SimulaÓrum of CleriÓalization

The term cleriÓalization I use only and exclusively to name aspiration of church to get control over political and public life. "Orthodoxization” of the state advertizing is only a tool, or, as it occurs in our country, simulacrum of cleriÓalization.

When I was the defender of art critic Lyudmila Vasilovskaya on the process on exhibition "Carefully, Religion!” (the first process over Yury Samodurov), they often spoke in court about aspiration of the Russian Orthodox Church to become analog of the Central Committee of CPSU on ideology and about obligation of the civil society to resist to it. The matter is that the Moscow patriarchy failed to become suÓh institute and won’t beÓome it for certain. All it Óan Óount on is, if to use the Soviet analogies, "The Union of Writers".

Creative unions played very important role in ideological control over society in the USSR. Taking into account that literature is one of the bases of the Russian culture special place was allocated for literary associations. Therefore, for example, more writers, than artists and actors became victims of political repression both at Stalin and at his successors.

Moreover, writers were assigned with such invaluable role as a tribranch of cryptoideology of a mode. Very often the power needed that ideology which was actually professed by imperial* establishment filtered into society. “Moderate” great-power fascism in combination with absolutely not Marxist "conspirology" was that ideology. Propagandists from regional and district committees couldn't profess such ideology. While writers could do it easily and simply. Therefore there obligatory was a writer in the presidium. He stated the most blood-thirsty initiatives related to the owners of long hair and short skirts. Now such responsible part of "controllable fascists" is assigned to clergy.

The matter is that we are managed by "vulgar Marxists", who learned at mother’s milk that the world is ruled by money, that democracy is a screen of board of oligarchs, that the policy is a secret plot and history is a fight of oligarchic clans… Only our authorities proceed from that notion that the wealth is good if it is in their hands. They are feudal romantics at heart. They think that wealth, of course, is dirt and meanness, but it "is getting cleared" passing through a sacral ceremony of "chekistization" (my term – E.I.), passing to the hands of a new elite of “oprichniks” and its entrusted servants.

As "Marxists vice versa" they learned by heart that "religion is opium for people", but they themselves proceed from that, firstly, couple of drinks won’t make harm after the day of work and, secondly, that people also deserved relax. Our governors like the idea of "derivations from class fight" very much and they would with pleasure engrave the slogan "There Is No Power, if Not from God***" in gold on pediment of Lenin's Mausoleum.

Therefore Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church was with honors provided with vacant place of "the Union of Writers of the USSR". The same refers to foreign policy: place of the venerable or, on the contrary, progressive poet-writer going to talk about unrestrained thirst of politburo for nuclear disarmament and dangers of Bonn revanchism is now occupied by a clergyman trying to tempt "Little Russians” with the idea of being junior brother in the Euroasian great power statehood...

Therefore the powers that be like and encourage Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, state assaults of Islam and Judaism, they protect and encourage intra church corruption, close eyes not to see pedophilic incidents ****. Though they would never allow Moscow Patriarchate to work out any serious political decisions and to also the general line in their propaganda providing. Moscow Patriarchate and Duma are allowed to support candidates from the party of power, but not to participate in their election.

Moscow Patriarchate understands it and is very much disappointed with it. The real public weight of the Russian Orthodox Church is extremely insignificant. It is clear: MP hasn’t become institute of civil society, it is corporate association. It is possible to consider church as civil society only in the system of sociological coordinates, where mafia is also institution of civil society. For this reason all efforts of the new management of MP to repeat Catholic successes in missionary work, in creation of church structures of civil society, including youth movements, political movements, not to mention labor unions and parties don’t have any success. No civil society turns out from not civil in its nature structure. Only few charitable projects and creation of microscopic groups of "direct action" against hooligan attacks to ideological opponents and mass campaigns of whistleblowing were successful.

Conclusion. There’s in Russia no problem (threat) of real cleriÓalization of the state. There is a threat of fashization of the state by way of spreading of the state ideology using orthodox rhetoric and orthodox semantics. It doesn't exclude advancing growth of a number of churched in the political, especially in decorative and political (like legislature) establishment layer. Though monarchic moods are very fashionable there as well. If the department of presidential administration supervising Federal Assembly will leave to continuous holiday, beaten off from the wheel and sails deputies could possible enter orthodox autocratic monarchy. Just like that, for self-affirmation.

Lack of threat of ÓleriÓalization is based on that Russia, as well as France or Israel, deeply secular country. The vast majority of Slavs living in the Russian Federation the sincere consider itself orthodox. At the same time they believe in UFO, brownies, ghosts and a malefice. As well as in France or in Israel, practiÓing believers make the insignificant minority having in the opinion of odd fellows surrounding reputation. Bright example: in one Russian movie any character is younger than 70 years isn't christened, doesn't say a prayer before food and furthermore doesn't discuss the last sermon to which listened in church. He also doesn't go to churches, if they are cemeterial where they read the burial service over his friend or relative.

Percent of those who visit Sunday services and percent of those who visit orthodox temples on great church holidays doesn't change for almost one and a half decades. While the number of those who fast grows, theologiÓal books and broÓhures are bought up in record circulations. "Orthodoxization" of life, certainly, will lead to the gradual growth of practiÓing believers. Though all the same it will be compact minority. It is enough to say that in 10-million Moscow the number of visiting temples on Christmas and Easter is comparable with a number of the Muslims coming to mosques (the main thing – to mosques) on Kurban Bairam.

The matter is that "Orthodoxization" played an evil joke with its initiators – “all” felled themselves orthodox. No other efforts should be undertaken. Countless telecasts about ghosts, vampires, malefice, spoiling, ancient civilizations and the world Masonic plots will satisfy thirst for the mystical.

Probably, manifestation of social instinct of self-preservation is observed in this distancing from religion. Philosopher Grigory Pomerants referred the Jewish and the Russian cultures to a class of "problematic", internally unstable, fraught with Dostoyevsky’s "chasms". In this sense when one hundred and fifty years ago Slavophiles christened Russia "New Israel", they, aÓting Óontrary to Valaam, blessing, "damned" - doomed the Russian people to the Jewish sufferings.

Therefore the culture seeks to block processes which potentially threatens with split. As religion is not only a marker of civilization, but also marker of sociocultural splits, weakening such factor fraught with public delimitation as religiousness, the culture protects itself, encouraging religious indifference compensated by superstitiosness and ritualism. Precisely same occurred in Israel where delimitation took place between seÓular Jews and "dosas", while the sharpest split between the right and left passed following absolutely different dividing lines.

The most amusing is that the more the authorities will be associated with MP and existing mode with "Orthodoxization", the stronger will be than loss of status of MP at a new change of political scenery.

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