Religious Liberty, New Religious Movements and Traditional Christian Churches in Eastern Europe

Abstract

The new political, economic and cultural situation in Eastern Europe after 1989, and the radical and dramatic transformation towards democratisation, deeply affected all strata of society. Inevitably, the search for new foundations of public and private life and for new spiritual orientations came to the fore, together with a suddenly emerged cultural pluralism and religious diversity, unknown under the confines of MarxistLeninist dogma. Initially, this process was connected with a fresh experience of openness and freedom for religion after the old restrictions on religious activity were abolished. Later, a feeling of cultural shock, a growing sense of insecurity and a loss of orientation among a considerable part of population (to a great extent arising from the lack of deeply-rooted unifying public ideas and shared values in postcommunist society on the one hand, and the challenge of the new religious groups to the traditional Christian churches on the other) brought about the urgent need for redefinition of the public place and role of religion. This redefinition has several aspects: the relations between the state and religious organisations both mainstream churches and new religious movements (NRMs); the interaction between religion and politics; the institutional and spiritual influence of the 'national' churches, and interreligious relations. The question of religious liberty includes as well specifications about the extent to which the state should be involved in attempts to resolve disputes between NRMs and other groups and institutions. The NRMs in Eastern Europe are not an isolated phenomenon which might be investigated in isolation from the overall state of affairs in society; they are to be seen as a focus for a wide range of problems, currents and controversies of very various backgrounds. They are a conflict-engendering field, but in a restricted sense; much more are they to be conceptualised as indicators of societal difficulties and tensions which already exist or are in the process of emerging. They might be discussed from different perspectives: sociological, historical, psychological, theological. The pre-eminently cultural-critical approach of this study places NRMs in the conceptual and socio-political framework of the right to religious liberty in its interconnectedness and interrelatedness with cultural-religious pluralism, as long as these two principles are among the conditions indispensable for the (re )construction of civil society and real democratisation. The fulfilment of the political project of civil society in Eastern Europe is not an easy task and will take much more effort and time than was supposed in the euphoria of the first years after the fall of the Berlin