Religious Pluralism in Russia

Abstract

Among many lessons that Lord Krishna gave Arjuna before the battle on the sacred battlefield of Kuru is one of essential importance for the recent debate on tolerance and pluralism: samatvam yoga ucyate (equanimity is called yoga). In the context of Bhagavadgītā it means that it is necessary to perform duties without paying attention to the resultant outcomes and be not emotionally infatuated with positive or negative feelings that may arise. Religious affairs are a sensitive issue for those who take religion seriously. They are very important for the parties concerned, they matter emotionally and it is very difficult to stay equanimous – emotionally neutral – in cases when one's own religious beliefs and practices are subjected to tests and criticism in public debates. It takes reason and some training (yoga, in a sense) to stand up and participate in such public debates and to try to argue for justification of one’s own religious beliefs and practices in the eyes of the opponents. Since the arguments in such debates should be such that could be accepted by all participants including non-religious citizens, it is necessary that they themselves be of non-religious nature – but rational nature and thus understandable and plausible for all parties concerned. The western liberal democratic tradition, which is also accepted in Russia, takes the concept of human rights, specifically freedom of faith and self-expression, to be the argumentative foundation for further justifications of one's entitlement to particular religious beliefs and practices. Normally it is the basic law – the Constitution – that specifies and guarantees the human rights to the country's citizens. So the Constitution of the Russian Federation separates religion and state and gives every Russian citizen a right to take up and practice whatever religion he chooses or none at all. What follows is a sketch of the situation with religious pluralism in Russia from historical, legal and practical perspectives.