DECR MP commented on the recently adopted PACE documents: the resolution “Women and Religion in Europe” and the recommendation “Education and Religion”

On December 13, the DECR-MP Communications Service published a statement on resolution 1464 (2005) "Women and Religion in Europe" and Recommendation 1720 (2005) "Education and Religion" adopted in early October by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. "These documents, as they affect important principles of the religious worldview, as well as the life of believers in society and the state, need the reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church," the statement says.

As for the first of the two mentioned documents, the ROC - "based on the biblical teaching on the equal dignity of men and women" - in principle "shares the ideas contained in Resolution 1464 aimed at ensuring the civil rights of women, their equal position in society and the state." However, at the same time, some provisions raise objections in the leadership of the ROC:

"Paragraph 6 of the document states that "the fight against religious stereotypes regarding the destiny of men and women should be carried out from an early age, including in educational institutions." Thus, religious beliefs protected under Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms are called nothing more than "stereotypes", which essentially reflects contempt for the views of millions of believers.

From paragraph 4 it follows that manifestations of "intolerance and discrimination" are patriarchal principles, "considering the role of wife, mother and housewife as an ideal for a woman." The document calls for a revision of the traditional ideas of millions of people about ideal categories. At the same time, the authors of the document do not notice a number of modern problems that make many thousands of women unhappy. These are sexual exploitation, human trafficking, difficulties in self-realization of women in the family and motherhood, largely due to the economic and social situation in a number of countries. By the way, Churches and other religious communities are actively involved in solving these problems.

Paragraph 7.6 points to the need to counter "anti-democratic religious doctrines". In this context, freedom of religion and respect for culture and traditions are seen as nothing more than "a pretext to justify the violation of women's rights" (p. 7.4). Thus, the political ideology of the resolution reserves the right to call for a change in the beliefs of believers without their consent or even contrary to it. Thus, in paragraph 7.1.1 it is stated that protection against what is proclaimed in the document as a violation of women's rights should be carried out "regardless of the formal consent of the victims."

Following the logic of the resolution, the approaches used in the document have such self-sustaining value that in order to follow them, the countries of Europe must "ensure the separation of the Church from the state" (paragraph 7.3), "refuse to recognize the provisions of the family law of other states and laws on the status of the individual based on religious principles" (p. 7.1.2), "oppose any anti-democratic and disrespectful of human rights, especially women, religious doctrines and not allow such doctrines to influence political decision-making" (p. 7.6).

It can be seen from the foregoing that the resolution is built on a biased understanding of the relationship between different human rights and freedoms, which together make up not only a harmonious unity, but also the same subject of protection. The authors of the resolution practically call for ideological control over people's beliefs, over their ideals and way of life, which is tantamount to propaganda of totalitarianism, in this case "liberal". Such an approach cannot but lead as a result to the growth of instability in the society. We are well aware of this, because we have the experience of living in the Soviet Union, where a "universal" ideology was imposed on society "for its good" by force, persuasion and political manipulation, which left no room for people's beliefs that differed from it.

Commenting on the recommendation "Education and Religion", the authors of the statement welcome some of its provisions (in particular, "the willingness of the Council of Europe to consult in the development of new educational programs "with all interested parties, including representatives of religious denominations" (p. 14.6)") and note that the document "in many respects reflects the real picture of religious education in Europe, the main features of which are the lack of qualified teachers (paragraph 10), the disappearance of knowledge about religion (paragraph 3), low competence of the media (paragraph 4)".

“At the same time,” the statement reads further, “the document sets out a negative attitude towards the study of one religion and focuses on the comparative study of religions (paragraph 8). It should be noted that the practice of studying one religion has brought positive results in different states of Europe allowing the younger generation to get acquainted with the cultural heritage of their people, and, if desired, make an informed religious choice.Therefore, one should not attach decisive importance only to the comparative study of religions in an "objective manner", carrying it out to the detriment of the study of one of the religions.

Moreover, the requirement of paragraph 14.2: "The curriculum must include an absolutely objective history of the main religions along with the choice to adhere to an atheistic worldview" is in fact unrealistic, since a completely objective approach to religion does not exist in principle. It cannot be identified with approaches based on such worldviews as materialism, syncretism, agnosticism or atheism, which, along with religion, are only options for a worldview choice, and therefore cannot be imposed at school without an alternative. We are convinced that only the free choice of children and their parents, and not any doctrine imposed "from above", should determine the content of education in the field of religion and worldview. This is also evidenced by the norms of international law, gained through long experience."

In conclusion, the authors of the statement call on "representatives of various Christian Churches, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, as well as secular humanists, to seriously reflect on the topics raised in the mentioned documents." "The goal of our dialogue," the Russian Orthodox Church believes, "should be to revise the attitude of international structures towards religion. After all, if the approaches aimed at ousting faith from the life of society do not change, then the world will not be able to avoid a conflict of civilizations."

Sources

• Statement by the Communication Service of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate on recent documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe // Official site of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2005. December 13.