To Russia, Whom Doesnt Want My Love

  As I prepare for my trip (23 more days!), I have been tracking some of the current political and social issues in Russia. One major thing is pulling my attention at the moment.
    While the Russian government claims to be secular and set apart from any religious influences, lately there has been a weird and developing relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church. President Medvedev has an initiative to assign every military unit a Russian Orthodox priest, as well as requiring religious classes at all public education institutions. According to one SFGate journalist in an article entitled "Russian activists: Religious freedoms at risk,"

Those moves breach the Constitution and are aimed at "fostering loyalty to the regime," Sergei Mozgovoi, co-chair of the institute's board, told reporters. Attaching chaplains to army units in particular could incite abuse toward non-Christian conscripts, he said.

While these things don't seem to be something to be quite nervous about by themselves- many American schools have religious education, and our military branches have chaplains. The fact is that the Russian government is focused solely on the Russian Orthodox Church in a dominant way, pushing all other "extremist" or minority religions to the side via new legislation. Most new regulations towards minority religions are aimed at the Islamic foothold beginning to take place across Russia, but there have been rulings against Jehovah Witness groups.

Recent moves against the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia has also alarmed religious-freedoms activists. Russia's highest court last month upheld a ruling halting the activities of a regional branch of Jehovah's Witnesses and banning dozens of its publications. That followed a 2004 ruling by the Moscow City Court prohibiting a branch in the Russian capital from engaging in religious activity. (same article as above)

The reason that this is frightening, at least in my case, is spelled out very well in this article:

 Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association says there is reason to be concerned. The more power the Orthodox Church gains, the more risk there will be to the religious freedoms of all minority religions, no less evangelical Christianity. Griffith says history proves that evangelical Christians may well be targeted if such legislation is passed. A sizeable evangelical movement would well be viewed as an encroachment on Orthodox territory, and would consequently not be taken lightly.

If this is the case, evangelical movement could be very much hindered in Russia. As it now stands, some evangelical churches experience virtually no opposition at all from the government, while others experience a great deal. If a national legislation should pass, opposition will likely extend to every evangelical church.

"If this becomes a policy of the national government to freeze out evangelicals, obviously that's going to have a pretty big impact not only on freedom of worship," cautions Griffith, "but also on the proclamation of the Gospel."

 As it stands now, there has been a bill passed in the Russian Duma to restrict religious activities. This is all relevant to me because I am going into Russia under a religious visa, affiliatited with a "minority religious group," or Southern Baptist. Did you know that more than 50% of all religious travelers are placed under surveillance? According to my overseer, I am going to have to be true to my visa and not overstep any boundaries. Also to watch my speech and actions regarding Russian/American relations, religion, and culture.

Dont get me wrong, I'm not scared or trying to make anyone overly concerned about my safety, because I will be safe. I have people watching my back, people I can call if anything happens that will be close in the area. I have God on my side. But this whole political/religious climate is something to keep in our prayers. We need to pray that the Russian government will stand up for freedom, and that the Russian people will stand up for truth.