Correspondence with Dr. AgadjanianDr. Agadjanian is an academic at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and is a visiting professor at ASU, Arizona State University, in the Department of Religious Studies. He just published a very informative article in which he uses a diagram to help interpret the new laws and practices regarding Religion in Russia today. The diagram shows a rank ordering of the religions in Russia, but does not clearly show how sectarians (Molokans) fit into the new order. Here I question the professor about this oversight, and he apologizes and explains where Molokans and Dukhobors fit in. Alex Agadjanian is a member of ASU's Russian and East European Studies Consortium (REESC), The Fall 2001 REESC Newsletter reports he is teaching the course "Religion in Russia" for the Department of Religious Studies. He published "Revising Pandora's Gift: Religious and National Identities in the Post-Soviet Societal Fabric" in Europe-Asia Studies (vol. 53, no.3, 2001), "Public Religion in Russia and the Quest for National Ideology: Russia's Media Discourse" in the Journal of Social Scientific Study of Religion (vol. 40, no.3, September 2001), and "Religious Pluralism and National Identity in Russia" in the Journal of Multicultural Societies, UNESCO vol.2, no.2, available at http://www.unesco.org/most/vl2n2aga_en.htm. From: Andrew John Conovaloff Dr. Alexander Agadjanian: I studied your article "Religious pluralism and national identity in Russia" <http://www.unesco.org/most/vl2n2aga_en.htm> and want to know how the traditional "sects" of Molokane/Priguny and Dukhobori fit into your model of "hierarchical pluralism". My confusion in trying to understand the new law on religion in Russian (1990, 1997) is interpreting how my Molokans, and Dukhobor friends, fit into the picture, or battle for religious legitimacy in Russia today. I read that Baptists, Pentecosts, Mormons, and Jehovah Witnesses in Russia and the republics are continually brutally attacked and killed by Russian Orthodox terrorists, but I know of no major harm or threats directed at Molokans or Dukhobors there. In fact, they receive assistance as refugees from the republics. I assume that they are accepted, officially as citizens, as you indicate in Footnote #18: " The Social Doctrine of the Church adopted in 2000 delineates a broad area of "co-operation" with the state, and reminds the state that it should "take into consideration the number of followers [of a denomination], its historical role in defining the cultural and spiritual make-up of the people, and its civic stand". Though some Priguny in America still fear Russia and the Russian Orthodox church, due to persecution of some Priguny over 100 years ago, your concluding statement (5.4: "... the real impact of religion ... remains relatively weak. ... extreme religious nationalism or overt religious intolerance (is) hardly possible." [But it still occurs!]) reflects my evaluation after visiting about 50 Molokan/Prygun communities in Russia. Your paper did help me better understand the religious situation in Russia, but I am disappointed that traditional Russian sectarians are mentioned only as a category, not identified by names, and omitted from Figure 2: The hierarchy of religions. Personally I have separated the historical "indigenous" sects -- Molokani, Priguny, Dukhobori, Subbotniki, Novii Israeli, Khlisti, etc. -- from the the "imported" or "foreign" sects -- Baptists, Pentecosts, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormon, etc. -- even though some of the foreign sects have a long history in the Russian Empire and many members of the traditional sects joined and/or created Russian versions of the foreign religions. In your paper it is not clearly shown where my people (Molokane) fit into the taxonomy or hierarchy. The first 3 times when you mention sectarians, you group them with the Old Believers:
Then Footnote 17 seems to group sects with foreigners: "... Council of Bishops of 1994 adopted a broad programme of missions directed towards defensive actions and intended to combat the sects and foreign missionaries, ..." 4.4 seems to clearly place Molokane and Dukhobori in the second tier of Figure 2 -- "other faiths", "Other religions or sects" -- but they are not explicitly shown. I assume from the above association with Old Believers that they should have been shown just below OB in the hierarchy because, in 4.4 you say that though "the sects have always been part of Russian religious life" they are non-traditional "destructive", "totalitarian" and "outside the law ..., deprived of certain rights, although they are not prohibited. You then give a formula for classification: "ordering within this second group is based on the extent to which the religious movement is "dangerous" (the less exclusive and the more Russian the movement is the less it is considered 'dangerous' and the higher it is placed on the scale." I suppose some official should evaluate how dangerous (Russian and exclusive) Molokans are in Russia and rate them. Am I interpreting you correctly by assuming that you have combined Old Believers and sectarians together as one group/concept of "Old Believers" for the purpose your hierarchy; or did you group them with "Other Protestant Sects (Adventists, Pentecosts)", or omit them? On other words, at the bottom of Figure 2, you have separated "New Russian Movements" into "Foreign" and "Russian", but you don't appear to allow for that separation with the Sects. --------------------- Introduction: I am of Molokan descent and created the most visited Molokan information internet site: <http://www.molokane.org> There are about 25 Molokan sobranii in the US, one is here in Glendale Arizona. My father is the presbyter. Services are in Russian. I have a passion for learning about Russian religious history and trying to understand my heritage. I have met and corresponded with ASU professors Clay and Batalden and Victor Agadjanian. Also: As a proofreader, here are what may be some typographical errors:
Subject: RE: ?? Religious pluralism and national identity
in Russia ?? and Sectarians Dear Andrew Thank you so much for close reading and suggestions. I think I should have included a more detailed classification in my table of "hierarchy", and to include Russian sects; but the editor decided to include the table at the very last moment and set the limits of it. If I made a new version of the table, I would include it in the intermediary position next to Old Believers but somewhat below them. They are certainly not viewed as bad as the foreign sects especially new religious movements, and the attitude towards them is ambiguous. I met Molokans in Russia, and I think they don't have many problems with the new law, but are still treated coldly by the Orthodox Church. The paradox with them, as with Old Believers, is that they really represent very much what the Russian identity is, but at the same time are not as quite "correct" Russians. My general focus was on the Russian Orthodox Church and its claims to represent the Russianness exclusively, so I'm sorry if Molokane and other groups were not shown adequately in the paper I would be happy to meet you, my office phone is 480-727-6111, department of religious studies. I'm teaching now a Religions in Russia course, and I'm proposing you to come to my class one day and discuss the Molokans with the students!! What do you think? We have classes Mon-Wed-Fri at 9:40-10:30am Alex Agadjanian From: Andrew John Conovaloff Thank You! I'll be glad to share what I know with your class. I'll ask other Molokans here if they'd like to come with me. Most American Molokans know little about their history and have declined my invitations to even get together to talk about it. Andrei |
