Implementation of the principle of religious tolerance in the Russian State: past and present (geosocial approach)

Zhukova Evgeniia Mikhaylovna Lecturer; Faculty of Humanities Education; Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas 65 Leninsky Ave., office 2, Moscow, 119991, Russia ev7zhukova@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction

Today, a number of countries are faced with the need for a thorough reformatting of many processes taking place in the cultural, educational, military, space, etc. spheres. This is partly due to the growing opposition to globalization trends (in their negative aspect), which, on the one hand, under the slogans of supporting "weak links" and the need to "integrate them into the global system", increase the degree of dependence of local economies on stronger geopolitical players, and on the other hand, "dissolve", level out the original culture. The latter circumstance becomes a trigger for a kind of "return to the roots" – an intensification of interest in the culture and history of the native country, a reassessment of the events of the past, the study and emphasis on the positive experience of domestic and foreign policy activities. The desire to be successful and developed in a new reality gives rise to a desire among peoples to discard inveterate prejudices, the desire to return to all the most valuable and unshakable things contained in the experience of the past. And these aspirations, in turn, turn out to be the starting point for the development of new lines of behavior at the micro (individual) and macro levels (state, society).

Russia is no exception in this sense. Her centuries-old experience is an important determining factor in choosing the vector of further development. This paper considers only one aspect of this experience – the principle of religious tolerance, which has been manifested for centuries both at the grassroots (everyday communication) and at the highest (state policy) levels in building relationships between the peoples inhabiting the territory of the Russian state. We will touch on the origins of religious tolerance in Russia, on the traditional forms of its manifestation over a number of centuries and in modern times.

In this article, we will focus on the manifestation of the principle of religious tolerance on the scale of the entire state.: both in domestic and foreign policy, and in society. Of course, it is impossible to deny the existence of facts of the opposite nature, which also took place at all stages of the history of Russia and in modern times. However, in our opinion, each of these two antagonistic trends requires independent research.

We use the methods of humanitarian research: the method of socio-cultural analysis, which involves the study of culture in relation to social space, which is considered in the broadest sense of the word as an extra-natural reality associated with human activity; diachronic method and synchronistic methods that help to organize the material presented according to the chronological principle; elements of the comparative (comparative) method, which help to make more vivid and The emphasis is on the phenomenon of Russian religious tolerance.

The origins of religious tolerance

First of all, it is necessary to highlight the question of the origins of religious tolerance in Russia, both in public consciousness and in political practice. There are many points of view on which of the factors had the most significant impact on the processes, events and traditions that took place in the history of the Russian state, in which the manifestation of the principle of religious tolerance is seen. These factors can be divided into two groups: A) religious and ethical; B) political and economic.

In the first case (point A), the researchers point out that polytheism, which existed before the adoption of Christianity, was a favorable ground for the emergence of religious tolerance (see, for example: ^{[14, pp. 384-385]}). It is assumed that the worldview of the Slavs allowed for the possibility of the existence of not one, but a whole multitude of gods (or higher principles). In addition, researchers trace the roots of this phenomenon to the adoption of Christianity (see, for example: ^{[48, p. 52]}), believing that thanks to the Christian doctrine, the consciousness of the people absorbed the idea of a person as a brother, an understanding of the importance of love, community, tolerant attitude, peacemaking. A logical question may arise: but after all, the peoples living in the territories of modern Western Europe also adopted Christianity at one time, is it possible to attach this thesis to them? Apparently, this is not possible in full, and the reason for this circumstance, presumably, lies in the differences between the Western (Catholicism) and Eastern (Orthodoxy) branches of Christianity. In any case, historically, Catholicism, according to scientists, was more characterized by acts of intolerance (crusades, mass persecution of heretics, St. Bartholomew's Night, etc.) ^{[48, pp. 52-53]}.

A number of researchers pay attention to differences in mentality. In their opinion, the East Slavic peoples had a pronounced humanistic "component" (see, for example: ^{[11, pp. 193-194; 12; 28, p. 67]}), which had a corresponding impact on the formation of patterns of interfaith and state-confessional interaction. This issue was discussed in detail in our other article ^{[23, pp. 33-56]}.

This feature of the peoples of the Slavic group is seen in comparative historical analysis: the nature of the foreign policy of a number of Western European countries that preferred to colonize states is well known, while aggressive colonization policy was uncharacteristic for the Slavic peoples. The consequence of such a policy in Europe was its fragmentation into many relatively small states ^{[29, p. 23]}, each of which is "fixated" on its own interests.

In the second case (point B), researchers tend to believe that the emergence of religious tolerance was influenced by processes in the field of international relations and trade. In particular, it is pointed out the period of dependence of the Russian principalities on the Mongol Empire and then the Golden Horde (mid–XIII - late XV centuries), from which the subsequently unified Russian state adopted a loyal attitude towards various religions (see, for example: ^{[44, p. 23]}). The experience of a number of empires (the Eastern Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, etc.) shows that religious tolerance is one of the important principles strengthening the state. Its serious violations have devastating consequences.

A significant role is also assigned to the broad international relations of Russia (and later the Russian state), the building of diplomatic relations (see, for example: ^{[6, p. 29]}). It is believed that they predetermined the influx of representatives of various cultures and religions and naturally formed the idea of the need and importance of a tolerant attitude towards other religious traditions. Political decisions also concerned the intensive growth of the country's territory, especially since the XVI century (see, for example: ^{[56, p. 37]}). The emergence of new regions set the authorities the task of uniting peoples into a single state, in particular, creating a national ideology that would allow the most diverse peoples and ethnic groups to exist in a single geographical space.