Imitation or real life

The Russian intelligentsia before 1917 can be reproached for many things, but not for indifference to issues of ethics and behavior. We can say that the question of the correctness of this or that action from the point of view of morality and higher values ​​was central for the Russian educated person, often replacing his lost religion. Almost any act that concerns not only society, but also a purely private one (for example, going to a restaurant or buying an expensive new thing) could only be performed with the resolution of global problems of existence. Is it possible for us, the happy owners of scientific knowledge, ranks and social status, to relax at resorts if the working people languish in poverty and suffer every day? An experience familiar, apparently, to every “old” intellectual.

But even the zealots of Orthodoxy, that stronghold of the Church, which soon took the blow of communist persecution, treated their surroundings as if the fate of the entire people depended on their personal behavior. And in the “silver” pre-revolutionary years, it was somehow revealed in a new way, especially acutely, for religious enthusiasts that Russia needed to be re-educated and that the matter of moral enlightenment could not be resolved by order, by the violence of the “Orthodox” state, but only way of life and selfless, selfless missionary work of Church members.

From the point of view of this unconditional fact of our historical, spiritual and, in a sense, cultural-genetic heritage, what happened around the exhibition “ Beware of religion! ” is depressing.

The pathetic motivation of the initiators and participants of the event reeks of emptiness and nonsense. Particularly striking is the “director”, Yu. Samodurov, whose speech is the typical slang of an official. It turns out that he loves his homeland so much that he is ready to defend the court and the prosecutor’s office that support him and are ready to quickly condemn the hooligans. Well-known proverbs about the drawbar, about prison and about the amount remained beyond his understanding. For anyone who dares to enter the harsh and unsafe field of public action (especially in Russia), such oblivion of reality is already a guarantee of defeat. Characteristic is the reference of this champion of creative “freedom” to the idols of the Soviet semi-intelligentsia, Ilf and Petrov , who zealously served the regime and mocked the old Russia, which was being shot, at its religion and culture.

Trying to construct an artistic project that would bring the creators of advanced art into the social space with the preaching of “progress,” the exhibition participants completely forgot about the inhabitants of society, about the specific Other whom they wanted to guide on the path of truth. They forgot about the pains and sufferings of Russian society itself. The point is not only that it is filled with many tragedies caused by another painful transition period in the life of the state, but that the country has not yet emerged from the shadow of the Gulag. Our common space is a huge graveyard. We walk through a huge mass cemetery of innocent people executed and martyred.

For those who are modeling the next artistic gesture (or scandal), do not forget about this. And if someone intends to play with beads from sacred symbols, for the possession of which until recently believers were sent to the scaffold or to the dungeon, then let him first ask himself whether he is thereby joining the former executioners or the always approving crowd. Adherence to icons, crosses, and Scripture, images of which were used by artists in their collages, served for decades in our socialist fatherland as a sign of social inferiority. Including them in an ironic, or even mocking, artistic series can also inflict “strikes” on “ordinary” modern believers. The wounds of our history still hurt too much, they bleed too much, not healed by either personal or public repentance (not to mention the completely insufficient repentance of the authorities).

An artistic experiment, if it is based on the desire for beauty and depth of life, and not on the dark subconscious nature of outrageousness, must place itself in conditions of self-restraint (which most often deepens and elevates creativity). There is no renunciation of the search for self-expression, but a free worldview is enriched by a brotherly attitude towards people.

As a rule, an avant-garde artist feels like a kind of teacher, bringing a new message to humanity. But shouldn’t he himself hear the message of history and his contemporaries addressed to him? In this regard, the fate of the Russian futurists is instructive. They despised the “backward” society around them and, through a series of scandals and outrages, declared the need to rebuild the cultural and social space of Russian reality. They were deaf to the warnings of dissidents addressed to them. How it ended is well known. Collaboration with the GPU, often direct participation in the persecution of the old culture and its leaders ( V. Mayakovsky was proud of the fact that he participated in the campaign against the Church and, in particular, Patriarch Tikhon ).

At the same time, wonderful words were heard from the support group of the exhibition participants, which belonged to Sergei Kovalev ( press conference at the A. Sakharov Museum on January 21, 2003 ), about the origin of the concept of “human rights” from Christian culture. He testified (and this is extremely important) that Russian dissidents belonged to a religious personality type.

In this regard, I remembered that this Lent marks the 15th anniversary of the multi-day hunger strike of four Orthodox women from the city of Ivanovo. They sought the return of the so-called state. "Red Temple", former Vvedensky Cathedral. It was a unique event of its kind that received international publicity. The result of the hunger strike was not only the return of this church, but also the final demolition of the entire system of mocking party and bureaucratic obstacles erected in the way of the demands of the believing people. At some stage of the struggle in support of Ivanovo Christian women, I turned to A.D. Sakharov for help. He responded instantly and did a lot: he called members of the Politburo, had a personal conversation with the Secretary of the Central Committee V. Medvedev, etc. I was struck by his heightened inner sensitivity and attentiveness to the experience of another person. Of course, this came from possessing a surprisingly subtle conscience and the habit of constantly remembering those who are in a worse position than you. For me, this was an example of an exclusively Christian attitude to life. Of course, the fact that the Church received freedom was also the effort of Andrei Dmitrievich.

It so happened that during the same period I had to visit Father Alexander Shargunov on some matter. His entire family, including his schoolboy son, followed by “voices” what was happening in Ivanovo, passionately experiencing the vicissitudes of the struggle. And now the well-known Archpriest A. Shargunov, the head of the public committee, initiated the initiation of a criminal case and trial of the employees of the Museum. A.D. Sakharov and several artists. In this way, the pastor believes, it is only possible to protect the Church and public order in the state.

The idea that the revival of morality and the protection of morals from corruption can be achieved with the help of a policeman is a big misconception, which both sides in turn indulge in in this story. This hope revealed its futility both in the pre-revolutionary and Soviet eras. Returning to the past, circling through the spirals of outlived historical experience is an absolute loss for Christians called to move forward, to a new and creative implementation of the commandments of Christ.

What should a member of the Church do when faced, for example, with the errors of some communities or individuals, with someone’s inappropriate behavior or even outright aggression (military actions are not meant)? Of course, do everything to resolve the situation peacefully. Moreover, try to disarm him with your own attitude towards the enemy, and not with the help of violence, even if clothed in articles of the Criminal Code. The consequences of such an imaginary victory can be very sad for our church and social life.

And in vain o. Alexander refers to the seven thousand applications received by the prosecutor's office as evidence of the strength of the Orthodox people. It is not the prosecutor’s office that should be written to when confronted with shocking behavior, but rather entering into dialogue with its participants and inspirers, ensuring (and this requires great efforts of the entire Christian community) that the media does not one-sidedly cover such events, piquant from the point of view of mass culture, but presented the views of the religious community on the events. It was not the absence of the law “On insulting the feelings of believers” (the adoption of which Father Alexander advocates) that destroyed the “Orthodox empire” in the past, but, above all, lawlessness within the church fence, the lack of intra-church freedom and fair trial, the ability of believers to act creatively in modern conditions civilization. And if these problems are not solved now, then the new Russia will always face the fate of the old.

Throughout the last decade of building a democratic country, the real heroes of our Motherland, our Church and culture have been dying, disappearing into poverty and obscurity. Those who created the “pluralistic” and “objective” media space tried to make sure that the country did not learn anything about the departed, about their feat. And human rights activists and clergy, in particular, are responsible for this policy of indifference. As a result, Russian society is now perhaps even more unconscious than before the start of perestroika.

In many parts of the country, relatives of those whom the Church considers new martyrs are still alive: those who gave their lives for the faith and preserved their dignity and honor in inhuman trials. I can testify that for the most part the relatives of the martyrs, who endured decades of humiliation and oppression, rejected and trampled by the surrounding hostility in the Soviet era, are now left alone with their pains and problems. The process of canonization, which took place somewhere in the “federal center,” did not heal the grave wounds inflicted on them by state violence. But the relatives of the martyrs are accomplices in the torments of the innocent, living and sick witnesses to the tragedy that concerns all Russians. Until this tragedy is healed with effective compassion, Russia will not return to normal life. And in this reality, “Orthodox altar servers” and activists spend their precious time in court with over-aged teenagers (who have nothing to legally judge for)?

In the clash over the exhibition "Beware of Religion!" a complete absence of social life is revealed, there is only one imitation of it. After all, we are faced with a clash between two “get-togethers”: human rights bureaucrats (together with artists) and patriotic clergy ex officio.

The Orthodox guardians of morality, listed in the religious department, have already lost the country once; neither regular payments from ministerial coffers, nor bureaucratic or police support helped.

In the 1990s, a tragic situation arose when informal and initiative groups, the main nerve of any independent society, were replaced by a kind of new bureaucracy from society (the modern analogue of Komsomol members and zhek activists). The human rights bureaucrat sits on grants (it doesn’t matter to him whose: he agrees to take both from the “unjust” state and from Berezovsky - the series goes on forever), he is provided with real estate in the center of the capital. All that remains is to function, carry out events and report for them to the “grantor”. But it is precisely those who remain faithful to the moral foundations of dissent who give their lives for the rights and freedom of others. The murdered Viktor Popkov or Dmitry Krikoryants, the “stoker” Kirill Pobrabinek, who with his own pennies defends the cranks humiliated by government officials, or independent journalists in the provinces, at the risk of their lives, unearthing the truth about the crimes of the valiant police, or poor independent researchers of our tortured and slandered history.

You need to stop imitating and get busy with life, you need to deepen your understanding of reality in order to make it suitable for existence. So that bizarre “artistic gestures” do not grow in it and absurd legal proceedings are not built against each other. The time of Lent (or spring, depending on who you choose) is conducive to hope.