Posted on 11/22/2002 10:19:31 AM PST by Destro
Schools dust off religious studies
November 20 2002
Russia is to introduce Orthodox religious education in schools for the first time since the Tsars.
Under a controversial proposal by the Education Ministry, head teachers will be able to schedule courses in a subject called Orthodox Culture.
The Education Minister, Vladimir Filippov, has proposed the course, which will not be compulsory. Opponents of the plan say the multi-ethnic nature of Russia, home to many Muslims, Jews and Buddhists, makes it unsuitable.
In the time of the Tsars children studied divine law, a course offering Orthodox religious and moral guidance. After the revolution in 1917, religious studies were replaced by courses in Marxism and Leninism. History, geography and other subjects were tailored to suit the ideological requirements of the Communist leaders.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 education has remained secular, but in recent years the resurgent Orthodox Church has called for the inclusion of religious studies.
The timetable for introducing the new course is unclear, but officials say a 30-page document issued by the Education Ministry sets out the subject matter to be included. Topics will include the traditions of Orthodoxy, asceticism, the liturgy and the Bible, as well as religious art and literature.
The Orthodox Church says teaching religion will help counter alcoholism, AIDS, crime and drug addiction.
The Telegraph, London
My comments regarding the good behavior of the Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians in assisting reugess of ALL sorts...STANDS!
What poor and disappointing behavior that I have seen and heard with MY own eyes and ears.... from many, many evangelicals....STANDS!! There may be good ones...I have not met one yet....as far as I know.
My comments are based on my personal experiences from many years. I do not care for any so-called minister who calls other CHRISTIANS, idol worshippers because of their icons or their use of an elaborate WORSHIP service.
Like I said, from what I have heard and seen myself.....that is how I base my opinions.
I accept your apology about the Russian Orthodox Church.
I suggest that you read a book called FATHER ARSENY about an R.C. Priest imprisoned during the Soviet terror.
These are all REAL problems in many countries, not just in Russia. How many countries are you working in as missionaries?
Oh wow. You get my award for post of the day.
Maybe then...you can speak to me of RUSSIA.
It's almost too good to eat during a fast!
No, we believe that proselytizing is vulgar and that God is powerful enough to lead people to the church if He so chooses. So we have little in the way of active missionary work, though we try to make the church available in many places for those who would be interested.
In contrast to the merchant culture of the west, we believe in a more quiet witness to God and a patient approach to the restoration of the Orthodox church in Russia. If most western Christians would just back off and let things be for a time, we would be less resistant to their presence in Russia. As it is the majority of western religions are just drooling to get their hands in the pie of Russia and bring home those numbers at all costs.
It is the very vulgarity of their drooling that offends us, and not that we desire a lack of freedom of religion in Russia or a nationalistic belief. The Catholic church has led the way in exhibiting the greed and vulgarity of wanting to exploit a population forced to turn away from the Orthodox church and still recovering from this devastation.
It is my hope that your church is more charitable in your missionary work in Russia, but your opening statement on this thread was less than charitable. So it is not surprising that many here are offended and oppositional with you now. Practise what you preach. Don't get all self-righteous about opposition to you after you entered this thread disparaging our church.
I have seen firsthand the work your church is doing in Russia. We have two Russians in our church now who began as evangelicals but moved on to Orthodoxy a year or so later, prior to moving here to the US. I think it is important to bring the message of Christ to those who are unable to hear it elsewhere, and I thank you for doing so.
Orthodox Christians do not think that all Russians should be Orthodox, nor that every Christian must be Orthodox. The sermon our deacon gave just last Sunday well-reflected our belief that many come to Christ through other churches, and are just as worthy. We would be the last group of Christians to disparage another church as outside the grouping of those headed for salvation.
What we would like is simply some time and patience for the Orthodox Church in Russia to return to her former glory and be the beacon of light for us that she has been in the past. Russia is in many ways a holy land for us, and with some stretching you might be able to understand that we do not desire for it to be less now.
"Christianity is blossoming in Russia, but in spite of the Russian Orthodox Church, not because of it." Recall that quote?
That is neither here nor there, since I have never said that you weren't Christian, and my discussion has always been about the UNCHURCHED, a point MUCH lost on many of you.
Suggesting that Christianity grows in spite of our Church isn't saying that we aren't Christians?
What a duplicitous person you are.
Yet more evidence of your lies. If you were truly Orthodox you would know that we don't encourage this kind of thing and in fact it is strongly discouraged within our church.
It is offensive and disturbing to attempt to convert a Hindu to another faith, not to mention arrogant. No Orthodox priest on this planet would give a blessing for this kind of activity.
You have just shown your true colors and the very real nature of your deceptiveness on this thread. The evil one is not able to hide from the light for long, as you have just reminded me.
I needed all my background in Bible while taking English lit classes in completing an English Education major. English Lit, particularly Medieval and Renaissance, even later, is so full of Biblical imagery that just about everyone in my classes came up to me and said that they envied my background. You simply cannot understand Western Literature without it. Mythology is just about as important. If I were to construct an English major, I would require basic Bible and mythology as foundation courses.
Weak, weak. If you were to try this kind of self-justifying apology in our confessions the priest would nail you on it. "Appeared" to disparage is not acceptable.
To truly repent you must be able to disparage yourself as unworthy and you would then ask, or beg, for the forgiveness of others. It is the western aspects of Christianity which lead you to hold onto your pride and your inability to beg our forgiveness in complete humility. Is humility even taught anymore in the western faiths?
Finally you have said that it is best to not judge others, yet you apparently feel the right to judge the leaders of the Orthodox church in Russia. Next time you are under the rule of communism, be sure to make the correct choices for your behavior. Patriarch Alexy would never judge you for your condemnation of him and in fact would bless you for it. You should only be worthy enough to follow in his footsteps. May God grant you the chance to "prove" yourself in the same situations faced by Patriarch Alexy!! And let it be known to you that popularity is a fleeting moment in the life of our souls, and not one that we seek or cherish as Orthodox Christians in this transient life.
Sometimes the zealous are seeking to gain power or increase the numbers of their church members, rather than to lead others to Christ. It is between yourself and God as to which you are truly doing, and it will be between yourself and God in the end as to whether you made God-pleasing choices, in humility and after extensive self-examination.
If any church is offering things other than Christ to people, such as food or money, and using those things as carrots for conversion, I pity them at the end of all time in this world. And I know that this does happen quite often in poor villages in Alaska.
Perhaps if you can re-read my posts you will be able to see more clearly what I have been saying. To qualify an apology as you have is to make it barely an apology. I would hope for you that your life in Christ would allow you to make a better one.
"Evangelicals are sure they know what's best for us, and they'll see that we get it whether we like it or not. I would prefer to think of it as stemming from ignorance, but either way I believe it is a mistake. It is arrogant to be so completely convinced of the rightness of your position that you can see only wrong in anyone else's. Whatever any of us think about God, surely we can summon enough humility to admit that the truth is not our exclusive domain."
Though this article is about targeting jews, it applies equally to the targeting of Russians. A targeting which you yourself have admitted to, based on their terrible social ills as you have listed them.
The Pharisees were avid proselytizers. Jesus said, "Ye compass land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).
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