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September 13, 2007
Russian Muslims vs Orthodox Church
Oopssssssssss, the seeds planted by Orthodox Patriarc Alexis weren't fruitless. After defending the Iranian-Russian relationship as a way to build a new multipolar world and stating that "it is only adherents to traditional religions, first of all the Orthodox and Muslims, who can give 'an appropriate response to the challenges of the time", now the Orthodox Church is confronting a new challenge by ... Muslims.
The Government wants to introduce a new optional subject about Orthodox culture. The no. 2 of the Orthodox Church, Kirill, has said that "In URSS there were a lot of people who was taught atheism. They were professional atheists. This people did not disappear. As there are also ultraliberals. But the overwhelming majority of the Russian people is backing this new subject".But the religious Muslim authorities have united themselves with the laicists, to prevent the introduction of this subject in the Russian teaching system. The VP of the Russian Muftis' Council has accused the Orthodox Chruch of "clericalising" the Russian society. One of the most known teologians of the Russian Orthodox Chruch, Father Andrei Kurayev, has proposed the expulsion of the Mufti to the Gulf Persian States, where they practise the secularism that he likes so much.
But the curious thing is that, while the Muslim religious authorities want to prevent the teaching of this optional subject of Orthodox Culture, in the Russian republics where Islam is majority, as Chechenya, the Muslim traditions are taught in schools. What is more, the Muftis consider that some ethnic (!!!! Isn't this racism???) groups like Tartars, wherever they live, have a right to receive Muslim education, because historically they have belonged to Muslim religion.
Posted by Eurabian at September 13, 2007 5:35 AM
