| The Russian army may become an ideological battlefield between confessions The bill on introducing the institution of military priests in the Russian army, prepared by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office (GVP), has clearly been received ambiguously in society. It is curious that the text of this document, although sent to the Ministry of Defense and both chambers of the Federal Assembly of Russia, is still known to very few people. Therefore, debates on a sensitive religious topic are conducted according to the principle: “I haven’t read the document myself, but I think...” This was the case at yesterday’s round table with the participation of representatives of various religions. Due to ignorance of the bill, the problem boils down to one question: are military chaplains needed at all? But there is no answer to this either. Therefore, today we can only talk about arguments pro et contra.
The authors of the document, military prosecutors, believe that, once adopted, the law will contribute to raising the moral and cultural level of military personnel, and most importantly, to the eradication of hazing. According to the GVP, military chaplains should be equal to contract military personnel. This step will not require additional funding. Today, about 2 thousand priests already work in the armed forces. They don’t ask the Ministry of Defense for money, but crimes in the units they oversee have decreased significantly.
The Russian Orthodox Church, naturally, is in favor of having priests in the military ranks, but not wearing shoulder straps. And they cite France as an example, where priests wear uniforms, but without shoulder straps. In the USA, chaplains wear shoulder straps, but that’s all that matters. Recently, non-Christian military personnel there complained about the pressure exerted on them by Christian chaplains. And the military priests were forbidden by the authorities to pray “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Only “short and non-fanatical prayer” was allowed, simply in the name of God. In response, military chaplains held a picket and some went on a hunger strike.
In Russia, priests never wore uniforms. As, indeed, are weapons. And today the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church advocate that the priest should not pick up a machine gun, jump with a parachute, or sit on the levers of a tank. An exception is made only for hot spots: wearing a cassock there is inconvenient, and it can be replaced with a uniform. But such a uniform must have the identification marks of a clergyman, and he himself must know military regulations and military legislation. The position of a priest should be equal to that of an officer, as in the tsarist army. Then the chief military priest - the protopresbyter - was equal to a lieutenant general. But in relation to today, the question arises: what to do if the battalion priest is a major, and the platoon commander is a senior lieutenant? And this question is not the only one.
Chief of the General Staff, Army General Yuri Baluevsky, takes a “middle position” in the confessional dispute; he is only in favor of freedom for military personnel to perform religious rites, but without introducing priests of various faiths into the army ranks. Before “integrating religion into the education system of military personnel,” he believes, it is necessary to decide on the status of priests—whether they will be military personnel or volunteers, who, according to army regulations, are not responsible for their actions. Therefore, the army general concludes, in the fight against hazing, the emphasis should be placed not on priests, but on strengthening the sergeant level.
And here is the view of a Muslim. The representative of the Coordination Center for Muslims of the North Caucasus, Shafig Pshikhachev, is sure: priests are necessary in the army, but they should not have military ranks; their introduction into the staff of military units is a violation of the constitutional separation of state and religion. The Military Department of the Russian Rabbinate (it turns out there is such a thing) has not yet expressed its opinion.
In this dispute, they somehow forgot about the main consumers of spiritual food - the soldiers. Why not conduct a survey among them whether they welcome the appearance of priests in the army or vice versa? One should also take into account the fact that different religions have different attitudes towards war and armed struggle as such. Meanwhile, in June last year, the third All-Russian gathering of clergy working in military units was held. That time - at the base of one of the units of the Siberian Military District in Ulan-Ude. Among the delegates were not only priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also representatives of other faiths.
However, it is difficult not to notice that the Orthodox priesthood is much more active. It’s like with the privatization of socialist property: whoever is more assertive, who is more inspired and purposeful, will succeed. However, despite the predominance of Russians and Orthodox Christians in parts, the “privatization of faith” is still undesirable.
Here is a typical case for our days. A Protestant pastor came to the military unit to preach. At the checkpoint he was asked: “Have you received the blessing of the local priest?” Orthodox priests had gained a foothold for themselves even before the law was issued. Or another example. In the construction unit, where 80% of the soldiers are Muslims, they built an Orthodox church...
There are people who believe that the issue of military chaplains is being raised only to divert attention from the unfulfilled promise to introduce military police. It is apparently necessary to listen to those who believe that the introduction of the institution of priests today is destructive for the army. In their opinion, a representative of any faith should be captivated by spiritual authority, and not by position and title. In general, it is dangerous if the army becomes a battlefield for different faiths. By introducing a law on military chaplains, are we lighting the fuse of a religious war within the armed forces? Nikolay POROSKOV |
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