Translated material
The leaders of the largest Protestant organizations in the Voronezh region, in an open letter to the authorities, expressed a negative attitude towards the introduction of the military industrial complex in schools
On June 2, the leaders of the four largest Protestant associations in the Voronezh region - the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists (RUECB, senior pastor Pyotr Mirechik), the Seventh-day Adventist Church (CASD, Bishop Nikolai Ostrovsky), the Association of Missions of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostals) (Pentecostal ), Bishop Boris Sinebabnov and Bishop Andrey Bashmakov) and the Russian United Methodist Church (ROMC, Senior Pastor for the Central Black Earth Region Igor Volovodov) signed an open letter to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Public Chamber of the Voronezh Region, the Public Interfaith Advisory Council under Voronezh Regional Duma, the Main Department of Education of the Voronezh Region, the Governor of the Voronezh Region, the Voronezh Diocesan Administration of the ROC MP. In it, they expressed a negative attitude towards the large-scale introduction of the "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" (OPK) in Russian schools, Portal-Credo.ru reports .
The leaders of the religious organizations that signed the open letter are members of the Pastoral Council of the Voronezh Region.
The Pastoral Council expresses its concern about the introduction of the EPC into the general education system. Among the "undesirable consequences" of this process, the authors of the document single out the formation of an idea of "foreignness" for Russian culture of representatives of other faiths; reduction of cultural diversity to religion; the division of the teenage environment into "us" and "them" on the basis of religion; destabilization of public life; opposition of regions of Russia on the basis of religion; drawing "the very Church of Christ (not only Orthodox) into political processes." As one of the consequences of the introduction of the OPK, believers name the formation of a negative attitude of children towards the Church.
Protestant leaders expressed their hope that "the state will understand and appreciate the contribution made by the Christian Protestant Churches, together with the leading denomination of Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church, to the creation of a healthy society, devoid of nationalism and religious chauvinism, professing Christian moral values."
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