Listen up kids

The World Russian People's Council was held in Moscow, dedicated to the theme “Ecology of the soul and youth. Spiritual and moral causes of crises and ways to overcome them.”

First, we talked about the crisis. The Patriarch explained that the main thing in the economy is not capital, but people, that an immoral economy cannot be effective and that not only the economy, but also the entire creation suffers from the soullessness of people.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov devoted his speech to exposing US financial policy as the main cause of global cataclysms. Speaking about the impact of the crisis situation on the spiritual and moral education of young people, Yu. Luzhkov praised the “symbiosis” of secular power and the educational efforts of the Church and promised young Muscovites to support their desire to realize themselves in education and work.

The topic of attacks from outside was continued by the co-chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia Vladimir Krupin. According to him, they always “wanted to destroy Russia” solely because “Russia follows Christ,” not understanding that “if anything happens to Russia, the rest of the world will perish immediately.”

On the eve of the Council, a certain youth concept was announced as “one of the main documents of the VRNS”, and experts were scratching their heads: last year’s (at the 2008 Council there was also a presentation of the youth concept - it was called the “Cathedral of Children and Youth”) or some other one. It turned out that it was different . Its main theses were presented by Alexander Rudakov, introduced as a member of the youth club. The document is based on the Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church and reminds many (primarily in its abstraction and non-binding nature) of church instructions to entrepreneurs - the same “Code of Moral Principles and Rules in Business”, which was much talked about when it appeared, but has since been completely forgotten.

So, the education of morality should become as important a task as the transfer of knowledge, and should be guided by traditional spiritual and moral coordinates. An important component of it is building a family. Therefore, all public associations and business unions, government bodies and municipal structures, the media and all conscientious citizens are called upon to provide support to young spouses gaining experience in fatherhood and motherhood. Further, young people are advised how they should spend their leisure time: it is better to associate it with “spiritual and physical activity, protecting young minds from the temptations of drug addiction, alcoholism, and immersion in an atmosphere of personality-destroying illusions.” It is very important to learn to “distinguish your own desires and views from those imposed from the outside” (“the American woman is crap!”). Everyone involved in the media must “make a choice towards good.” “We cannot allow the incitement of enmity and hatred among young people, the demonstration of patterns of immoral behavior as a kind of cultural norm.”

However, the best way to change the situation is not the censorship authorities, but the creation in society of a capable moral majority, in which young Russian citizens should become active participants. Therefore, more than ever before, “there is a need for dialogue between representatives of youth subcultures and that part of society that is focused on traditional spiritual and moral values” (the rest may not communicate - what can they give to young people?).

In general, the content of the youth concept can be briefly reduced to Mayakovsky’s famous quote from the poem “The little son came to his father...” If anyone doesn’t remember: “You have to do it well and if you don’t do it, it’s bad.”