Translated material
Teaching or missionary?
I would very much like to divide the “cautious optimism” of Sergey Vladimirovich Krivovich, but it doesn’t work. Because cunning is. (Just in case, I’ll make a reservation: I in no way make claims to Professor Krivovichov, nor to Deacon Krivovich; all my assessments relate to the stated system of statements, quite typical).
Sergei Vladimirovich writes that “the level of dialogue between representatives of natural sciences and theologists in Russia must be increased,” and immediately comes to the news feed that “the director of the Arctic museum, who refused to transfer the building of the Russian Orthodox Church” [1], was dismissed ”[1]; However, the director himself clarified that we are not talking about the Russian Orthodox Church, but about the so -called co -religions [2]. And what forms will take this dialogue, well shows the famous statement of Patriarch Alexy II: "If anyone wants to believe that he came from a monkey, even if he thinks so, but does not impose it on others." Let me remind you that this was said against the background of the so -called monkey process, during which a lawsuit was considered that teaching the theory of evolution at school offends religious feelings [3].
Sergey Vladimirovich writes: “If ... religious figures will be involved in the issues of moral education of children at the request and choice of parents, ... this is not a threat, but good,” but one of the most odious obscurantists from among the CCT clergy, Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, is compatible, is the dean of the Orthodox Academy of the Military Academy of the Military Academy of the Military Missile Forces of the Strategic Purpose of the named after Peter the Great. (They shuddered, yes? This threat is so threat, world scale.) As for “desire and choice” - well, for example, not so long ago, Moscow State University students were forcibly gathered to meet with Patriarch Kirill [4]. The leadership of Moscow State University promised to conduct an audit and adopt sanctions against the perpetrators, but nothing was reported about the results; I suspect, they were not there.
Sergei Vladimirovich indicates that "theology as a science deals with issues that lie beyond the liability of other sciences, for example ... why and why a person exists." Apparently, this issue should be discussed with the co-chairman of the church and public council on Biomedical Ethics-yes, all with the same Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov. However, Metropolitan Ilarion, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Head of the Department of Theology at the National Nuclear University of MEFI - the inclusion of which the RGNF council is approved by both participants in the discussion - it also has something to say about evolutionary biology, which seems to have not yet been a section of theology: “We must understand that Darwin's theory of Darwin - that Darwin's theory is appropriately . This is only a theory that has never been proven, for we know about the existence of various degrees of evolution within one species, but no one has yet proved that one species through evolution could turn into another. For example, we attribute ourselves to the category of people, and monkeys to the category of animals. Seeing a kind of external similarity, we understand that these are two completely different categories. And no one has ever seen that the monkey evolves into a person , the move from one species to another was not proved ” [5] .
Sergei Vladimirovich does not see the threat that ““ priests, rabbis and mullahs ”will be controlled by education and science in our multinational and multi -confessional country” - and in vain (by the way, why are the “priests” in quotation marks?). Is it not by Patriarch Alexy II in letter No. 5925 dated December 9 , 1999 suggested: “ To organize the teaching of the Orthodox culture in the Sudar ( municipal ) educational institutions - and then - 5. To establish control over the teaching of Orthodox creation in state ( municipal ) educational institutions , and , in conclusion , 7 . Difficulties will meet with the teaching of the foundations of the Orthodox Verow to name the course “Fundamentals of the right of glorious culture” , this will not cause objections among teachers and directo of secular educational institutions brought up on the atheistic OS NOVA ” [6]. (By the way, here is another example of cunning: on the website of the conservative and Orthodox non -profit partnership “Parental Committee” this circular is published without the last seventh point, which at one time caused a particularly acute reaction of society [7].
Are not the high -ranking figures of the Russian Orthodox Church, such as the Metropolitan of the Kaluga and Borovsky Clement or the head of the synodal department of religious education and catechesis, Metropolitan and Novocherkassk Mercury, urged to spread, to put it mildly, the experience of teaching religious subjects throughout secondary school [8]? At recent Christmas readings, Patriarch Kirill proposed not only to expand the teaching of religion, but also to finance the Orthodox schools along with the state [9] - which seems to be directly contrary to the Constitution. Recently, all this has become so persistent that it took a special meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Education and Science to give an assessment of these proposals - which, however, turned out to be negative [10]; It is useful to understand that the desired protocol does not quite adequately reflect the severity of the discussion (say, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church simply refused to answer my questions).
And only in one place the truth breaks through: when Sergei Vladimirovich mentions problems in the "personnel support of the relevant structures." And it becomes clear what it is all about. There are not enough school teachers of the Law of God. To prepare certified specialists, faculties are needed - not in MEFI, where it is a ridiculous initiative of one preoccupied rector, but in a large number of pedagogical institutes. And in order to motivate teaching personnel for the faculties, state degrees are needed by theology (for the concession to the society named in a Western theology). Here is such a three -way: the Russian Orthodox Church begins and wins.
All this is actually not news; And my examples, and the reasons for Sergey Vladimirovich, and the arguments of Askold Igorevich Ivanchik (see p. 12) have been discussed many times already. It seems to me interesting to me another thing that is also directly related to the clericalization of education: the phenomenon of the ministerial teacher.
In September last year, a note of Kota Schrödinger published a note on how, within the framework of one of the philosophical courses of the Southern Federal University, creationism was taught [11]. In October, I was in Rostov-on-Don at the congress of biophysicists of Russia; Unfortunately, I was not able to meet with the hero of a note by an employee of the Institute of Philosophy and Socio-Political Sciences, Juf Vasily Nikolayevich Klimentov. Apparently, my letters did not reach him, but I talked with the employees of his department.
They are configured, in general, complacently, as it is written about this: the teacher has the right to present his point of view within the course of the course; Students are adults and they will figure it out; Yes, the religious feelings of the teacher have an impact on the course (Vasily Nikolaevich - an assistant to the abbot of the Voznesensky parish of the city of Bataisk), but it is not entirely correct to talk about missionary activities; Vasily Nikolaevich has been working at the university for a long time, he is a good specialist in classical German philosophy, and has become interested in the problems of anthropogenesis recently; Anyway, it’s hard to find teachers now ...
Colleagues provided me with an examination program for the course of anthroposiogenesis. Formally, it is difficult to complain about it, but the devil in detail: criticism of evolutionary theory is given almost more than a place than the presentation of its foundations, and in the list of literature the main place is occupied by the works of well -known creationists, such as Sergey Vertistanov [12], and, say, the material “On the legitimacy and scientificity of creationism and the failure of the evolutionary paradigm” from the site of the same Vertinian.
Similar stories come up there and there. And this is really a problem that requires discussion. Where is the border between academic freedom and teaching pseudoscience? Who should ensure that the teachers do not cross the line between the presentation of various theories and missionary work-and should anyone follow this? If the teacher reads a course that directly contradicts modern scientific ideas, what should be the administration reaction - and is it needed? What to do if the teacher goes beyond his professional competence and uses his authority and influence (exam!) To promote nonsense?
I don't know.
1. Director of the Arctic Museum, who refused to transfer the building of the Russian Orthodox Church // Amateur. January 23, 2016.
2. "For them, these are just warehouses of dusty penguins." Interview with Viktor Boyarsky, who leaves the post of director of the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic // Medusa. January 29, 2016.
3. The Shreiber case // Wikipedia.
4. The Rector of Moscow State University awarded Patriarch Kirill the title of honorary doctor and admitted that students were forced to go to a meeting with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church // Newsru.com. September 28, 2012.
5. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Science and Religion are two different areas of knowledge . The official website of the Moscow Patriarchate. November 11, 2014.
6. Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. All diocesan bishop . December 9, 1999.
7. A letter from the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II . Mon Parental Committee.
8. Shevchenko D. The Fundamentals of Orthodoxy must be taught that before you are children of migrant workers // iodine. November 26, 2015.
9. Dorofeeva E. Rozhdestvensky Readings of 2016: the basics of religions - in the state education system. Patriarch Kirill called for to achieve equal financing of Orthodox and public schools . Tsargrad. January 25, 2016.
11. Slavic P. Code of creationism at the State University // Cat of Schrödingra. No. 9 (11) for September 2015.
12. Borinskaya S., Borisov N. The vaccine from obscurantism: as a biofarmklaster "North" defeated creationism // Trav-hunger. No. 178 of May 5, 2015.