Вестник Свято-Филаретовского института (Feb 2023)
Church and secular society: risks and prospects of dialogue
Abstract
This article analyzes the current state of the church-public dialogue. The reasons for decline in public trust in the Russian Orthodox Church, fixed on the basis of sociological data, are revealed. Methodological remarks of sociological dimension of the religiosity of the population are given. The authors make an assumption about the incorrect interpretation of the concept of “secular”, dictated by the previous experience of state-confessional relations in the Soviet era. The problem of interpreting the concept of “secular” in the legal, religious studies and confessional planes as problematizing the foundations of the church-public dialogue is investigated. It emphasizes the inadmissibility of interpreting the concept of “secularism” as the complete elimination of religious institutions from public life, as well as the need to build a dialogue on equal terms. Based on the content analysis of the digital space, three main risk-trends for reducing trust in the Church on the part of secular society are identified — the growth of protest anti-religiousness, the growth of “protest” religiosity and the growth of “alternative” religiosity. For each risk trend, its causes and features are analyzed, and an analytical forecast of possible scenarios for its development is made. Particular attention is paid to those trends that can potentially lead to destabilization of social relations and have the most destructive consequences. Concrete practical ways are proposed to overcome the existing contradictions both on the part of the Church and on the part of society. The need to spread education in the field of religion, sustained in a neutral key, is affirmed, the destructive nature of the interpretation of the role of the Church in society as a translator of ethics and morality is emphasized.
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