The problem of radicalization of religious youth was discussed at a meeting of the Council for Religious Affairs under the government of the Republic of Bashkortostan

On July 7, an extraordinary meeting of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan took place.

Deputy Chairman of the Bashkortostan State Committee for Youth Affairs Olga Izhbuldina noted that institutions of additional education are doing insufficient work to promote tolerance and prevent religious extremism, since there are not enough teachers with knowledge in this area.

Professor Aislu Yunusova, director of the Center for Ethnological Research at the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that not a single republican university trains specialists in religious studies, so the radicalization of believing youth came as a surprise to many. A. Yunusova suggested holding a series of scientific and methodological seminars on the problems of "counteracting the radicalization of the mass consciousness of believing youth" with the participation of teachers, psychologists and officials involved in youth policy.

The participants of the seminar proposed to introduce a representative of the State Committee for Youth Affairs to the Council for Religious Affairs. A proposal will be made to the administration of the president of the republic to assign a specialist in the staff of the committee to supervise issues of work with believing youth.

Chairman of the Council for Religious Affairs Vyacheslav Pyatkov suggested creating a youth debating club where those who wish could gain knowledge about religion without falling under the influence of propagandists of extremist views. There was a proposal to build the work of this club on a supra-confessional principle.

Representatives of religious organizations are expected to be invited to the next meeting of the council.

Sources

• Methods to counter the radicalization of believing youth were discussed in Ufa // Blagovest-info. 2005. July 8.