A. Chubaryan about “World Religions” and the military-industrial complex

Director of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Alexander Chubaryan, in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, spoke about the beginning of testing of the textbook "World Religions", which they worked on for two years at the Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A. Chubaryan said that the new subject is “purely secular, examines what religion is in general, what place it occupies in the history of mankind and in the life of every person,” and “is designed to instill tolerance in a young person, a tolerant attitude towards the beliefs of other people.” The textbook introduces schoolchildren to the history of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism.

The director of the IVI clarified that the textbook manuscripts were sent to representatives of all faiths, and most of the comments received were taken into account. The feedback received from religious organizations was largely positive.

“We do not consider our textbook as a kind of opposition to the subject “Fundamentals of Orthodoxy,” emphasized A. Chubaryan. “Here it is appropriate to make a comparison with the subject “History” at school. Students study “World History” and “History of Russia”. In our school there is There is also such a thing as a “regional component.” It allows, at the request of parents, schools, or local education authorities, to introduce or strengthen this or that subject. If the region wants to strengthen the aspect of Orthodox culture, why not allow them to do this.”

The interlocutor of Nezavisimaya Gazeta urged “not to dramatize” the fact that OPK is taught by church-going teachers: “The school invites various interesting people to its meetings, including church ministers.”

A. Chubaryan said that the Ministry of Education and Science will consider the issue of teaching the history of world religions only after the textbook has been tested in the regions. There is already an agreement with the Moscow government.

On February 10, the Moscow branch of the Union of Orthodox Citizens called on Orthodox schoolchildren and parents to boycott the mentioned textbook. "...It is the 'Fundamentals of World Religions' that are a conflict-producing subject," says the SPG's appeal, published on the United Fatherland website. It is the teaching of different religions in one course, coupled with the desire to lower the status of Orthodoxy, that will lead to interfaith and interethnic strife. Chubaryan's support of the textbook "OMR" by the Church-Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" does not change anything. The position of the Russian Orthodox Church, constantly stated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, is unshakable - "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture", accordingly, no "Fundamentals of World Religions."

On February 15, the Moscow branch of the LNG considered it necessary to once again declare its rejection of the textbook “Fundamentals of World Religions”:

“We believed and continue to believe that the simultaneous teaching of all major religious traditions within one course is absurd and creates the very interfaith tension that opponents of the “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” so verbally fear.

We draw attention to the fact that the reviewers of the textbook turned out to be the “council of muftis”, whose co-chairs are such radicals as N. Ashirov, known for his fight against Orthodox symbols in the state emblem of Russia and M. Bibarsov, who advocated meeting the demands of the terrorists who took hostages in Palace of Culture on Dubrovka. Another textbook reviewer is The Catholic Encyclopedia. Is this how the Catholic side abandoned proselytism, deciding to have a hand in school education in Russia? And finally, the author of the article on Islam is an expert from the American Carnegie Center A. Malashenko, who in a recent broadcast of Echo of Moscow quite clearly rehabilitated Wahhabism. In general, the participation of American “non-governmental analytical organizations” in a textbook “alternative” to “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” is strange and indicative. This somehow does not fit into Vladimir Putin’s famous “Munich Speech.”

Sources

• Savitskaya N. School Passions // Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 2007. February 9.
• The Moscow branch of the Union of Orthodox Citizens calls on Orthodox schoolchildren and their parents to boycott the textbook “Fundamentals of World Religions” of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences // United Fatherland. 2007. February 10.
• The Moscow branch of the LNG once again declared their rejection of the textbook “Fundamentals of World Religions,” written under the leadership of Academician Chubaryan // Ibid. February, 15.