Why do Central Asian governments fear religion? A consideration of Christian movements

Abstract

Despite the freedoms each Central Asian state announced following their respective declarations of independence in 1991, numerous legislative revisions have led to the restriction of religious freedom in the 1990s and the 2000s. Tighter legislation and pressure against religion stems from the desire of Central Asian authorities to channel the risks that the “revival” of faith may pose. Although for the ruling regimes, the changes set forth in religious matters were and remain a means of giving credence to a “new era” in favor of the independent states; the management of religion is seen as one of the essential elements necessary to maintain the standards and rules that prevailed under the previous regime, revealing the difficulty to think of the relationship between state and religion in a different conceptual framework. In order to highlight the paradoxes of the Central Asian states' fear of religion, this article focuses on Christian movements, which have to deal both with a Muslim majority and with secular states afraid of the potential for competition coming from religion.