Religious Intolerance towards Western Churches in Russia
نویسندگان
چکیده
Our 2005 representative national survey (2,972 interviews) shows an overwhelmingly common and strong religious intolerance towards Western churches that are legally deemed “non-traditional” and are commonly perceived as foreign to Russia. Most Russians would not let Western groups build churches, establish religious schools, or engage in other basic religious activities in their hometowns. Western churches are Russia’s least tolerated religious minority. Orthodox Christians and Muslims share this unwillingness to grant Western churches religious freedom, and Muslims’ attitudes are more restrictive. However, religiosity itself does not make the Orthodox or Muslims more intolerant. The intolerance is more closely linked to illiberal and ethnocentric beliefs about religions than to religious beliefs proper. It is worsened by widespread reactionary and anti-Western attitudes, including anti-Americanism. Popular hostility thus limits religious freedom “from below.” Sustainable religious freedom for Western churches will be impossible until serious legal, educational, and other policy efforts are made to reduce this hostility.
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