Atheist State Research Articles

«Атлас тибетской медицины» и вклад П. Б. Балданжапова в его изучение и сохранение

Introduction. The article deals with The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and examines a history of its studies at the Buryat Institute of Social Sciences from new perspectives. Goals. To facilitate this, the work aims to 1) examine a history of the Buryat copy and attempt its attribution, 2) investigate the Orientalist P. B. Baldanzhapov’s personal contribution to the exploration and preservation of the monument, and 3) identify specific features of cultural interaction in the cross-border Buddhist region of Russia and Tibet. Materials and methods. The article analyzes archival and literary documents, field records, and electronic sources. It uses modern methods of historical science, including the concept of ‘intellectual biography’. Therein, intelligence is understood as a psychological aspect, a quality of personality that takes its complete shape on the basis of moral principles. Results. The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine is a corpus of illustrations to Vaidurya sNgon-po (Tib. ‘Blue Beryl’), a commentary to rGyud-bZhi (‘Four Tantras’). Its excellent copy dated to the late 19th and early 20th centuries was once owned by Buryat datsans (monasteries), and since 1936 has been stored at the National Museum of Buryatia. The study of the forgotten monument was initiated by Baldanzhapov in 1968 when he organized a scientific department at the Buryat Institute of Social Sciences, and the research team included both secular and clerical scholars, i. e. previously repressed Buryat Buddhist monks with expertise in Tibetan, philosophy, and medicine. Notably, the work on the study and preservation of the monument had a moral, ethical significance to Baldanzhapov psychologically motivated as an intellectual shaped by the Buddhist milieu and Buddhist teachers. Being an Orientalist scholar at an academic institution, he had the resources and opportunities to fulfill his mission and — in an atheist state — return monuments of Buddhist culture to the world. Conclusions. The authentic materials analyzed attest to that the active processes of cultural interaction in the Buddhist cross-border region of Russia and Tibet resulted in that The Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and other valuable monuments were delivered to Buryatia. The paper also stresses a uniqueness of the monument and shows the invaluable personal contribution of the prominent Orientalist Baldanzhapov to its study and preservation.

Declining of Chinese popular religion in the totalitarian era: the case of nuo

ABSTRACT In the early reform era, various forms of popular religion regained their role in maintaining moral order and low-level social control in rural communities. It was one of the main reasons that the Chinese Communist Party, a political party espousing state atheism, allowed and even endorsed the revival and flourishing of popular religion. Following on from that, though, the profound socio-economic transformation of the Economic Reform era began to reshape the landscape of Chinese rural society. As a consequence, the divine sanctioning power and communal function inherent in popular religion weakened, and thereby the undermining of the socio-religious function of enforcing moral and social norms derived from it. This then contributed to the decline of rural grassroots autonomous organisations which in turn allowed the authoritarian party-state to strengthen its autocratic power and exercise direct and uncompromising political control over Chinese rural populations. This article addresses the phenomenon from a socio-anthropological perspective, using the example of nuo, a form of popular religion commonly practiced in south-west China. This work is based on the author’s continuous decades-long fieldwork and research on Chinese popular religion.

The Salience of Religion Under an Atheist State: Implications for Subjective Well-Being in Contemporary China

Abstract We examine the linkage between religious involvement and life satisfaction among adults in contemporary China, a largely nonreligious society. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2012, 2014, and 2016), we conduct latent class analysis by using four indicators of religious involvement, including membership of religious groups, types of religion, frequency of participation, and evaluation of importance of religion in life. We classify the sample into four latent classes: (1) the pure nonreligious, (2) the nonreligious, but with some spirituality, (3) Chinese-religion adherent, and (4) organized religion adherent. Results from our fixed-effect models show that Chinese-religion and organized-religion adherents have higher levels of life satisfaction than those with no religious beliefs. Moreover, the disadvantaged groups benefit more from religious involvement in China, as evidenced by the stronger positive effect of religious adherence found among rural residents and individuals in the lowest income quartile. We discuss the benefits of religion both in terms of its public/social and private/intrinsic aspects and situate our findings in the larger social context of China.

СУДЬБА ИНКЕРМАНСКОГО МОНАСТЫРЯ В 1920-Е ГГ. В АРХИВНЫХ ИСТОЧНИКАХ

The article considers the reflection in the documents of the State Institution “Archive of the city of Sevastopol" of the history of the Inkerman Monastery (now St. Klimentovsky Monastery) in the 1920s. It is established that this period in its history was one of the most difficult. By the end of the 1920s. The Inkerman Monastery was liquidated in connection with the course of the atheist state. The process of its liquidation can be described as “creeping liquidation". The brethren of the monastery went from a partial permission to continue their ministry to the final closure of the churches. Most of the buildings of the monastery after its abolition were adapted for the needs of the community of the village of Inkerman. The analysis of the documents showed that they are fragmentary, at the same time; they make it possible to understand the processes that took place with the cultural structures of the Sevastopol region in the 1920s. They contain information about churches.

Pastoral Ministry of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and the Reality of the Peoples’ Republic of Poland

This publication analyzes the specificity of the denominational policy of the communist state in the period 1956–1970 through the prism of the pastoral ministry of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, the Primate of Poland. The main research goal of the article is, therefore, to expose the “post-Stalinist” stage of the history of the Church in the context of the then socio-political situation in Poland, dominated by the rule of Władysław Gomułka’s regime. The exploration of the research topic will be based on the analysis of source texts and studies using the historical method in order to reconstruct historical facts and their reinterpretation using the inductive-deductive method. Interpretation of source materials focuses on showing the role and significance not only for understanding that period of history characterized by the struggle of Cardinal Wyszyński with the atheistic state of “real socialism,” which - as a totalitarian system - used all possible means - both party and administrative - to fight with the Church and the Nation rooted in the thousand-year Christian tradition.

Propagandowy wizerunek chrześcijaństwa w polskich podręcznikach do historii z okresu stalinizmu

After taking power in Poland in 1944/1945 the communists started a gradual process of turning Poland into a totalitarian state that aimed at eradicating religion from social life. The construction of an atheist state was one of the main goals of the government, and increased in importance during the largest period of repression of the Stalinist period, i.e. 1948 - 1956. Atheistic propaganda combined with open hostility towards religious education in schools, also found its way into historical education. History textbooks of the period tried to picture the church and the history of Christianity in an immensly bad light, by omitting and twisting facts, or even by blatantly lying. Christianity and various historical figures associated with it were introduced as myths or false stories resulting from peoples’ backwardness and superstition. The church was considered responsible for civilizational stagnation, while the clergy was considered as the most morally abhorrent social class. However, convincing Polish society to detest the Catholic Church was a difficult task, as most Poles continued religious participation and practices. After the end of the Stalinist period atheistic propaganda was subdued, although in some form it continued till the end of the existence of the People’s Republic of Poland.

A China without the Chinese Communist Party: The Geopolitics of the Falun Gong

ABSTRACT The paper examines the geopolitics of the Falun Gong (FLG) and how its practices challenge the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authority within the Chinese state. Drawing upon Laclau and Mouffe’s concept of discourse, I analyse the FLG’s scriptures in order to understand how its millennial ideas of ‘telling-truth/saving-life’ and ‘reviving five thousand years of civilization’ have developed since the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ban and crackdown on the FLG since 1999. Based on the FLG’s resources and my fieldwork data, this paper also demonstrates how the concepts of ‘telling-truth/saving-life’ were practised and coordinated globally. This paper presents the dynamic relationship between spirituality and geopolitics. It demonstrates how politics are spiritually interpreted and how critical spiritual discourses are converted to geopolitical practices that challenge the authority of an atheist state.

The Five Models for State and Religion: Atheism, Theocracy, State Church, Multiculturalism, and Secularism

AbstractThis article deals with one of the perennial questions of legal and political philosophy, i. e., how the state should relate to religion? It makes a distinction between five models: (i) the atheist state, (ii) the theocratic state, (iii) the model of an official state church, (iv) the multiculturalist state, and (v) the agnostic state (or secular state). The authors reflect on the legitimacy of each of these models. Some states reclaim their right to adopt an official religion as their state religion or as the religious Leitkultur of their country (model iii). Others favor the support of religion as long as this is premised on the equal rights of all religions (model iv). And others think that the state can only support equal citizenship if the state does not support any religion whatsoever (model v).

The Five Models for State and Religion: Atheism, Theocracy, State Church, Multiculturalism, and Secularism

Abstract This article deals with one of the perennial questions of legal and political philosophy, ie, how the state should relate to religion? It makes a distinction between five models: (i) the atheist state, (ii) the theocratic state, (iii) the model of an official state church, (iv) the multiculturalist state, and (v) the agnostic state (or secular state). The authors reflect on the legitimacy of each of these models. Some states reclaim their right to adopt an official religion as their state religion or as the religious Leitkultur of their country (model iii). Others favor the support of religion as long as this is premised on the equal rights of all religions (model iv). And others think that the state can only support equal citizenship if the state does not support any religion whatsoever (model v).

Disability Theology Despite Itself

This article examines the biography, literature, and religious thought of Shi Tiesheng (1951–2010), arguably the most influential author with a disability in contemporary China. Using the definition of “theology” in its broad sense, it argues that Shi has developed a kind of disability theology through his non-fiction and fictional works, though he never claimed to be a theologian or saw his works as theological. This theology borrows terms and ideas from Christianity, but also follows the syncretic tradition of Chinese religions. In contemporary China, where religions have been marginalized, religious vocabulary and contemplation helped Shi break free of the narrative assigned to people with disabilities by the atheist state.

FREEDOM IN HANDCUFFS: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE CONSTITUTION OF CHINA

AbstractArticle 36 of the Chinese Constitution tells only part of the story about religious freedom in China. The Chinese constitution establishes five restrictions on the religious freedom described in Article 36. First, the Chinese Constitution establishes state atheism as an official ideology. All Chinese citizens, whether religious believers or not, are required to be educated in Marxist ideology and under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Second, religious freedom, along with other rights in the Chinese Constitution, are merely legal rights, rather than fundamental rights. The National People's Congress can therefore pass legislation limiting individuals’ religious freedom. Third, the Chinese Constitution enumerates basic obligations of citizens that limit religious freedom. Fourth, Article 36 protects only the inner freedom of religious belief, not freedom for religious practice. Finally, the second half of Article 36 places limitations on religious practices. Religious freedom in the Chinese Constitution is thus a highly limited freedom. To improve religious freedom protections in China it is necessary to amend the Constitution rather than simply promote full implementation in its current form.

The ideas of F. M. Dostoyevsky in the work of Mikhail Prishvin “The Story of Our Time”

The subject of this article consists in analysis of the influence of Dostoevsky’s religious-ethical ideas upon the works of Prishvin; as well as in studying the historical and cultural context of his views on possibility on realization of the ideals of Christian love in Soviet society, even in the conditions of militant atheism and violence of the ongoing Great Patriotic War. It is demonstrated that for revealing that substantive essences of reality Prishvin uses various concepts, which is testified by a range of the relevant worldview ideas present in the semantic field of this texts. Comparing the assessments given by Dostoyevsky and Prishvin with regards to revolutionary movement, the author determines metatext, which allows better understanding Prishvin’s apprehension of main trends in the development of social existence and awareness of his time. The scientific novelty consists in analysis of the context of Prishvin’s reasoning on the ways for overcoming spiritual disunity of the Russian society, in which the Orthodox worldview of a significant part of population collides with the ideology of Bolshevism. Through the artistic being of his characters, the writer elucidates how at the time of Fascist invasion, the life itself demonstrates the triumph of Orthodox faith, to which the Russian people hold true despite the pressure of a harsh atheist state.

The Nizhny Novgorod Diocese During the Campaign for Aseizure of Churches’ Values in 1921-1922

This paper as illustrated by Nizhny Novgorod province in the first half of the twenties of the XX century presents one of the most tragic pages of the relationship between church and state. The purpose of the Soviet government, which declared the creation of the first-ever atheistic state, was a complete elimination of church and religion as cultural, social and world outlook phenomenon. Hunger in 1921-1922 was an initial stage and constituted a ground for all further hardline policy of the Soviet state in its stance toward a church. In consequence of which a huge number of different objects of our Motherland’s historical and cultural heritage were done away with, also during repressions, a large number of believers and priests died. Many years in the Soviet historiography, there was a dominant statement that the Russian Orthodox Church opposed transferring the church values, which was intended for the relief aid. All actions of the church and appeals of the Patriarch Tikhon were subjected to obfuscation. A wide variety of sources, which earlier were strictly confidential, and nowadays they become available for researchers, allow objectively analyzing the charity of Russian Orthodox Church for the relief aid in 1921-1922. On the basis of regional archive documents, which contain statistical data, clergies and lay members records of meetings. The article provides more insight on through the campaign for a seizure of churches’ values in the Nizhny Novgorod province, also outlines the quantity of the seizure values: how many from them went for the relief aid. The clergies and lay members’ records of meetings of the Nizhny Novgorod province make it clear that their desire for relief aid was the optional choice. Printed copies have allowed to establish specific aspects of the campaign for a seizure of a church property, to fully consider the process of transition from the donation of values for the relief aid before the forced seizure of churches’ values in the region, and also to determine a problem of the collaboration of the government and the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.

Межконфессиональные отношения в условиях мультикультурного общества: проблемы регулирования (Interfaith Relations in a Multicultural Society: Problems of Regulation)

Russian Abstract: Еще несколько десятилетий назад среди исследователей доминировали представления о том, что процессы модернизации будут способствовать дальнейшей секуляризации обществ и окончательному вытеснению религии в сугубо приватную сферу. Однако в последние годы оценка данной ситуации существенным образом изменилась – не случайно многие авторы все чаще оперируют понятиями вроде «постсекулярное общество», «десекуляризация» и т.д. На Западе ключевым фактором, заставляющим пересматривать привычное место религии в жизни общества, является глобальные миграции; что касается постсоветского пространства, то здесь главную роль сыграло разрушение советского атеистического государства. Главная цель работы состоит в том, чтобы проанализировать содержание коллизий вокруг проблем секуляризма, религиозных прав и свобод, которые имеют место в публичной сфере современных обществ, а также проследить основные тенденции в сфере государственного регулирования межрелигиозных отношений, наблюдаемые в западных либеральных демократиях и в России. English Abstract: Just a few decades ago, it was a commonplace that religion is hardly combined with modernity, and that processes of modernization will contribute to further displacement of religion in a purely private sphere. However the situation has changed significantly in recent years. It is no coincident that the concept of secularization was replaced by the theories of desecularization and post-secularism. These were international migrations that became a key factor, forcing students to reconsider the usual place of religion in Western society; as for the post-Soviet space, the main role was played by the collapse of the Soviet atheistic state. The main goal of this paper is to analyze the content of collisions around the problems of secularism, religious rights and freedoms that exist in the public sphere of contemporary societies, as well as to trace the main trends in state regulation of inter-religious relations observed both in Western liberal democracies and in Russia.

Tolerance and religious pluralism in Bayle

ABSTRACTFor the philosopher of Rotterdam, religious coercion has two essential sources of illegitimacy: the linking of religious and ecclesiastical belief and the use of politics for religious purposes. Bayle responds to it, with his doctrine of freedom of conscience, on one hand and by means of the essential distinction between voluntary religious affiliation and political obligation, on the other hand. From my perspective, his doctrine of tolerance does not involve an atheist state, nor does it mean the rejection of the presence of religion in the public space or its displacement to the intimate sphere of the conscience. This paper proposes a reading of Baylean tolerance as a political doctrine that allows the articulation between freedom of conscience (individual), minority confessions (private associations), and official religion (established church). Thus, the Baylean theoretical model could be considered a proposal to provide a normative form to the practice of toleration present in the seventeenth -century Netherlands.

Atheism 2.0: Searching for Spaces for Atheism in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan

Recent studies have convincingly demonstrated that Soviet state atheism continues to influence how religion is understood and practiced in present-day Central Asia. In Kyrgyzstan, however, a new generation of atheists is emerging whose ideas about atheism—and about religion—are informed more by globally circulating neo-atheist ideas and images. This paper explores their efforts to live atheist lives and be true to their atheist convictions, and the images of religion that play into the process. Focusing on the role of social media in particular, I will argue that while many, at least initially, embrace these platforms as ways to encounter like-minded individuals and experience moral community, what they encounter there are often images of atheism and its religious “others” with which they cannot identify and which often seem irrelevant to the challenges of everyday life, in which coexistence with (and caring for) religious others are central concerns for many.

Religious education legislation in an atheist state: towards a typology and policy analysis for contemporary China

ABSTRACTThe rule of law presents a new path for understanding and handling religious affairs in contemporary China. The field of religious education is no exception and current legislation has to be improved so that China’s religious education can be further promoted. This research examines the legislation and legislative regulations governing China’s diversified and dynamic religious education, which includes professional religious studies, religious education embedded in ethnic education, missionary religious education, religious education included in general education, and education on religious policies and regulations. It argues that how to understand and implement the principle of separation of education and religion stands out as the core issue, as China requires a more dialectical and pluralistic religious education.

Soviet and Buddhist: Religious Diplomacy, Dissidence, and the Atheist State, 1945–1991

Soviet and Buddhist: Religious Diplomacy, Dissidence, and the Atheist State, 1945–1991

ДЕРЖАВНА СИМВОЛІКА РОСІЇ ТА АЛБАНІЇ: КОМПАРАТИВНИЙ АСПЕКТ

The purpose of this research is a comparative description of the visual features of the national flags of Russia and Albania as symbols of diffusion of macroidentity, which is expressed in the contradictory vectors of their foreign policy and focus on both European and Asian macroidentity. Based on color semantics, the article analyzes the state flags of Russia and Albania, which, as in state symbols, reveal the features of the geopolitical positioning of states. The connection between the axial symbol of identity – the double-headed eagle – and the bifurcation (diffuseness) of political macroidentity is shown. The features common to the two states are shown: a tendency toward geopolitical isolationism, authoritarian state power, the dependence of the institution of the church on the state and statist atheism, the prevalence of corrupt practices, the emphasis on forced modernization and extraordinary technologies for overcoming situations of foreign political challenges. It is stated that in both countries there is a corruption of power, a sign of which is a fierce struggle for power during most of Byzantine history. It was determined that this struggle was not waged by political methods, but by force – a military coup, uprising or assassination of the current head of state. In the geopolitical position of Albania, this was due to Skannerberg’s attempt to combine two in one: Islamic and Orthodox identities, as well as situational adaptation of the country’s political elite to the next occupier: from 1443, i.e. the years of struggle against Turkish rule and until 1944 the coat of arms acquired alternately Turkish, Austrian, Greek, Italian and Soviet-Russian details. The coat of arms of the Russian Federation also contains Byzantine elements, which indicates a spiritual succession with the Byzantine Empire, however, with less borrowing.

The National and Confessional Diversity of the Population in the Soviet Projects and Documents Regulating Burial

This article examines how issues of national and confessional diversity of the country were reflected and resolved in Soviet official documents concerning the funerary sphere. Analysis of such sources as decrees, rules, instructions, regulations and their projects concerning cemeteries and funerals demonstrates that their discourse and content reflected approaches in national politics, changes in the economic course, and objective and subjective conditions at different stages of the country’s history. Methodologically, the issues considered are included in the research contexts of the history of national politics, imperial history, economic history, and the history of Soviet social engineering. Until the end of the Great Patriotic War, despite state-proclaimed atheism and anti-religious campaigns, a targeted elimination of denominational cemeteries was not seriously considered in the context of the campaigns. Rather, their disappearance was a result of growth and redevelopment of cities and, consequently, the “relocation” of cemeteries from the centre to the outskirts and the emergence of new cemeteries. The latter were arranged without considering the national-confessional principle and were often called “international”, which emphasised their difference from the former denominational cemeteries. The emergence of a project in 1946 which divided burial space according to the denominational principle, in fact, proposed the establishment of denominational cemeteries and reflected changes in national policy from the 1930s, i.e. the strengthening of power-state and nationalist tendencies. However, this too radical an approach for state atheism was mitigated in Soviet documents of the late 1940s — 1970s concerning the burial sphere: they recommended to consider “national” customs with regard to the funerary issue and burial space with the prevalence of quasi-secular “clean” form of Sovietness. As the analysis of the 2014–2017 bill demonstrates, the confessional criterion is in demand in Post-Soviet time again as very significant for differentiating burial space and the national and confessional diversity of the population.