This book examines the key 2008 publication of the Russian Orthodox Church on human dignity, freedom, and rights. It considers how the document was formed, charting the development over time of the Russian Orthodox Church's views on human rights. It analyzes the detail of the document, and assesses the practical and political impact inside the Church, at the national level and in the international arena. Overall, it shows how the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church has shifted from outright hostility towards individual human rights to the advocacy of "traditional values."

"In this book, Lauri Mèalksoo and his co-authors critically examine Russia's experiences as part of the European human-rights protection system since its admittance to the Council of Europe in 1998. The authors combine legal and constructivist international-relations theory perspectives in studying Russia's practice and rhetoric as a member of the Council of Europe and a subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights."--Back cover.

This collective book aims at examining in what terms, and to what extent, the "reception" of the Human Rights doctrine takes place in Eastern Orthodox countries, as well as in the Orthodox diaspora. A series of questions are raised regarding the resources and theological structures that are mobilized in the overall Human Rights' debate and controversy, the theological "interpretation" of Human Rights within the Eastern Orthodox spiritual tradition, and the similarities and/or divergences of this "interpretation", compared to the other Christian confessions. Special attention is given to the various Orthodox actors on the international arena, aside the national Orthodox churches, which participate in the Ecumenical dialogue, as well as the dialogue with the European and international institutions. Religious freedom, as a fundamental Human right, guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), constitutes a key-issue that contributes to broadening the reflections on the overall Human Rights-related problematic between East and West, by shading light on the more complex issue pertaining to the conceptualization and implementation of Human Rights in countries belonging to the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The present volume studies the diversity that characterizes the Orthodox theological traditions and interpretations regarding Human Rights, not only in terms of an "external", or a "strategical" approach of socio-political and ecclesial nature, but also through a reflexive analysis of theological discourses.

Few of the struggles Russia has undergone since the fall of Communism have been fiercer than that being fought between the long-repressed Russian Orthodox Church and a host of groups seeking to evangelize the Russian people. This volume assesses the legitimacy of the Orthodox attempt to reclaim the spiritual and moral heart of the Russian people and to retain their adherence in a new, pluralistic world where many Christians and followers of other traditions seek the right to establish themselves. Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia also brings together the latest scholarship on the new Russian laws regarding religion as well as suggesting guidelines for foreign missionaries in Russia.

This book examines the key 2008 publication of the Russian Orthodox Church on human dignity, freedom, and rights. It considers how the document was formed, charting the development over time of the Russian Orthodox Church's views on human rights. It analyzes the detail of the document, and assesses the practical and political impact inside the Church, at the national level and in the international arena. Overall, it shows how the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church has shifted from outright hostility towards individual human rights to the advocacy of "traditional values."

Winner of the 2017 Alpha Sigma Nu Award The collapse of communism in eastern Europe has forced traditionally Eastern Orthodox countries to consider the relationship between Christianity and liberal democracy. Contributors examine the influence of Constantinianism in both the post-communist Orthodox world and in Western political theology. Constructive theological essays feature Catholic and Protestant theologians reflecting on the relationship between Christianity and democracy, as well as Orthodox theologians reflecting on their tradition’s relationship to liberal democracy. The essays explore prospects of a distinctively Christian politics in a post-communist, post-Constantinian age.

In the context of growing human rights abuses, religious freedom conditions in Russia suffered serious setbacks. The Russian government's application of its extremism law violates the rights of members of certain Muslim groups and allegedly "non-traditional" religious communities, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses, through raids, detentions, and imprisonment. Various laws and practices increasingly grant preferential status to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Federation has a highly centralized political system, with power increasingly concentrated in the president, and a weak multiparty political system. The most significant human rights problems include the restriction of civil liberties; violations of electoral processes; and the administration of justice. This book provides an overview of Russian human rights and religious freedom reports.

This volume highlights three intertwined aspects of the global context of Orthodox Christianity: religion, politics, and human rights. The chapters in Part I address the challenges of modern human rights discourse to Orthodox Christianity and examine conditions for active presence of Orthodox churches in the public sphere of plural societies. It suggests theoretical and empirical considerations about the relationship between politics and Orthodoxy by exploring topics such as globalization, participatory democracy, and the linkage of religious and political discourses in Russia, Greece, Belarus, Romania, and Cyprus. Part II looks at the issues of diaspora and identity in global Orthodoxy, presenting cases from Switzerland, America, Italy, and Germany. In doing so, the book ties in with the growing interest resulting from the novelty of socio-political, economic, and cultural changes which have forced religious groups and organizations to revise and redesign their own institutional structures, practices, and agendas.

At the heart of the Soviet experiment was a belief in the impermanence of the human spirit: souls could be engineered; conscience could be destroyed. The project was, in many ways, chillingly successful. But the ultimate failure of a totalitarian regime to fulfill its ambitions for social and spiritual mastery had roots deeper than the deficiencies of the Soviet leadership or the chaos of a "command" economy. Beneath the rhetoric of scientific communism was a culture of intellectual and cultural dissidence, which may be regarded as the "prehistory of perestroika." This volume explores the contribution of Christian thought and belief to this culture of dissent and survival, showing how religious and secular streams of resistance joined in an unexpected and powerful partnership. The essays in The Dangerous God seek to shed light on the dynamic and subversive capacities of religious faith in a context of brutal oppression, while acknowledging the often-collusive relationship between clerical elites and the Soviet authorities. Against the Marxist notion of the "ideological" function of religion, the authors set the example of people for whom faith was more than an opiate; against an enduring mythology of secularization, they propose the centrality of religious faith in the intellectual, political, and cultural life of the late modern era. This volume will appeal to specialists on religion in Soviet history as well as those interested in the history of religion under totalitarian regimes.

Civil rights is a category of human rights that include individual personal freedom, privacy, personal security, a right to life, dignity, freedom from torture, freedom of movement and residence, and freedom of conscience. Such rights differ from the political, economic, social, and cultural rights guaranteed by the International Bill of Rights. The challenge of enforcing these rights has been acute throughout the world, but Russia in particular has experienced unique and significant difficulties. Until now, the theoretical literature dealing with the legal characteristics of civil rights, how to realize them, and how to protect people from their infringement, has been wanting. This timely and comprehensive volume rectifies this lapse, especially as civil rights enforcement relates to Russia. It draws on a wealth of materials, including reports and statistical data from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, and several Russian offices of state. The contributors, comprised of researchers, judges, lawyers, and legal authorities, are all experts in human and civil rights and bring a fresh perspective to these issues. They analyze international law, Russian legislation, and decisions of the European Court and the Constitutional Court of Russia each from a humanistic stance. While the authors represent different age groups, occupations, and approaches, they are in agreement on the necessity of protecting civil rights; expanding and developing their guaranty both in Russia and all over the world. Civil Human Rights in Russia dispels many of the myths about Russia and its attitude toward civil rights, especially as regards to the stereotype that the Russian people do not know about such rights, nor care about human dignity. The authors of this volume make clear that Russia has been instrumental in the formation and recognition of universal human rights. The Russian contribution builds on those established by the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This volume is a fundamental contribution to the literature, one that will help the reader to understand the essence of civil human rights and how they may be implemented and enforced in the twenty-first century.