Translated material
In Novosibirsk, the military authorities did not allow Pentecostals to hold a meeting with military personnel
On May 9 in Novosibirsk the Church of Evangelical Christians "Word of Life" tried to hold a meeting with servicemen of one of the military units. However, the command intervened, considering this event a "religious propaganda action." RIA Sibir , citing the press service of the Siberian Military District, reports the incident as follows: “The command and competent authorities of the 41st Army of the Siberian Military District stopped an attempt to conduct a religious propaganda action on the territory of the military unit of the Novosibirsk garrison during the celebration of the 61st anniversary of the Victory. The religious society "Church of Evangelical Christians 'Word of Life' carried out propaganda under the guise of a 'cultural event'. It is established that this organization is headed by a citizen of a foreign state.
Despite the current lack of a legislative framework and a regulatory mechanism for the activities of religious denominations in the Armed Forces, the Word of Life Church of Evangelical Christians has actually been taking active practical steps since 2003 to introduce its spiritual values into the military environment. However, such actions, in terms of their content, are very doubtful in terms of strengthening the combat readiness of military collectives.
According to the Novosibirsk branch of the 'Center for Religious Studies', such religious trends are 'dangerous and destructive'."
Commenting on the incident, Artur Ghukasyan, pastor of the Word of Life Orthodox Christian Church in Novosibirsk, said that members of the church had prepared a performance called Exodus dedicated to Easter for the servicemen. Law enforcement officers, who watched the cassette of the performance, allowed the action to take place. Shortly before the end of the performance, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Yevtushenko, deputy commander of military unit 22316 for educational work, demanded that it be stopped. It was he who, a few months earlier, presented the Pentecostals with letters of thanks for organizing a concert in the unit.
After the disruption of the performance, a soldier of the unit, a member of the "Word of Life" church, was transferred to another unit. The command accused him of organizing a cultural event, forcing him to write a confession that the action was of an extremist nature.
Sources
- Spiritual extremism in military units is unacceptable // RIA "Siberia". 2006. May 13.
- Pastor of the Word of Life Pentecostal Church in Novosibirsk ARTUR GHUKASYAN: "A member of our community was transferred to another military unit because he does not consider Pentecostals to be extremists" // Portal-Credo.ru. 2006. May 19.