception and divide society. It asserts these systems strategically benefit those in power by exploiting others.
This document discusses different sociological perspectives on the role and functions of education. It outlines the functionalist view that education socializes students, transmits cultural values, and allocates people to jobs based on ability. The Marxist view argues education legitimizes inequality and reproduces class divisions by conditioning working class students to accept their place in society. The document also examines the New Right perspective that emphasizes market competition and parental choice in education.
This document summarizes current issues in local authority governance in the UK. It discusses the abolition of standards committees and their replacement with general codes of conduct and independent persons. It also examines legal issues around pre-determination, the conduct of local authority meetings, transparency requirements, and recent reforms to local audit and accountability through the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
The document discusses haulage and landform optimization services provided by Xenith, including waste placement optimization, truck selection studies, and final landform modelling. It lists their office locations in Singleton, Sydney, and Brisbane and notes that haulage typically accounts for 35% of operating costs, and optimization can deliver 5-10% cost reductions. The document also provides examples of Xenith's experience in undertaking landform and haulage studies since 2010.
The document describes a "road trip test" conducted by Black Bear Brand to test a new vest design. Makers Nate Wessel, Rob Gallaher, and Kris Sherry each wore and tested the vest, then shipped it to the next maker. The makers provide statements about what Black Bear Brand represents to them and how it aligns with their interests in craftsmanship, functionality, and style. They discuss fabricating and making as inspirations in their lives and careers.
Simple presentation deck for an explanation and pathway to hacking happiness — accompanying a short talk by Matt Cumming.
In short; our brains filter out a lot of "data" that might contribute to our happiness, but we can gradually re-focus the filter with various techniques such as Matt Cumming's version of "inception" — planting a viral idea or mantra that can gradually affect (infect) other less useful ideas.
1) One of the last taboos is discussing personal finances, which leads to stress and distress over money as a "silent epidemic" causing negative health outcomes.
2) Dave Ramsey is determined to guide this epidemic out of the shadows through his radio show, books, and classes to help people better manage their finances.
3) A pilot program using Ramsey's Financial Peace University helped over 100 Healthways colleagues reduce their total consumer debt by over $174,000 in just 13 weeks.
1) The document discusses Black Bear Brand partnering with Dayton Boots and Horween Leather to produce a line of rugged and durable leather boots.
2) Dayton Boots is known for its handcrafted boots made using traditional techniques passed down through generations.
3) The boots are made from high-quality Horween leather known as Chromexcel, which undergoes a month-long tanning and finishing process to produce exceptionally durable and beautiful leather.
This document provides an overview of alternative energy sources and the need to use them instead of fossil fuels. It begins by defining renewable and non-renewable energy sources. It then discusses why alternative energy sources are needed, noting that fossil fuels are finite, contribute to pollution, and fuel scarcity is a concern. Various alternative energy sources are described, including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, tidal, biomass and nuclear power. Advantages and disadvantages of each are summarized. The document concludes by emphasizing that natural energy sources are renewable and can serve local needs in a cleaner way compared to fossil fuels.
This interactive session looked at developments in adjudication enforcement decisions, including a panel discussion / debate on:
- Adjudication generally
- The implications of the Human Rights Act
This webinar discusses LTE components and their role in driving multimode mobile broadband. It covers evolving radio access networks including heterogeneous networks and small cells. Presenters from Freescale and Enea will discuss silicon solutions for integrated base stations and off-the-shelf software for LTE base stations. The agenda includes discussions of mobile market drivers and growth, LTE rollout, radio access network evolution, heterogeneous networks, and silicon and software conclusions.
The document discusses various prototyping and manufacturing services offered by a company including:
- Additive manufacturing techniques like stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and multi-jet printing to produce prototypes and low-volume parts.
- CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication for producing prototypes and higher volumes of parts requiring tight tolerances.
- Injection molding tooling and casting processes for producing metal or plastic parts in low to high volumes using molds or plaster casts.
- The company provides instant online quotes, dedicated project support, and sample materials kits to help customers determine the best process for their prototyping and manufacturing needs.
Henry II was born in 1133 in France and became King of England in 1153. He established a powerful centralized administration and judicial system, such as the Assize of Clarendon which standardized criminal procedures. However, tensions arose between Henry and Archbishop Thomas Becket, which led to Becket's assassination in 1170 by four knights. Henry faced revolts from his sons and barons later in his reign, though he was able to maintain control of Normandy.
Family Size, Gender, and Birth Order in Brazilannisamedika
This document summarizes a research study that examines the impact of family size on adolescents' education and work in Brazil. It considers how family resources are allocated and whether this varies by gender and birth order. The study uses a twin birth instrumental variable approach and national survey data to address methodological concerns about the joint determination of family size and children's outcomes. While previous research primarily focused on education in developed countries, this study expands outcomes to include work and examines whether effects differ for boys and girls or by birth order.
The author analyzes how the concept of “traditional values” is used in the political discourse
of the Russian authorities. Since the third term of Vladimir Putin, there has been a noticeable
neo-conservative turn in Russian politics, expressed both in the strengthening of the influence
of religion and in the tightening of legislation. An active role in this is played by the leadership
of the Russian Orthodox Church, which openly supports the current regime and strengthens
its own influence on public life, regardless of the absence of direct religious demands of Russian society. The concept of “traditional values” is thus politically motivated, interpreted as an
opposition to liberal values (an example is the homophobic policy of the Russian authorities)
and is aimed at contrasting Russian values with Western ones. The author describes how this
discourse is aimed, principally, at consolidating the conservative electorate within the country
and spreading Russian influence on “conservatives” from other countries. This reflects the need
to search for effective ways to counter populist rhetoric.
Sujay Cultural Symbiosis Personality and Mind-orientation FINAL FINAL FINAL.o...Sujay Rao Mandavilli
This document discusses and defines key concepts related to cultural anthropology, including culture, ethnography, and various schools of thought regarding cultural change. It provides definitions of culture from prominent anthropologists that describe culture as socially learned, symbolic, shared, adaptive, and all-encompassing. It also outlines common attributes of culture, such as being expressed through human nature, integrated and patterned, evolving over time, and operating as a cognitive system. The document then discusses components of culture and defines ethnography as the systematic study of different peoples and cultures through participation and observation.
This document summarizes current issues in local authority governance in the UK. It discusses the abolition of standards committees and their replacement with general codes of conduct and independent persons. It also examines legal issues around pre-determination, the conduct of local authority meetings, transparency requirements, and recent reforms to local audit and accountability through the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
The document discusses haulage and landform optimization services provided by Xenith, including waste placement optimization, truck selection studies, and final landform modelling. It lists their office locations in Singleton, Sydney, and Brisbane and notes that haulage typically accounts for 35% of operating costs, and optimization can deliver 5-10% cost reductions. The document also provides examples of Xenith's experience in undertaking landform and haulage studies since 2010.
The document describes a "road trip test" conducted by Black Bear Brand to test a new vest design. Makers Nate Wessel, Rob Gallaher, and Kris Sherry each wore and tested the vest, then shipped it to the next maker. The makers provide statements about what Black Bear Brand represents to them and how it aligns with their interests in craftsmanship, functionality, and style. They discuss fabricating and making as inspirations in their lives and careers.
Simple presentation deck for an explanation and pathway to hacking happiness — accompanying a short talk by Matt Cumming.
In short; our brains filter out a lot of "data" that might contribute to our happiness, but we can gradually re-focus the filter with various techniques such as Matt Cumming's version of "inception" — planting a viral idea or mantra that can gradually affect (infect) other less useful ideas.
1) One of the last taboos is discussing personal finances, which leads to stress and distress over money as a "silent epidemic" causing negative health outcomes.
2) Dave Ramsey is determined to guide this epidemic out of the shadows through his radio show, books, and classes to help people better manage their finances.
3) A pilot program using Ramsey's Financial Peace University helped over 100 Healthways colleagues reduce their total consumer debt by over $174,000 in just 13 weeks.
1) The document discusses Black Bear Brand partnering with Dayton Boots and Horween Leather to produce a line of rugged and durable leather boots.
2) Dayton Boots is known for its handcrafted boots made using traditional techniques passed down through generations.
3) The boots are made from high-quality Horween leather known as Chromexcel, which undergoes a month-long tanning and finishing process to produce exceptionally durable and beautiful leather.
This document provides an overview of alternative energy sources and the need to use them instead of fossil fuels. It begins by defining renewable and non-renewable energy sources. It then discusses why alternative energy sources are needed, noting that fossil fuels are finite, contribute to pollution, and fuel scarcity is a concern. Various alternative energy sources are described, including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, tidal, biomass and nuclear power. Advantages and disadvantages of each are summarized. The document concludes by emphasizing that natural energy sources are renewable and can serve local needs in a cleaner way compared to fossil fuels.
This interactive session looked at developments in adjudication enforcement decisions, including a panel discussion / debate on:
- Adjudication generally
- The implications of the Human Rights Act
This webinar discusses LTE components and their role in driving multimode mobile broadband. It covers evolving radio access networks including heterogeneous networks and small cells. Presenters from Freescale and Enea will discuss silicon solutions for integrated base stations and off-the-shelf software for LTE base stations. The agenda includes discussions of mobile market drivers and growth, LTE rollout, radio access network evolution, heterogeneous networks, and silicon and software conclusions.
The document discusses various prototyping and manufacturing services offered by a company including:
- Additive manufacturing techniques like stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and multi-jet printing to produce prototypes and low-volume parts.
- CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication for producing prototypes and higher volumes of parts requiring tight tolerances.
- Injection molding tooling and casting processes for producing metal or plastic parts in low to high volumes using molds or plaster casts.
- The company provides instant online quotes, dedicated project support, and sample materials kits to help customers determine the best process for their prototyping and manufacturing needs.
Henry II was born in 1133 in France and became King of England in 1153. He established a powerful centralized administration and judicial system, such as the Assize of Clarendon which standardized criminal procedures. However, tensions arose between Henry and Archbishop Thomas Becket, which led to Becket's assassination in 1170 by four knights. Henry faced revolts from his sons and barons later in his reign, though he was able to maintain control of Normandy.
Family Size, Gender, and Birth Order in Brazilannisamedika
This document summarizes a research study that examines the impact of family size on adolescents' education and work in Brazil. It considers how family resources are allocated and whether this varies by gender and birth order. The study uses a twin birth instrumental variable approach and national survey data to address methodological concerns about the joint determination of family size and children's outcomes. While previous research primarily focused on education in developed countries, this study expands outcomes to include work and examines whether effects differ for boys and girls or by birth order.
The author analyzes how the concept of “traditional values” is used in the political discourse
of the Russian authorities. Since the third term of Vladimir Putin, there has been a noticeable
neo-conservative turn in Russian politics, expressed both in the strengthening of the influence
of religion and in the tightening of legislation. An active role in this is played by the leadership
of the Russian Orthodox Church, which openly supports the current regime and strengthens
its own influence on public life, regardless of the absence of direct religious demands of Russian society. The concept of “traditional values” is thus politically motivated, interpreted as an
opposition to liberal values (an example is the homophobic policy of the Russian authorities)
and is aimed at contrasting Russian values with Western ones. The author describes how this
discourse is aimed, principally, at consolidating the conservative electorate within the country
and spreading Russian influence on “conservatives” from other countries. This reflects the need
to search for effective ways to counter populist rhetoric.
Sujay Cultural Symbiosis Personality and Mind-orientation FINAL FINAL FINAL.o...Sujay Rao Mandavilli
This document discusses and defines key concepts related to cultural anthropology, including culture, ethnography, and various schools of thought regarding cultural change. It provides definitions of culture from prominent anthropologists that describe culture as socially learned, symbolic, shared, adaptive, and all-encompassing. It also outlines common attributes of culture, such as being expressed through human nature, integrated and patterned, evolving over time, and operating as a cognitive system. The document then discusses components of culture and defines ethnography as the systematic study of different peoples and cultures through participation and observation.
Sociology of religion can be summarized as follows:
1) Sociology of religion studies religious beliefs, practices, and organizations using sociological tools like surveys, interviews, and analysis of historical documents.
2) Early founders like Durkheim analyzed religion to distinguish sociology from other disciplines. Marx and Weber also studied the relationship between religion and social structure.
3) Contemporary debates center around issues like secularization, civil religion, and how religion operates in a globalized and multicultural world. Sociologists view religion both as a belief system and a social institution that shapes social action.
ENCOUNTER BETWEEN WORLD RELIGIONS AND INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS.pptxMufdilTuhri
This document discusses various theories regarding the encounter between world religions and indigenous religions, including acculturation, conversion, syncretism, resistance, and articulation. It defines key terms like acculturation as cultures coming into contact and influencing each other, and conversion as an active process of changing one's beliefs. The document also explores how indigenous religions have responded to world religions through syncretism, resistance, and articulation, which refers to how ideological elements can combine under certain conditions to form new unities.
FIGURE 15.1 Religions come in many forms, such as this large m.docxgreg1eden90113
FIGURE 15.1 Religions come in many forms, such as this large megachurch. (Credit: ToBeDaniel/Wikimedia
Commons)
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER OUTLINE
15.1 The Sociological Approach to Religion
15.2 World Religions
15.3 Religion in the United States
Why do sociologists study religion? For centuries, humankind has sought to understand and
explain the “meaning of life.” Many philosophers believe this contemplation and the desire to understand our
place in the universe are what differentiate humankind from other species. Religion, in one form or another,
has been found in all human societies since human societies first appeared. Archaeological digs have revealed
ritual objects, ceremonial burial sites, and other religious artifacts. Social conflict and even wars often result
from religious disputes. To understand a culture, sociologists must study its religion.
What is religion? Pioneer sociologist Émile Durkheim described it with the ethereal statement that it consists
of “things that surpass the limits of our knowledge” (1915). He went on to elaborate: Religion is “a unified
system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say set apart and forbidden, beliefs and
practices which unite into one single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them” (1915).
Some people associate religion with places of worship (a synagogue or church), others with a practice
(confession or meditation), and still others with a concept that guides their daily lives (like dharma or sin). All
these people can agree that religion is a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person
holds sacred or considers to be spiritually significant.
Does religion bring fear, wonder, relief, explanation of the unknown or control over freedom and choice? How
do our religious perspectives affect our behavior? These are questions sociologists ask and are reasons they
study religion. What are peoples' conceptions of the profane and the sacred? How do religious ideas affect the
real-world reactions and choices of people in a society?
15Religion
Religion can also serve as a filter for examining other issues in society and other components of a culture. For
example, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and later in during the rise and predominant of the
terrorist group ISIS, it became important for teachers, church leaders, and the media to educate Americans
about Islam to prevent stereotyping and to promote religious tolerance. Sociological tools and methods, such
as surveys, polls, interviews, and analysis of historical data, can be applied to the study of religion in a culture
to help us better understand the role religion plays in people’s lives and the way it influences society.
15.1 The Sociological Approach to Religion
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Discuss the historical view of religion from a sociological perspective
• Describe how the major sociological paradigms vie.
Project on globalization and religious nationalizom in indiaMd Shane Azam Rony
The document discusses Catarina Kinnvall's book "Globalization and Religious Nationalism in India, The search for ontological security". The book analyzes how globalization has increased feelings of insecurity and uncertainty for individuals and groups. It examines how religion and nationalism provide a sense of security and identity. Specifically, it compares the development of Sikh and Hindu nationalism in India, and why Hindu nationalism has been more successful in fusing religious and nationalist identities. The book presents a nuanced perspective on the relationship between globalization, identity formation, and religious nationalism.
Culture In Practice by Marshall Sahlins, Introductionpamukluprenses
The document is a collection of essays by Marshall Sahlins examining the concept of culture through an anthropological lens. It evaluates how views of culture have changed over time from determinist perspectives to ones acknowledging cultural specificity and relativity. Sahlins assesses different schools of thought in cultural anthropology and their understandings of the relationships between culture, society, history, and individual agency.
The document provides an overview of Russian culture through examining its religion, art, and history. It discusses how Christianity played a major role in shaping Russian culture and inspired beautiful icons and art. The document also notes that Russia covers a large geographic area and has a long history that shaped its people's values of community, family, and sacrifice due to invasions. Russian culture is rooted in Orthodox Christianity and a oneness with nature that fostered strong bonds between people.
Essay 1 generally good content; but some issues with content as n.docxYASHU40
The document discusses different methods for measuring religiosity in sociological research. It describes direct and indirect methods. Direct methods involve directly asking about religiosity, while indirect methods use research instruments to indirectly measure religiosity. It provides details on several indirect methods, including organizational religiosity, individual religiosity, and their direct and indirect effects. While acknowledging limitations, the document argues indirect methods are better as they utilize explicit studies to fully capture the multi-dimensional nature of religiosity.
A Materialist Theory Of Religion A View From Latin America (MTSR)Ashley Hernandez
1) Manuel Vásquez's book More than Belief puts forth a materialist theory of religion that fundamentally challenges mainstream approaches in religious studies.
2) Vásquez's theory is shaped by his experience with liberation theology in Latin America and focuses on addressing the marginalization of religious practice and the material conditions of human existence.
3) The author argues that Vásquez's materialist theory has deep roots in Latin American theoretical paradigms around concepts of body, practice, and constraint, though he does not explicitly discuss these influences in the book.
Australia S Moral Compass And Societal WellbeingStephen Faucher
This document provides an overview of Wendy Mayer's theory about the intersection between morality, cognition, and language and its implications for Australian societal wellbeing. The theory is informed by Mayer's research in three areas: 1) the capacity of early Christian sermons to radicalize audiences over time; 2) the reception of Graeco-Roman moral philosophy in preaching and its impact on the human person; and 3) the history and theory of religion. Mayer argues that her theory can help explain recent trends in Australian society like the rise of Islamophobia and right-wing politics. The theory is concerned with moral psychology rather than ethics, and addresses societal trends at a macro level by describing how people unconsciously make moral judgments.
This document provides an overview of cultural studies and its various types. It defines culture and cultural studies, discussing how cultural studies draws from fields like Marxism, feminism, and postmodernism. It then summarizes the five main types of cultural studies: British cultural materialism, New Historicism, American multiculturalism, postmodernism and popular culture, and postcolonial studies. For each type, it provides a brief definition and some relevant concepts or theorists. The document concludes by citing several sources that inform cultural studies as a field.
In the XXI century, “God” remains an unknown value to humans. Although “God” is the fundamental value in this world, as he is the Creator of all. A modern human cannot accept the idea of the existence of “God” due to lack of evidence that “God” exists. "Blind faith" is an indicator of low level of development of individuals, and is no longer a common stance of modern people, even those who are not well educated. People are willing to believe only that what they can see with their own eyes, test, and, of course, use in everyday life. That is normal, natural.
People only declare that they believe in “God.” No one really believes in him because human intellect is created in such a way that one is unable to take something seriously without evidence. Not to mention that recipes that religion offers as a practical guide—do not hold water from the point of view of a modern person. Also, in the eternal debate of psychologists: what is primary, “soul” or body, “soul loses" only because psychologists do not know anything about it. Despite the fact that “soul” (psyche) is the focus of this "science." Shortfalls of medicine, psychology, anthropology, and other sciences that study human beings affected people's attitude towards religion.
However, religion, unlike science, has existed for many centuries. Despite everything, it continues to exist today. This clearly indicates that humanity can exist without science, but not without belief in some “Higher Powers,” something supernatural that, unlike modern science, has the ability to solve any problems of humans. One can admit this to himself or not, it does not matter. And, even more so, it does not matter whether this role is filled by biblical "God" (or those gods, which religions offer to consider gods) or not.
As it is known, there are books much older than the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc. Some of these books date tens of millions of years back. Studying one of these books (according to some researchers, this manuscript dates 21st century BC), we found answers to all of our questions because this book turned out to be nothing other than the “Catalog of Human Souls.” It is a catalog because this book contains descriptions of about three hundred models of psyche of homo sapiens. Moreover, it holds detailed instructions on how this or that person can realize the main “Divine Plan”: make himself/herself "the image and likeness of God." In this book about three hundred ways to achieve this state for humans were discovered. This book is a direct proof of existence of “God”; the segment which religious institutions and their congregations have always needed, but lacked. Any person can compare descriptions from the Catalog to real people, their individual qualities, life algorithms, etc., or use information about how this or that person can be controlled, apply it in practice, see the reactions and get real results from manipulation.
In the early decades after the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks struggled to establish atheism in the Soviet Union. While some believed religion would fade as socialist reforms took hold, people continued practicing their faith. In the late 1920s, the government established "Museums of Atheism" housed in former churches and monasteries to promote scientific atheism and expose the "crimes" of religion. These museums grew in popularity and by the late 1980s some had wait times of two hours to enter. After the Soviet collapse in the early 1990s, most Museums of Atheism closed, with some rebranding as Museums of Religion.
This document provides a history of human-centered computing from ancient Greece to the 20th century. It discusses key figures and ideas like Plato, Aristotle, pragmatism developed by Peirce and James, Vygotsky's theories of social learning and mediation, and post-structuralist thinkers who argued that meaning is socially constructed through language and texts. The document traces how these philosophical perspectives influenced later developments in fields like psychology, education, linguistics, sociology, and the study of science and technology.
Античность и эсхатология масонских, иезуитских и сионистских орденов как вектор израильско-палестинского конфликта
Contents
Introduction
I. Why Jesuits, Freemasons and Zionists cannot have or believe in a religion
II. Jesuits, Freemasons and Zionists vs. Islam, Christianity and Judaism
III. The Oriental Antiquity of the Freemasons
IV. The Oriental Antiquity of the Jesuit Order
V. The Zionists before Judaism
VI. The Mesopotamian Kassite Origin of the Zionists
VII. The Kassites and the Abomination of Marduk-Yahweh
VIII. The Guti, the Kassites, the Flood, and Zionism
IX. Guti, Kassites, Gog & Magog, Unclean Nations, and Alexander the Great
X. Jews, Fake Jews, Alexander the Great, the Seleucid Dynasty, and Flavius Josephus
XI. Jews, Fake Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Romans
XII. Gog, Khazars, and Ashkenazi Zionism
Содержание
Введение
I. Почему иезуиты, масоны и сионисты не могут иметь религию или верить в нее
II. Иезуиты, масоны и сионисты против ислама, христианства и иудаизма
III. Восточная древность масонов
IV. Восточная древность ордена иезуитов
V. Сионисты до иудаизма
VI. Месопотамское касситское происхождение сионистов
VII. Касситы и мерзость Мардука-Яхве
VIII. Гути, касситы, Потоп и сионизм
IX. Гути, касситы, Гог и Магог, Нечистые народы и Александр Македонский
X. Евреи, фальшивые евреи, Александр Македонский, династия Селевкидов и Иосиф Флавий.
XI. Евреи, фальшивые евреи, фарисеи, саддукеи, ессеи и римляне
XII. Гог, хазары и ашкеназский сионизм
---------------
First published on 22 October 2023 here:
https://megalommatis.wordpress.com/2023/10/22/antiquity-eschatology-of-freemasonic-jesuit-zionist-orders-as-vector-of-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
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Sujay Identity and identity change FINAL FINAL FINAL FINAL FINAL.pdfSujay Rao Mandavilli
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“Scientific Atheism” in Action Soviet Sociology of Religion as an Agent of Marxist- Atheist Propaganda from the 1960s to the 1980s
1. Svetlana M. Klimova, Elena S. Molostova
“Scientific Atheism” in Action
Soviet Sociology of Religion as an Agent of Marxist-
Atheist Propaganda from the 1960s to the 1980s
A is paper discusses the methodological challenges of Soviet sociol-
ogy of religion in the period between 1960 and 1989, when it was charged with
the contradictory task of investigating the actual standing of religion in Soviet
society and, at the same time, with proposing methods through which the offi-
cial “scientific atheism,” deeply rooted in Marxism, could be imposed upon the
very populations that were the subject of its inquiries. e authors propose an
insight into the actual practices of the researchers, based on lile-known archival
materials from the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History. e materi-
als adduced by the authors show the various ways in which Soviet believers were
surveyed and in which questionnaires were constructed, illustrating the modes of
argumentation used in atheist propaganda conducted alongside such surveys, and
giving a rare glimpse into the methodological discussions that were taking place
at conferences organized by the Institute of Scientific Atheism. e authors track
also the sociological conceptions and typologies adopted by Soviet sociology.
K atheism; ideology; Marxist propaganda; methodology of sociology
of religion; scientific world-view; Soviet Union 1960–1989
Soviet research always considered religion, viewed from different per-
spectives, an important area of study. e period of the 1960s to 1970s
is paper summarizes the results of the “Comparative Analysis of the Modern Transhumanist Dis-
course and Socio-Utopian and Artistic Projects of the 20ᵗʰ–21ˢᵗ Centuries” research project, executed
by Svetlana Klimova at the Belgorod National Research University, and sponsored by the Russian
Humanitarian Science Foundation (grant no. 14-33-01012). Svetlana Klimova is the principal author
of the paper, while Elena Molostova contributed several items of archival material, which she uncov-
ered at the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, and prepared for publication. e text
was translated from Russian by the editors, and corrected by the Language Editor. e title, abstract,
and several of the notes were proposed by the editor.
F P 18 (2013) no. 2, 169–190 S. 12 August 2013 A. 10 March 2014
✍ Svetlana Klimova, Belgorod National Research University, ul. Pobeda 85, 308015, Belgorod, Russia 📧 sklimova@bsu.edu.ru
2. 170 S M. K, E S. M
could even be labeled the Soviet Union’s “religiological Renaissance.” It
was when a renewed interest in the sociology of religion, intertwined with
the obligatory atheistic propagandizing and aspiration to “eliminate the
relics,” resulted in the formation of a new set of research tools, which can-
not be neatly located within the conceptual frameworks of either science
or religion. Religious studies developed in two directions. On the one hand,
one can point to the emergence of interesting studies of the phenomenon
of religion, its functions, forms, and social-communicative characteristics.
Such studies were disguised as “criticism of bourgeois sociology and Reli-
gious Studies.” is approach is exhibited in the widely known works of,
amongst others, Yuriy Levada¹ and Dmitriy Ugrinovich.² Following West-
ern theories, they gradually introduced the conception of “religiosity” as
something distinct from “religion.” is, in fact, allowed them to perceive
in faith something that was no mere “relic” or “eructation” (as it was oen
called in official propaganda), but was, instead, a peculiarly human com-
ponent of religiosity, and which they could then treat as an appropriate
object of scientific analysis. Igor Yablokov³ defined “religiosity” as
the social quality of individuals and groups, which is expressed through the
totality of religious properties (characteristics).
Victor Pivovarov discusses religiosity as
the reflection, in an individual consciousness, of forms of social conscious-
ness that result from the existence of religion in a given society at a certain
period of its historical development. To be precise, particular instances of
religiosity take the form of religious knowledge and customs, allowing par-
ticipation in the activities of a religious community.⁴
Dmitriy Ugrinovich defines “religiosity” in two ways: as
the influence of religion on consciousness and behavior, both in separate
individuals, and in demographic groups;⁵
1. Yuriy A. Levada, Sotsial’naya priroda religii (Moscow: Nauka, 1965), 263.
2. Dmitriy M. Ugrinovich, Vvedenie v teoreticheskoe religiovedenie (Moscow: Mysl’,
1973), 239.
3. Igor N. Yablokov, Sotsiologiya religii (Moscow: Mysl’, 1979), 123.
4. Victor G. Pivovarov, Religioznost’: opyt i problemy izucheniya (Yoshkar-Ola: Mariy-
skoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo, 1976), 76.
5. Ugrinovich, Vvedenie v teoreticheskoe religiovedenie, 104.
3. “S A” A 171
and as
a state of consciousness and behavior of individuals and certain groups of
people.⁶
Mikhail Kalashnikov (1970) characterizes “religiosity” as
the degree to which an individual is devoted to a religion and suffers from
religious complexes.⁷
e concept of “religiosity” was meant to help in creating a genuine
picture of religious representations in the Soviet population, and to be-
come a more efficient tool in describing the processes unfolding in that
society. In the second half of the 20ᵗʰ century, a class-based conception of
religion could not anymore be employed to explain the vitality of religion.
While the point of view on religion remained, without any concessions,
one which conceived of it as “relics,” a gradual transition to a more diver-
sified approach to dealing with religious forms of consciousness opened
up the territory somewhat, allowing actual scholarly research maneuvers.
Indeed, it was around this time that Charles Glock and Gerhard Lenski⁸
proposed replacing the traditional idea of “religion” with the conception
of “religiosity,” elaborated by means of five indicators: religious experi-
ence, religious faith, worship, knowledge, and the influence of religion on
individual behavior. Using this conception, Soviet scholars undertook to
distance themselves from an exclusively ideologically motivated approach
to the study of those who engage in religious belief. An analysis of ques-
tionnaires used in the 1960s and 1970s points to the presence of all of these
indicators in various surveys.
On the other hand, the Communist Party expressly required that sci-
ence and scholarship implement directives aimed at realizing the program
of constructing a communist society. One of the defining characteristics
of that society, atheism, was regarded as being integrally linked to educa-
6. Lazar’ N. Velikovich, Marlen P. Gapochka, and Viktor I. Gardzha, eds., Religiya i tser-
kov’ v sovremennuyu epokhu, (Moscow: Mysl’, 1976), 55.
7. Mikhail F. Kalashnikov, Molodoe pokolenie i religiya: Opyt konkretno-sotsial’nogo
i sotsial’no-psikhologicheskogo issledovaniya (Perm’: Permskoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo,
1977), 29.
8. Charles Y. Glock, Sotsiologiya religii v sotsiologii segodnya. Problemy i perspektivy
(Moscow: Progress, 1965); Gerhard Emmanuel Lenski, e Religious Factor (New York:
Doubleday, 1961).
4. 172 S M. K, E S. M
tion, upbringing, and the emancipation of human beings from all forms of
prejudice. It was therefore incumbent upon science to furnish some kind
of theoretical justification for the claims made by the official ideology with
respect to religion—its supposed “death” or “disappearance,” and its “elim-
ination” as a relic to be overcome in the context of the ongoing life of
society.
e idea of a “relic,” which played . . . an important role not only in official
ideology, but also in the conceptual apparatus of the Soviet social sciences,
and also in the societal consciousness, was a peculiar instrument, making
it possible to discuss deficiencies and problems of Soviet society within the
framework of the still severely censored official discourse. One was able to
address the causes of some contemporary reality or other that had persisted
even forty years aer the victory of the socialist revolution by referring to
this as a “relic.”⁹
us, it is interesting to consider in what ways the sociology practiced
then served to fulfil the “party injunction” to promote atheism. Any given
sociological investigation (even ones conducted in the field) was aimed—in
most cases explicitly—at demonstrating relatively low levels of religiosity
in the population, at showing the incompatibility of religiosity with crit-
ical scientific thinking (synonymous with education) and with material-
ism, and at justifying the “actual death” of faith brought about by social
progress, education and properly organized propaganda work.
e need to campaign actively against religiosity in the population was
frequently stressed in both education and propaganda. In all possible ways,
the almost “accidental” character of religion was being shown. It is from
this point of view that the tasks of the sociology of religion were delineated.
No maer which notion of the sociology of religion we consider, they are
related, in one way or another, to other branches of scientific atheism. e
validity of considering the sociology of religion to be a component helping
to render scientific atheism complete stems, also, from the fact that Marxist
sociology of religion has a scientific-atheistic content, and is oriented to-
wards perfecting the management of the process of implementing an atheist
upbringing.¹⁰
9. Sergey S. Alymov, “Ponyatie «perezhytok» i sovetskie sotsial’nye nauki v 50–60-e
gody,” Antropologicheskiy forum 16 (2012).
10. Yablokov, Sotsiologiya religii, 12.
5. “S A” A 173
is kind of balancing act, whereby a discipline was positioned right
on the boundary between science and ideology, was thought to be achiev-
able, above all, through applied sociology, whose calling was to furnish
justifications of one sort or another for the prevalent ideas of the period—
namely, those of scientific communism. An important part of this inves-
tigative approach was the manner in which surveys were constructed
and analyzed. We can offer here only an indirect study of the question-
naires used, on the basis of materials gathered by a number of expeditions,
starting from 1960s, and preserved by the Russian State Archive of Socio-
Political History (Российский государственный архив социально-по-
литической истории, abbreviated as РГАСПИ, or RGASPI). I adduce be-
low some examples of how the religiosity of the population was described:
Ardatov I. K.¹¹ (born 1924): ere are icons in the house, but he does not
believe in god and he would not protest, if the icons are taken away. His wife
says that without them “the corner will be ugly, and neighbors will laugh.”¹²
Dolgov M. and Dolgova Z. N.: ere are two icons in the home, but they
are kept only in the kitchen; no family member prays. He declares that the
icons will be taken away when the children have grown up a bit, and that
now they are only hanging there because this is what the mother wants.¹³
Drobyshev P. K.: ere are icons in the home. Asked, “what do the icons
give you?,” the host answered: “is is my father’s heritage and it serves as
a reminder of my parents.”¹⁴
Poplevkin P. K. (born 1924): “e only sign of religiosity in the home is the
presence of one icon, which was brought over from the church at the time
11. It was customary in the Soviet Union to omit a person’s first name in writing. In-
stead, the initials of the first name and the patronymics were normally used. is custom
is reflected below in the quotations, as well as in the main text of the paper, as and when
first names were omied in the materials referred to. e quotations here also preserve
the Soviet orthography, which required one to start the name of the Christian and Muslim
God with an uncapitalized leer. For reasons of consistency, the names of religions, de-
nominations, and their members, normally not capitalized in Russian, have also been le
uncapitalized in the quotations given here (editor’s note).
12. Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 156, 20.
Hereaer, other materials from the Archive are referred to through the Russian translit-
erated abbreviation RGASPI.
13. Ibid., 23.
14. Ibid., 27.
6. 174 S M. K, E S. M
when it was being demolished. is icon was le for a long time in the aic,
together with other household objects. ey built a new house in 1964 and
placed this icon in the corner of the kitchen. “Neighbors have icons, and we
do not want them to think of us as godless people.”¹⁵
Zaitseva N. Ye.: She believes in god for the sake of tradition, having icons so
as not to be ashamed in front of her peers. . . . Asked about her beliefs, about
her worldview, she answered “ . . . I’ve watched them launch a rocket on TV.
It was people who did it. If my father were brought back from his grave, he
wouldn’t believe it, and would no doubt say that they are doing it with the
help of god. But I won’t say that.” “So why do you have icons and pray to
him?” “It is for consolation. You see, young people go to the club, and I pray,
to get calm, so that I feel much beer. And who knows whether he exists or
not. In the other world, we will all see one another and then we will learn
clearly whether he exists or not. But if I feel beer aer praying—what is the
reason? It means, there is the soul.” “But didn’t the lord god create woman
without a soul, as the Bible says?” we ask her. “God could not have done
it. e Bible says that every human being is made up of the body and the
mortal soul.” “You say that science explains a lot—the weather, and other
phenomena—and that it creates machines, but how does science explain the
origin of man? Do you know?” “No, I do not know, because I only went to
school for one year.” I offer the scientific explanation for the origins of man.
“But anyway, it is more understandable that god created him.”¹⁶ . . .
“e bible says that men cannot know nature, or change it. How do you
view this?” “And so why did men learn to predict the weather, then?” she
asks. “ey do it with the help of science,” we tell her. “But their forecasts are
not always right.” “Why not?” “ey make mistakes,” she says. “But isn’t it
god who is intervening to cause problems for them?” “Obviously not. Does
he seek to obstruct men flying to where he lives, to the heavens? Maybe
he just can’t deal with machines,” she says. “But isn’t he almighty?” “is
is why I have doubts about him. I pray, every day, before meals and going
to sleep. But when I am sick, I go to the hospital. Who knows whether he
exists not? Only in the next world will we see one another and be able to
say who is right and who is wrong.”¹⁷
It is clear even in these questions that the “correct” answers are sug-
15. Ibid., 59.
16. Ibid., 27.
17. Ibid., 33.
7. “S A” A 175
gested to the respondents, rather than stemming from their own world-
views. e selection of subjects brought up in the surveys aims at demon-
strating, for propaganda purposes, that people are indifferent to the es-
sence of religion, and care merely about its “formal” elements, such as
adherence to traditions, concerns about how they might be judged, and
respect for parents. is manner of conducting surveys made it possible
for researchers of the 1960s to claim that “religion has, in our country, ‘a
peripheral status’; the population and various social-demographic groups
are liberated, to a great degree, from the influence of religion.”¹⁸ is brief
sample also brings to our notice the topic of icons, which cannot be treated
as “the only sign of religiosity,” since it in fact illustrates the tragic pages
from our history, with churches having been destroyed, stories of how
icons were saved being retold, and fear being overcome when an icon was
hung at home—i.e. the history of spiritual strength of ordinary men.¹⁹ It
is easy for us, now, to perceive the accounts presented in these surveys
through such generalizing lenses, but we should keep in mind that even
just a few decades ago this line of thinking would have been impossible
18. Viktor I. Gardzha, “Sotsiologiya religii,” in Sotsiologiya v Rossii, ed. Vladimir A. Yadov
(Moscow: Institut sotsiologii RAN, 1998), 314.
19. Let us adduce here the testimony of Professor Valentina F. Filatova, a dialectologist at
Borisoglebskiy Gosudarstvenny Pedagogicheskiy Institut (the State Pedagogical Institute
at Borisoglebsk), who spent several dozen years gathering materials on folk spirituality in
Voronezh Oblast. “Icons, crosses, and even vessels from vandalized churches were saved,
hidden, protected, wherever this was feasible. is was done everywhere. For instance, in
the village of Tret’yaki, in the Borisoglebsky District of Voronezh Oblast, they managed
to preserve the Icon of the Virgin Mary known as “Fast Novice,” painted in the 19ᵗʰ cen-
tury at Athos, in the shrine of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the Protokletos [at the Skete
of Saint Andrew, Σκήτη Αγίου Ανδρέου]. e icon was saved by an inhabitant of the vil-
lage, Mariya Danilova, who carried it at night on her head (the icon is large and heavy)
from the vandalized church to her home, and protected it secretly until her death. Later
on, the icon was passed to Mariya Ivanovna Peregubova, who donated it to the Tret’yaki
parish on the day of the consecration of the church of Saints Kosma and Damian, on 14ᵗʰ
November 2004. When the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, located on the estate of
Prince Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky, was vandalized (nowadays, it corresponds to the
hamlet of Pavlovka in the Gribanovsky District of Voronezh Oblast), according to the tes-
timony of eyewitnesses (the memory of which was kept alive by their descendants), lile
angels, placed earlier in small rosees in a frieze that adorned the temple, were scaered
all over the park. e angels were preserved for a long time. But it could also happen thus:
the icons were used to make doors, tables, chests, and even floors. Russians are a vast
and great people, and so cannot be squeezed into any schematism.” Valentina F. Filatova,
in discussion with the author about the role of icons in peasants’ life, March 2012. See
also Valentina F. Filatova, Semiotika magii: Leksika, struktura i semantika voronezhskikh
magicheskikh obryadov (n.p.: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012), 43–70.
8. 176 S M. K, E S. M
for an atheistically minded researcher, who would have sincerely believed
in the “backwardness” of the peasant he was questioning.
Taking as an example the above-quoted discussion involving Ms. Zait-
seva, we can easily reconstruct the logic of such surveys. It is obvious that
the respondent is afraid of the conversation and, because of that, says what
she is “expected to”: “I believe for the sake of tradition,” but also “have
doubts”; “for consolation,” but “because things can be beer understood
this way”; “just in case,” but also because “this is what the soul needs.”
Not able to keep within the constraints of what is officially permied, the
woman shis to talking about her own innermost domain—about her soul,
personal affections, and ties to her father and the rest of her family. e
interviewer’s questions become provocative: we encounter intentional dis-
tortion of the Bible’s text, the mixing up of scientific and theological modes
of argumentation, aempts to show deficiencies in the respondent’s logic.
Such questions²⁰ make up a blatant piece of propaganda for the “scientific
world-view,” while the answers in fact furnish glaring proof of the living
faith of someone who quite clearly feels intimidated by the government—a
government whose representatives are, in this case, the researchers them-
selves.²¹ Such surveys were used, without any further arguments being of-
fered, as scientific justification for the idea of a “relic,” intended to symbol-
ize, in turn, everything traditional and archaic. “Relics” were the favorite
subject of the social sciences of the period. No maer what approach was
taken to discussing the nature of “relics,” the reasons for their persistence
would be reduced, by and large, to the following: “consciousness lagging
behind being,” Western influences, the ignorance of those interviewed, and
deficiencies in what had so far been achieved in the sphere of educational
reform. All of these were just instances of the “classical” type of explana-
tion that had already been devised “under Stalin.”
We conduct propaganda and we shall conduct propaganda against religious
prejudices. e legislation of our country states that every citizen has the
right to practice any religion. is is a maer of one’s personal conscien-
tious beliefs. Precisely for this reason, we have separated church from state.
But having separated church from state, and having declared freedom of re-
20. ese, it must be said, really are comparatively naïve aempts to conduct surveys
and propaganda at one and the same time.
21. A story comes here to mind, recounted by Valentina F. Filatova, who, during her
interactions with villagers, would encounter such questions as “But, daughter, won’t
you throw us in jail?” Valentina F. Filatova, Magicheskiy diskurs (Voronezh: Izdatel’stvo
Voronezhskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 2010), 26.
9. “S A” A 177
ligious confession, we have also preserved each citizen’s right to fight on the
path of persuasion, on the path of propaganda and agitation against this or
that religion, against all religion. e party cannot remain neutral with re-
spect to religion, and it conducts anti-religious propaganda against all, and
all kinds of, religious prejudices, because it stands for science, and religious
prejudices go against science, for all religion is contrary to science.²²
Nevertheless, by 1960 it had became obvious that this position was obso-
lete. As Vladislav Kelle remarked, the term “relics” encompasses criminals
as much as believers, which is illogical, since one and the same cause can-
not be the foundation of the most diametrically opposed processes. “e
idea that all relics can be explained through regressive consciousness has
come under criticism from various positions, and this is a justified criti-
cism.”²³ Even so, the concept of “relics,” closely associated with the con-
cept of “regressiveness,” enjoyed widespread acceptance in the empirical
sciences. Soviet ethnography, for instance, had been assigned the task of
exploring folk culture first and foremost in order to reveal the degree of
“regressiveness” of that culture and, by so doing, to find methods for fight-
ing on behalf of the Soviet nation itself. Such ethnography took aim, in par-
ticular, at the peasants, who, throughout the Soviet period, were deemed
suspect by the authorities, in that viewed from a standpoint strictly in line
with Marxist-Leninist theory they were supposed to make up the social
element known as the “lower bourgeoisie.”
Ethnographers can, actually, best comprehend the causes of preservation of
those relics, uncover their roots, show their detrimental nature and, by the
same token, contribute to their most prompt obliteration.²⁴
In 1959, the Interdisciplinary Expedition for Studying Processes of Changes
in Socially-Existential and Cultural Structures of the Ethnicities of the USSR
in the Period of Transition from Socialism to Communism was set up, to
collect materials for such synthetic studies as, for instance, “e Contem-
porary Existence of the Rural Population and Perspectives for its Further
22. Joseph V. Stalin, “Beseda s pervoy amerikanskoy rabochey delegatsiey 9 sentyabrya
1927 goda,” in Sotchineniya, vol. 10 (Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1949), 132–33.
23. Vladislav Z. Kelle, “Nekotorye voprosy obshchestvennogo soznaniya,” in Aktual’nye
voprosy istoricheskogo materializma. Besedy po aktual’nym problemam nauki, ed. Dmitriy P.
Tselishchev (Moscow: Znanie, 1966), 43–44.
24. “Sovetskaya etnografiya nakanune XXII s’ezda KPSS,” Sovetskaya etnografiya 4
(1961).
10. 178 S M. K, E S. M
Transformation on the Path to Communism,” and “Problems in the Devel-
opment of a Materialistic World-View and Paths towards the Obliteration
of Religious-Existential Relics.”²⁵
In RGASPI we came across some material that was based on an inves-
tigation carried out by some researchers and propagandists in several vil-
lages of Voronezh Oblast, and which sought to divide up believers into
four different groups²⁶ based of how they answered the question “What is
a believer’s representation of God?”
To the first group were assigned those who adhered unconditionally to the
Symbol of the christian faith, who preserved in their consciousness the pic-
ture of god such as created by the authors of the Bible and as the Church
requires him to be depicted [authors’ remark: here the commentators are
confusing, either deliberately or out of ignorance, the notion of a “represen-
tation of God” with confessional aitudes towards God]. It has emerged that
only 64 people, out of 334 convinced believers in Arkhangelskoye, Nikol-
skoye, and Staraya Toida, upheld orthodox representations pertaining to
god; consistent with this, only 19.3% clung to the Trinity, without grasping,
however, in what way “one might equal three.”
To the second group were assigned those who depict god in a sensuous
and visual manner, as a godlike elder or a beautiful middle-aged human be-
ing, and so on: as omniscient, as rewarding good deeds, and as helping those
who implore him to do so while punishing evil and sinfulness. To this con-
crete representation clung 118 out of 334 convinced believers, correspond-
ing to 35.5% of the respondents. In their case, the symbol of the Trinity was
understood merely as a picture of a Father or of a Son. For believers of the
third group god was not a concrete being, but the holy ghost: invisible and
imperceptible, a force, creative everywhere and ruling everything. To this
representation of god clung 152 people, or 30.9% of the respondents. ey
have lile or practically no knowledge of Biblical mythology, but are, on the
other hand, somewhat more familiar with scientific-technical achievements,
and appeared more capable than the others of comprehending higher-level
principles couched in more abstract terms. To the fourth group were assigned
thosewhoserepresentationofgodweresofoggyandindeterminatethatthey
could not find an intelligible answer to the question of what the god in whom
they believe corresponded to. Only their faith in his sheer existence has re-
25. Alymov, “Ponyatie «perezhytok»,” 271.
26. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 41, 15.
11. “S A” A 179
mained with them. With them, the sort of answers that were obtained to the
question “How do you imagine god?” were ones like this: “We are just be-
lievers, nobody has seen god, hence we cannot depict him to ourselves, there
is a kind of force, but it isn’t something I imagine.” 14.5% do not depict god.²⁷
e typology adduced above is, on the one hand, devised with the aim
of exposing, through their dogmatic grounding, those believers who are
firmly rooted in the church. On the other hand, asking direct questions
of this kind puts the people surveyed in a situation that is, by any stan-
dards, difficult, as it requires them to have an almost theologically learned
knowledge of God and the Trinity and, along with this, ignores the very
nature of religious perception and the believers’ feelings. All of this might,
perhaps, be explained in many different ways. For example one could cite,
amongst other things, the dubious quality of the authors’ (or interview-
ers’) general education, visible in their uerances. eir poor knowledge
of the Bible is patently obvious, but their determination to carry out “in-
structions from the top” is firm: for instance, they embrace the kind of ra-
tionalism according to which “believing” in God is identical with “know-
ing” the truth about God as proclaimed by the Church, even though this
is by no means unequivocally the case. Let us also note in connection
with this that, even in spite of the general crackdown on confessions of
a protestant bent of one kind or another, it was by no means lost on the
people themselves that such a commitment with respect to God had to
have this non-univocal character. However, from the interviewers’ point
of view the fight against religion is being “smoothly executed” through
the exposing of ignorance or imposing of a different, correct, and scien-
tific form of knowledge concerning God. e main focus, then, was not
to explain the respondents’ manifold representations of God, but to prove
that “no God exists.”²⁸ e methodology for conducting the survey shows
quite clearly how the people surveyed were backed into a corner, and
had their “ignorance” of religious issues exposed. ose who declared that
God is an “incorporeal spiritual being,” for instance, found themselves in
a tricky situation:
If god does not have a human appearance, what should one make of the
Bible’s statement about man being created in the image and aer the like-
27. Ibid., 16.
28. As one hardly unfamiliar character in Bulgakov’s novel says, “All the fun is in show-
ing how it’s done.” Mikhail Bulgakov, e Master and Margarita, trans. Michael Glenny,
Vintage Classics (London: Vintage, 2004), 111.
12. 180 S M. K, E S. M
ness of the supreme one, or of icons, where god is depicted in human
form?²⁹
Arguments appealing to contradictions in biblical mythology oen
seems to offer the simplest way to prove the thesis being pursued:
Some answered: “god is depicted on the icon, but whether he exists or not,
who knows such things?” Particular difficulty is encountered by believers,
when you force them to consider³⁰ the question of where god exists.³¹ Some
time ago, it was clear for them that god—the creator of all things—resided in
the heavenly firmament, above the clouds. How is that possible now, when
space flights are being carried out? When answering questions about god’s
place of residence, the third and fourth groups find themselves in a beer
position: “they answer that the cosmonauts did not see god because god is
a non-sensible, invisible spirit.”³² e first two groups hold on to the view
that the god-trinity, or god, which is deemed to be a concrete being, stands
in a relation of direct and irreconcilable contradiction to technical-scientific
progress. ey either declare the flights of the cosmonauts to be an atheist
fabrication, and do not believe in their genuineness, or they resele god into
places not yet accessible to cosmonauts. ey say that “cosmonauts flew
low, and because of that they did not see god,” “god is in seventh heaven,
and cosmonauts only orbit around Earth,” while some admit directly that
the question of god’s dwelling place is difficult for them, saying that god is
in the air, but where, exactly, they don’t in fact know.³³
From the beginning of the 1960s through to the 1980s, a great deal of
aention was paid to producing a typological analysis of religiosity in
the population. Along with this, the novel notion that a comprehensive
“atheization of the population” could somehow be accomplished was in-
troduced. e typology and measurements of the level of religiosity were
required in order to manifestly demonstrate the dynamics of a supposedly
29. See note 33.
30. at is, direct their thoughts towards those aspects of the issue they are required to
discuss. (Authors’ emphasis.)
31. e most “grave” argument in the proofs of God’s nonexistence in heavens emerged
aer human space flights. e researchers failed to realize the naïvely mythical nature of
their own world-view, presupposed in their adoption of this kind of argumentative basis.
32. e quotation marks reproduced in this quote do not appear in an entirely logical
form in the archival material adduced here (editor’s note).
33. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 41, 8.
13. “S A” A 181
ever swier transition from the last remaining “vestiges” of rudimentary
religiosity to conscious unbelief. at atheism is a necessary, generally
valid, stage in the development of social consciousness, raised no doubts—
at least, no official doubts. Sociology of religion should have been brought
into play to validate this thesis, to count how many believers or hesitant
people remained, and to identify exactly what socio-demographic factors
might be holding back progress in this regard. e hallmark of the typolo-
gies of those years was, above all, their focus on numerically assessing
the dynamic character of the changes that were expected to take place.
e surveys recorded these transitional steps from religion to atheism,
which were genuinely observable in the society. Alongside those typolo-
gies specifically intended for investigating religiosity there existed broader
typologies, locating a maximal involvement in religious activities at one
pole and a maximum of atheistic conviction at the other. Moreover, the
typologies themselves varied to reflect variations in the fundamental char-
acteristics of the objects under scrutiny. For instance, there were typolo-
gies that took into account only the facts of religious consciousness, or
only the religious conduct, or both of them. e most important task con-
nected with the carrying out of such surveys was that of disclosing the
“propagandists” of religion and obstructing their activity—and this by any
suitable means, either through atheistic propaganda or via upbringing. All
these typologies were marked by the evident fact that nobody involved in
drawing them was prepared in principle to detected in faith an expression
of a genuine human psychological need, or of some “archetypal” element
of what it means to be human, so that religiosity was instead regarded
in every case merely as an annoying obstacle erected by an ignorant or
superstitious consciousness—one that stood in the way of proper compre-
hensive education and scientific materialism.
Below, a number of typologies are adduced to show the multiple facets
of religious consciousness that, in one way or another, came to be reflected
in this kind of sociology, even as effective methods of propaganda aimed
at instilling atheistic aitudes and mindsets ever more deeply into society
were, at the very same time, being searched for.
As our first examples of such typologies, we shall adduce the conception
of Alexey S. Onishchenko, who divided believers into three groupings, and
then went on to identify nine types of religiosity.
Group I: Believers whose consciousness is influenced to a significant extent
by religion:
1) Fanatics exhibiting blind belief in their spiritual leaders. ey consider
14. 182 S M. K, E S. M
serving god to be the sense of their lives. ey reject all worldly goods,
and may sometimes go so far as to immolate themselves.
2) eoreticians-theologians, i.e. the trained parts of clergy of all denomi-
nations, busying themselves with the justification of religious dogmas
and observances and engaged in devising effective methods of reli-
gious propagandizing.
3) Ordinary believers, internally convinced of the truth and nobility of
their views. ese presume that religion consists, in the main, of moral-
ity. ey read religious literature, visit a church or a house of prayer
regularly, respect religious holidays and observances on a regular ba-
sis, and pray every day.
Group II: Believers in whose consciousness religion does not really occupy
much of a place at all:
1) Hesitant believers—one frequently hears them making such declara-
tions as “I do and I don’t believe.” ey do not much believe in the
dogmas and myths of the sacred books but, for various reasons (an in-
sufficient level of learning, traditions, indecisiveness, etc.), they have
not completely lost their faith in god, and nor have they conclusively
broken off their links to religious organizations. ey observe the prin-
cipal religious holidays and ceremonies, but they do not aach any
significance to the mystical side of their observances.
2) Non-professing believers, in the sense of people who preserve certain
remnants of non-confessional forms of religiosity (healers, enchanters,
fortune-tellers, etc.). ese do not profess christianity itself, but do be-
lieve in the existence of some dark, supernatural and / or superhuman
forces. ere are many superstitions linked to their faith, while their
religious representations are insignificant and do not display any kind
of system. In everyday life, they do not manifest their faith in supernat-
ural powers. item[3)] Devotees of the faith of the future, disenchanted
by the forms of religion known to them, but not yet having arrived
at complete unbelief. ese presume that a kind of faith should exist.
eir theses is well known: religions are the faith of the past, and athe-
ism is the faith of the present (but they consider atheism unacceptable
to them), while the faith of the future is yet to be discovered.
Group III: Believers associated in some way with a church or a sect, but only
to an insignificant degree. Many of them appear to be, in point of fact,
non-believers.
1) Believers by tradition, whose religiosity has the character of a purely
external display. ese observe ecclesiastical rituals alongside non-
religious, folk-based ones. ey do not presume to issue judgments
15. “S A” A 183
about god or issues of faith. Asked about why they adhere to religion,
they will just reply that they do not want to break with the traditions
of their fathers and forefathers.
2) e religiously “insured,” who are not, in fact, believers. ese in prin-
ciple observe two rites: baptisms and funerals. ey may deliberate,
for instance, like this: “We do not know whether there is a god or not.
If there is no god, but we ask him to intervene on behalf of a child or
a dead person, this will not do any harm, but if there is a god, it could
help. In the former case we lose nothing, in the laer, we only stand to
gain.” ese people are situated between believers and non-believers.
3) Faceless believers are those not aached to any single religion, who
nevertheless still think there is some kind of natural force that created
the world and rules it. In everyday life, they conduct themselves as
non-believers do.³⁴
Another typology was proposed by Nikolay P. Alexeyev, who recom-
mended adopting two criteria when seeking to distinguish between be-
lievers and atheists: the intensity of one’s active expression of one’s ai-
tude to religion, and one’s evaluation of the consistency of one’s religious
views. Aer having divided respondents into three groups (believers, hes-
itant respondents, non-believers), he eventually came up with a typology
composed of ten groupings:³⁵
I. Believers.
1) Believers who are active and consistent in their religious views.
2) Active yet inconsistent believers.
3) Believers who are passive in their religious aitudes, but consis-
tent in their religious views.
4) Believers who are both passive and inconsistent.
II. Hesitant respondents.
5) Believers hesitating between faith and unbelief, but consistent
in respect of what they would believe in.
6) Believers who are both hesitant and inconsistent.
34. is quotation is an amalgamation of sentences drawn from a more detailed discus-
sion in Vladimir D. Kobetskiy, “Issledovanie dinamiki religioznosti naseleniya v SSSR,” in
Ateizm, religiya, sovremennost’, ed. V. N. Sherdakov (Leningrad: Nauka, 1973), 128–29. Eli-
sion marks have been omied for the sake of clarity. e formaing here is that proposed
by the editor.
35. Cf. N. P. Alekseev, “Metodika i rezul’taty izucheniya sel’skogo naseleniya (na mate-
rialakh Orlovskoy oblasti),” Voprosy nauchnogo ateizma no. 3 (1967), 134–36.
16. 184 S M. K, E S. M
III. Non-believers.
7) Non-believers who are passive and inconsistent in their anti-
religious views.
8) Non-believers who are passive, yet consistent in their views on
religion.
9) Non-believers who are active and consistent in their convictions.
10) Active and consistent non-believers.
e typology developed by Remir A. Lopatkin, Аnatoliy А. Lebedev,
Victor G. Pivivarov, and others, deserves particular aention. is typol-
ogy encompasses:
1) convinced believers engaged in spreading religious propaganda;
2) convinced believers who do not engage in religious propaganda;
3) ordinary believers whose religiosity is not conspicuously mani-
fested;
4) hesitant people;
5) people indifferent to the problems of religion and atheism;
6) non-believers;
7) convinced atheists.³⁶
Aempts at creating a typology of believers held a central place amongst
the activities of the Institute of Scientific Atheism of the Academy of Social
Sciences of the Central Commiee of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union throughout the 1960s. In this context, one may find the minutes of
the discussions concerning the proper criteria for religiosity and the cor-
rect typology of believers, conducted by the Institute of Scientific Atheism,
to be of interest.³⁷ is, for instance, is what Vusya A. Chernyak, a faculty
member at the Institute of Philosophy of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences,
had to say:
As a maer of fact, it is absolutely impossible to produce any materially
effective outcome in concrete social investigations without a scientific ty-
pology, where this laer furnishes the premise for grouping the material
which we obtain as a result of the concretely-sociological inquiry.³⁸
36. Pavel K. Kurochkin, ed., K obshchestvu, svobodnomu ot religii: Process sekulyarizatsii
v usloviyakh sotsialisticheskogo obshchestva, (Moscow: Mysl’, 1970), 135–49.
37. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 80, 6.
38. Ibid., 6.6.
17. “S A” A 185
Chernyak himself has marked off three types of respondents: those
negatively, neutrally, and positively inclined to a religious world-view.³⁹
Mitrofan K. Teplyakov insisted, in turn, that there was a need to distin-
guish types of atheists. He himself distinguished the following types: athe-
ist, convinced non-believer, religious agnostic, hesitant person, convinced
believer, and fanatic.⁴⁰
During conferences and symposia, many problems were raised, propos-
als of various kinds were put forward, disagreements were voiced, and an
atmosphere of dissatisfaction was evident. It was considered necessary to
establish a connection between theory and practice, to deal with the real
difficulties in understanding believers that arose from discrepancies be-
tween believers’ declarations and their actual conduct, between religious
consciousness and religious behavior. At the aforementioned conference,
the propagandist R .S. Boltanov pointed, for instance, to the insufficiently
clear formulation of the categories believers were divided into:
Research data shows that even when approached just for the first time, some
people declare themselves to be believers while observing the rites, oth-
ers declare themselves to be non-believers while not observing the rites,
and still others declare themselves to be non-believers, but still observe the
rites.⁴¹
Vusya A. Chernyak doubted, in principle, that scientific methods were
applicable to the study of spiritual life and issues pertaining to one’s world-
view (which amounted to a covert criticism of the ideologization of the
sciences). e propagandist A. F. Yarygin brought up the question of the
practical application of scientific ideas, drawing aention to an example
taken from his own practice: during one year, he had worked with two
female believers, a Baptist and an Orthodox Christian, convincing them to
reject religion. Aer one year, the Orthodox woman abandoned religion
and, he said, “does not feel any sinfulness before God.” e Baptist, how-
ever, continued to have doubts, even though the methods of propagan-
dizing were the same in all respects. e researcher posed the following
question for the conference participants:
39. Ibid., 6.9–10.17.
40. Ibid., 6.19.
41. is observation corresponds to the terms used to refer to believers in contempo-
rary Russian sociology of religion: “en-churched believers,” “purely-formal believers,” and
“ritual believers.” In the 1960s, a more ideologized justification was required in order to be
able to establish a classification.
18. 186 S M. K, E S. M
What type of believer is this?
As the hall “answered with laughter,” Yarygin went on
For you, it is a laughable maer, but for practical purposes it something
to cry about. . . . Not until you have determined both the theoretical type
of the believer and the practical knowledge of the type of the believer will
you have in your possession a correct approach and method—so give us,
the practical workers, a possibility of working with believers and give us
materials.⁴²
e contradictions between the religious beliefs and the religious con-
duct of the respondents, which were thus brought to light, deserve par-
ticular aention. An incident, recounted by the propagandist E. Duluman
tells us a lot in this regard.
I will adduce such an example: A group le for Cherkasy Oblast, heading for
the village called Belozer’e.⁴³ I myself seled in at the home of a young male
believer (they told me that he was a believer), but without disclosing the fact
of my being an atheist. I was not carrying out atheistic work, but still, I saw
that one could hardly sense even the slightest whiff of religiosity there. At
night, they would sit down and play cards under the icons. I suffered this
for three nights, as I could see no relationship between the cards and god,
and then I asked: “Why do you play cards under those icons, there?” ey
answered: “We find it very convenient over there!” I said that even so, it is
god that is painted there, and the host answered: “Well, they’ve got used to
it!” ⟨Laughter in the hall⟩. ey said they do not believe in god. I asked: “But
do you go to church?” ey answered: “Everyone goes, and we go!” “Have
you baptized the baby?” “Everyone baptizes, and we have baptized!” I started
lecturing them that this is savagery, that only savages observe this kind of
rite, etc. e host listened aentively and said that this was interesting to
listen to, but then declared that “everyone’s a savage, and I’m a savage too.”
⟨Laughter in the hall⟩. I knew he did not like the priest, so I asked: “How
42. Viktoriya Smolkin, “«Svyato mesto pusto ne byvaet»: ateisticheskoe vospitanie
v Sovetskom Soyuze, 1964–1968,” Neprikosnovenny zapas: debaty o politike i kul’ture 65,
no. 3 (2009): 36–52.
43. Today it is Bilozir’ya (In Ukrainian: Білозір’я; in Russian: Белозорье) in the
Cherkas’ka oblast of Ukraine. In the passage quoted here, square brackets mark the ed-
itor’s additions, while angle brackets set off the translated additions of the person who
wrote down the conference minutes (editor’s note).
19. “S A” A 187
much did you pay the priest?” He said that the priest was a sponger, that
everything went to his pocket, and that he had baptized a child and given a
three-ruble note to the [parish] cashbox and two rubles to the priest. I said:
“You gave five rubles to a swindler,” and the host answered, “Let him choke!”
I started appealing to his parental feelings: that how so, that you [sic!] could
dip the baby in cold water? e host came back with the following reply:
“We arranged it with the priest, he warmed the water up!” I continued that
it was unsanitary, that there would have been bacteria in the water, that you
exposed the child to the danger of falling sick or becoming infected, but he
asked: “And have they baptized you?” I said: “ey have.” He declared: “And
they have baptized me! ey have actually baptized the whole of Mother-
Russia, and see how tall she has grown!” ⟨Joyful animation, laughter.⟩⁴⁴
is example seems extremely interesting to us, not only because it
shows the weaknesses of the atheists’ argumentation and the strength of
people’s faith in tradition, but also as the personal story of a cynical be-
liever who was able, with such ease, to “cut the propagandist down to
size.”⁴⁵ From what has been recounted above one can arrive at a sense of
just how incompetent the agitators’ approach to their work was. It may
be added here that they would also have encountered responses like the
following:
“We did not start it, we do not bring it to an end. . . . Let us live in peace, and
we will not engage in any agitation.” Among middle-aged women one may
encounter arguments of this kind: “Religiosity was not a source of trouble
for our parents and ancestors, and nor will it be one for us.”⁴⁶
We can thus see that theoreticians and practical workers were not speak-
ing the same language. e assignment that science was meant to accom-
plish, in terms of strengthening the position of the agitator and the pro-
pagandist as regards the efficiency with which they performed their tasks,
was doomed to fail. For science, even with the best will in the world, could
not, at one and the same time, have executed the order given it by the
party—namely to convert the population to atheism—and studied its “sub-
44. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 80, 6.53–56.
45. We wish here to call to the reader’s aention an analogous account, offered in an
artistic form in Vassily Shukshin’s short story “Cuing em Down to Size” [Srezal]. For
an English translation, see Vasily Shukshin, Stories from a Siberian Village, trans. John
Givens and Laura Michael (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1996).
46. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 53, 6.40.
20. 188 S M. K, E S. M
ject” objectively. is contradiction stemmed from the ideologization of
science, which involved the presupposition that the religious relics of the
past can, in principle, be eliminated. e rare moment of theory being uni-
fied with practice may actually be observed, during this time, where prac-
tical workers forced the methodologists to elaborate conceptions which
were practical in real life, and to avoid ideological generalizations and
pure speculation. Particular aention was paid by the Institute of Scien-
tific Atheism to individual work with believers. Today, one could compare
this approach to the qualitative methods elaborated in sociology.
A female Party member, also a member of a departmental commiee,⁴⁷ was
aached to a certain female baptist, in order to work with her. For the party
member, the work could never have been a mere exchange of words. She
started coming up to the atheist and saying that I [sic!], as a member of
the departmental commiee, am officially announcing to you that there is
no god. en, aer some time, she would return and ask: “Well, have you
already rejected this delusion, or not?” Eventually, either the baptist had had
enough of this or someone had given her some advice, and she went straight
to the City Commiee⁴⁸ and requested that they separate this atheist from
her.⁴⁹
ere was such a case: we gathered the secretaries of Party cells, and as-
signed one member the task of carrying out work with a believer, and he
came to her with a half-liter bole of vodka! We analyzed this case at the
ideological commission.⁵⁰
e necessity of renouncing purely “enlightening” work, of employing
a more differentiated approach to believers, depending on their age, pro-
fession, education, gender, social or national identity, and, obviously, con-
fession, had already become obvious during this period. e tension be-
tween the descriptive and prescriptive functions of the Institute of Scien-
tific Atheism—i.e. between science and ideology, or between the empirical
research activities of the Institute and its ideological task in determining
religious policies—was becoming even more apparent. Empirical sociol-
ogy and its qualitative methods were revealing themselves to be doomed,
47. e Russian word “цехком” refers to the executive commiee of a trade union at
departmental level (editor’s note).
48. Of the Communist Party, in this case (editor’s note).
49. RGASPI F. 606, inventory no. 4, dep. 53, 6.10.
50. Ibid., 6.83.
21. “S A” A 189
once science had been ideologized. One may surmise that this tension was
merely a symptom of broader contradictions in the Soviet approach to
religion and atheistic education. e way in which the institutes were es-
tablished and their workers nominated,⁵¹ the fact that these workers were
required, on the one hand, to carry out a study of religious moods in the
population but, on the other, also to conduct atheist propaganda in the
locations they were studying, all the while demonstrating that the propa-
ganda methods were effective, basically meant that those workers were re-
quired a priori to accomplish two opposing things: to accurately describe
Soviet believers and, at the very same time, to turn them into atheists.
In spite of this, and undeterred by all limitations, sociological investiga-
tions and philosophical theories gradually came to embrace new theoret-
ical contents.
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