Synergy between History and Religion in the Transformation of the Civil Religion of Modern Russia

Abstract

Orthodox Christianity is the most widespread religion in Russia. Recently, there have been a lot of seemingly independent attempts to defame it, thus deforming the traditional matrix of historical memory. This well-coordinated campaign is based on the fact that historical identification and religion shape the foundations of cultural tradition and, in their inextricable unity, can develop the content of civil religion under certain circumstances. Civil religion gives sacred meanings to historical symbols, regardless of the religious affiliation of individual citizens. Therefore, it ensures social solidarity and awareness of the direction of various social processes. Civil religion originated in the Soviet period; today, it is undergoing some serious transformations. In its early days, it cultivated the sacral meanings of history limited by space and time, which is typical of undeveloped religions. Nowadays, these sacral meanings are gradually becoming more transcendental. For instance, historical events now correlate with the concept of God, and this dependence has been fixed in the basic law of the country. As a result, the former archaic nature of civil religion has acquired the status of a developed religion, capable of consolidating society with an appeal to the Absolute. These changes are often evaluated as violating the principles of secular society. However, their opponents ignore the intrinsically religious nature of culture. This legal innovation does not give preference to any particular confession. Foreign experience proves that many developed states with an official state religion manage to maintain their secular character. The research objective was to define common traits behind the seemingly independent attempts at discrediting Orthodox Christianity and develop some countermeasures.