questions:

1. The Union of Faithful Servants and the Russian Army.

2. The main religious denominations in the Russian Federation.

3. Taking into account the attitude of military personnel towards religion when conducting educational work with them.

The great changes that have taken place in recent years in the life of the Russian state and society have had an impact on the relationship between the church and the army. The dynamics and trends of the religious situation in the Russian Armed Forces generally correspond to the development of the situation in the country: there has been an increase in the number of believers who are increasingly participating in religious services and showing an increased interest in religion. This cannot be ignored in the educational work with military personnel.

1

When considering the relationship between the church and the army in modern times, it is important to remember their historical aspects.

The union of the servants of faith and the military began to form in the first centuries of Christianity in Russia. After all, the Russian military was presented as a holy and valiant army, called "Christ-loving."

In the church language, the word "warrior" has a special meaning. Among the saints venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church, there are many warriors - Roman legionnaires and Russian princes. Among them are Feodor Stratilat, Dmitry of Solun, the heavenly patron of the Russian army, George the Victorious, the great Russian commanders, the holy and pious princes Alexander Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy, the baptizer of Russia, the holy and equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, who were the first to be canonized as saints, the princes Mikhail and Gleb of Chernigov, and many others.

Russian troops went into battle with the blessing of the church, under holy banners and the protection of icons that were considered miraculous. Faith was of great importance to the soldiers. It gave them confidence in victory and the righteousness of their cause.

Defining war in general as a calamity and an unmistakable evil, the Russian Orthodox Church considers wars in defense of the Fatherland sacred, and the soldiers who die in them - performing a feat of sacrificial love, because "there is no greater love than if someone lays down his life for his friends."

The relationship between the church and the army was organic. The remarkable Russian publicist and philosopher S.N. Bulgakov wrote: "The Russian army was held together by two forces: iron discipline, without which no army can exist, and faith...

By the end of the 18th century, the army and the church had become a unified and well-coordinated organism. The military clergy was responsible for the patriotic, moral, and military education of officers, soldiers, and sailors, aiming to instill in them high moral and combat qualities. This was achieved by creating a special atmosphere in the units and formations that emphasized the sacredness of military duty.

As you know, every regiment had its own patron saint. The banner was considered a regimental shrine, an image that had to be protected to the death. The oath was also sacred to the warrior. The ritual of taking the oath on the Gospel was religious in nature. Breaking the oath was considered a great sin against God and humanity: "...The stern law, which guards the interests of the state, will punish the oath-breaker as a disloyal citizen; he will not escape the wrath of God for kissing the Cross and the Gospel of Judas.

Military pastors made great efforts to instill in their soldiers a sense of friendship and brotherhood in the regiment ("family"), as well as respect and obedience to their commanders ("fathers") and superiors ("elder brothers"), and to take care of their younger comrades. It is no coincidence that leaving one's unit was considered a great shame for a soldier. It was equivalent to renouncing one's family and good

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name. Therefore, not only by law, but also in the eyes of his fellow soldiers, such a soldier was considered a traitor.

However, it was not only in the vaults of churches and in the silence of barracks that the priests of the Russian army and navy provided spiritual guidance to their congregations. They were by the side of the soldiers in battles and campaigns, sharing victories and defeats with the soldiers and officers, as well as all the hardships of war: they blessed the brave, encouraged the weak-hearted, comforted the wounded and dying, and accompanied the dead on their final journey.

Depending on the specific conditions of the combat situation, the nature of the tasks performed by the troops, and the location of the unit in the battle formation, priests used various forms of work. For example, in the first echelon units, during combat, the priest's location was determined at the dressing station, where many wounded soldiers were usually treated. Pastors were required to master the art of dressing, as timely assistance could save a soldier's life. When necessary, the priest was present on the front lines, in the advancing units or the defensive trenches.

By 1912, the Russian Imperial Army, which consisted of 1,200,000 soldiers, included not only Orthodox Christians (89%), but also Catholics (5.5%), Protestants (2.8%), Muslims (0.8%), and representatives of other religions. As a result, the Tsarist Army employed not only Orthodox priests, but also mullahs, priests, and rabbis. The military regulations served as the legal framework for treating non-Orthodox soldiers.

The revolutionary storms destroyed the old Russian army, and with it the institution of the military clergy. On January 16, 1918, the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs issued Order No. 39, which disbanded the Department of Military Clergy. It was not until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War that the spiritual potential of the Church was once again needed. However, the real revival of cooperation between the army and the Church began in the 1990s.

2

Today, the Russian Federation is home to followers of three major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism.

In recent years, new religious movements and cults have also become widespread. Their emergence in our country is similar to the phenomenon that occurred in Western countries several decades ago, which was referred to as the religious and mystical wave.

Among Christian religious associations, the Russian Orthodox Church still holds a leading position and enjoys the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church (among the 17,500 officially registered religious associations in the country, more than 9,300 are part of the Moscow Patriarchate).

The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest denomination in the Russian Federation and the most authoritative Orthodox Church in the world. As of January 1, 2000, there are 65 dioceses within the Russian Orthodox Church, which are governed by 85 bishops. There are approximately 20,000 parishes and 319 monasteries.

The sources of the Orthodox faith are the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, and the Holy Tradition, which includes the decrees of the seven Ecumenical Councils of the 4th to 8th centuries, as well as the writings of the Church Fathers.

The basic principles of the Christian faith are outlined in the "Symbol of Faith," which was developed at the Nicene (325) and Constantinople (381) Ecumenical Councils. His twelve theses state that God is one, but has three hypostases (in Greek, "persons" or "beings"); God the Father is the creator of all things, and God the Son, like the Father, has no beginning in time ("pre-existent"), came to earth through the Virgin Mary, took upon himself the sins of humanity, redeemed them through his suffering and death, and rose again to heaven. God is the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, i.e., the personification of God's creative and providential power. The Church is essentially one (as its head is Christ), holy (as its members are redeemed and sanctified by Christ), catholic (i.e., universal, uniting believers from all times and nations), and apostolic (as it originates from the disciples of Jesus Christ, the apostles). Baptism is the first Christian sacrament performed to forgive sins. At the end of time, all people who have ever lived on earth will be resurrected, and the life of the future age with God will begin.

Today, the highest bodies of church authority and management of the Russian Orthodox Church are the Local Council, the Council of Bishops, and the Holy Synod, headed by the Patriarch.

The Muslim community in Russia has the second-largest number of religious associations (more than 3,000).

The main regions where Islam is widespread in Russia are the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the Urals, Siberia, the North Caucasus, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.

Russia's Muslim communities do not have a unified confessional center and are united by religious administrations (more than 40 in total).

The founder of Islam is Muhammad (c. 570-632) from the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. At the age of 40, he began his preaching activities in Mecca.

The Quran and the Sunnah are the main sources of Islamic doctrine.

It is believed that the Qur'an (Arabic. Al-Qur'an, literally - "reading") was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the archangel Jabrayil (Christians. - Gabriel).

In terms of its impact on the spiritual and social development of human society, the Quran is on a par with the Bible. According to Muslim tradition, the study of the Quran is carried out in the following ways: reading and memorizing the verses (ayats) of the Quran in Arabic for performing prayer rituals and ceremonies, as well as studying the Quran as a sacred book for religious education and upbringing.

Sunnah (Arabic. - "way of action, behavior") is a sacred tradition of Islam. It contains stories (hadiths) about the deeds and sayings of Muhammad and his closest companions. There are tens of thousands of such stories and messages. The fundamental difference between the Sunnah and the Qur'an is that it is a collection of sayings of the Prophet (a person), which

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They were spoken at a certain moment, i.e., they have an origin, but the Quran has always existed.

The vast majority of Muslims in the Russian Federation adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. In addition to the Quran, Sunni Muslims recognize the sanctity of the Sunnah, as well as the prophet Muhammad and the caliph Ali, and honor the caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, who are rejected by Shiites, a different branch of Islam.

The extreme manifestation of Sunnism is Wahhabism (a religious and political trend in Sunni Islam that emerged in Arabia in the middle of the XVIII century on the basis of the teachings of Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), who preached the strictest observance of the principle of monotheism, recognition only of the Koran and Sunnah, to which no human interpretation or commentary should be added.

The Wahhabis see idolatry (shirk) in the worship of pre-Islamic prophets, Muslim saints and martyrs, as well as in the places where they are buried, and deny the possibility of their posthumous influence on the lives of living people. According to their teachings, Muhammad himself was granted the right to intercede for the sinners only on the Day of Judgment. Otherwise, the teachings of the Wahhabis are characterized by a purely puritanical asceticism: the use of alcohol in any form, tobacco, music, dancing, and games are formally prohibited, and there are very strict requirements for participation in prescribed prayers and fasting. Women's rights are also limited.

Wahhabis advocate the creation of an Islamic state based on Sharia law rather than secular laws. Several Russian regions have already banned Wahhabism (Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Chechnya).

Today, Buddhism is mainly practiced in the territories of Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia, Yakutia, as well as in the Chita and Irkutsk regions.

Buddhism emerged as a religious and philosophical doctrine in India. It has a rich canonical literary heritage, diverse religious practices, and well-developed religious institutions.

According to the Buddhist tradition, the creation of the Buddhist doctrine is associated with the name of Prince Shakyamuni (literally, "the recluse" from the Shakyas, a confederation of tribes that lived in the foothills of the Himalayas, in the northern part of the Ganges Valley), who lived approximately between 564 and 483 BCE. At the age of 29, he left his home to find answers to his questions about human suffering. The awakening of the Buddha ("the Awakened One"), the attainment of a higher state of consciousness, took place near the city of Gaya (Bodh Gaya, in the south of modern Bihar). He preached his first sermon in the vicinity of Varanasi (modern India). Banares), this event was called "turning the wheel of Dharma" ("Teaching"). The first few people who listened to his sermon became his disciples and formed the first Buddhist community (sangha). After that, he preached for more than 40 years and died in his eightieth year.

One of the fundamental principles of early Buddhism is the doctrine of the "Four Noble Truths":

1. There is suffering in life.

2. The cause of suffering is desire.

3. Suffering can be avoided by suppressing desires and passions.

4. There is the "eightfold noble path," which offers the possibility of both moral self-improvement and a complete change of consciousness: correct view (understanding the four truths); correct aspiration (acting in accordance with these truths);

proper speech (refraining from lying, rudeness, and slander); proper lifestyle (honest means of earning a living), etc.

The official date of the adoption of Buddhism in Russia is considered to be 1741, when Empress Elizabeth Petrovna issued a decree concerning the "Lamaic faith." This was the first legal document that officially regulated the religious affairs of Buddhists.

Currently, the number of Buddhists in the country is approaching 1 million.

In the regions of the traditional spread of this religion, Buddhist communities are formed mainly at monasteries (datsans, khuruls, khure). There are datsan abbots (shiretui) and a datsan council (several people). The datsan abbot mainly decides organizational issues related to the life of the community. In the regions of the non-traditional spread of Buddhism (in the central part of Russia), the head of the community is usually not a monk, but a secular follower of one or another branch of Buddhism. In such communities, many issues are resolved collectively.

In recent years, the geography of churches and denominations in modern Russia has seen an active spread of movements that are collectively referred to as "new" or "non-traditional." These movements span a wide range of faiths, including Eastern religions (Krishnaism, Bahaism, and various schools of Buddhism) and ecumenical movements (Moon's Unification Church), as well as diverse Protestant denominations such as Presbyterianism, Methodism, Mormonism, the New Apostolic Church, and various charismatic churches. Despite their diversity, the new religions have something in common: their emergence and spread in Russia were encouraged and supported by foreign churches and religious centers.

The main problems in the field of religious life in Russian society are often related to new religious movements: the uncertainty of the legal status of foreign missions operating in Russia, the lack of regulations governing their activities in Russian legislation, and conflicts between them and traditional religious organizations. Although the number of such associations and organizational centers is relatively small on a national scale, this does not diminish the severity of the problems associated with their activities.

As a rule, the results of their work include traumatized people's psyches, zombified behavior, destroyed families, and hostility towards all non-members of the sect. It is not uncommon for former members of these religious movements and cults to require serious psychological rehabilitation.

Installing individual ones on

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Refusal to serve in the army and a decrease in social activity have a negative impact on the formation of moral motivation for military service and readiness to defend the Fatherland.

Recently, non-traditional movements and cults have been actively recruiting military personnel, their families, and civilian staff.

3

In the current situation, when moral foundations in society are being eroded, religion is one of the reserves in the work of military commanders and officers-educators. Its use can be aimed at solving the tasks of patriotic and moral education of personnel; strengthening military discipline and law and order; and preventing suicides, hazing, desertions, and other vices. However, in order to properly use the capabilities of religious denominations, several factors must be taken into account. First of all, working with religious military personnel requires special tact, attention, and respect for their worldview.

According to sociological studies conducted in 1999, up to 30 percent of the military personnel surveyed consider themselves to be believers. Among soldiers and sergeants preparing to carry out combat missions in hot spots, the proportion of believers is 35 percent. In units and formations that have been involved in combat, the figure is approximately 40 percent.

The degree of commitment to religious faith among military personnel is far from uniform. Currently, only 14 percent of conscripted military personnel who identify as religious and 7 percent of contract military personnel who identify as religious claim to follow the teachings of their religion. Despite the fact that nearly one-third of military personnel identify as religious, most of them have a superficial understanding of religion. For example, many tend to question the fundamental tenets of religious teachings and do not base their actions and behaviors on the principles of the faith they identify with.

An analysis of the religious situation in the army shows the need for strict adherence to the principle of equal rights for military personnel based on their religion, as well as for the commanders and fellow soldiers to treat their religious feelings with respect.

When conducting educational work with military personnel, it is necessary to take into account that, according to the Constitution, the Russian Federation is a secular state. No religion can be established as a state religion or a mandatory religion. Religious associations are separated from the state and are equal before the law. According to Russian legislation, the state does not have any obligations to meet the needs of military personnel related to their religious beliefs and the need to perform religious rituals. The creation of religious associations in military units is prohibited.

At the same time, the command of military units, taking into account the requirements of military regulations, does not prevent military personnel from participating in religious services and other religious rituals and ceremonies. Military personnel have the right to participate in these events as private individuals during their free time. However, military personnel are not allowed to refuse to perform their military duties based on their religious beliefs.

However, a serviceman's right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion may be restricted if it contradicts the interests of the service or interferes with the performance of military duties. For example, a serviceman may be on guard duty and declare that today is a holiday according to the church calendar and they would like to attend a festive service at the church. In this case, the commander's refusal to allow the serviceman to attend the service would be legally justified. However, it would be appropriate for the commander to provide the serviceman with a day off if they were aware of the upcoming holiday. It is no coincidence that the military calendars of the pre-revolutionary period included days when military personnel were exempted from service for religious reasons. For example, there were thirteen such days per year for Jewish military personnel.

In the context of the military personnel's adherence to various religions, commanders need to foster a tolerant attitude among their subordinates towards the beliefs and faith of their fellow soldiers.

In educational work, it is advisable to use those religious moral principles that correspond to universal moral standards.

When inviting a priest to visit a military unit at the request of individual soldiers, it is important to remember that participation in the meeting should be voluntary. Coercion is not acceptable.

The forms of the clergy's participation in working with personnel may include pastoral visits to military units, ships, military academies, and schools, individual and group discussions with military personnel, including representatives of the so-called risk groups, counseling commanders and officers of educational institutions on religious and church issues, and establishing helplines in churches where military personnel can share their problems with a pastor and receive psychological and practical assistance.

The practice of cooperation with religious associations shows that it is expedient to use it in order to solve a wide range of educational tasks. However, it is important to take into account the spiritual needs of people, their religious beliefs, historical traditions, and the ability of a particular organization, community, or clergyman to have a positive impact on the moral and psychological state of soldiers. This cooperation should be aimed at fostering patriotism, honor, and duty, as well as readiness to overcome the hardships of military service, follow orders, and even sacrifice oneself.

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