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A sanctioned demonstration and picket were conducted in the evening of 28 May by protestant churches of Moscow on Pushkin Square of the capital. As "NewsInfo" reports, the leaflets distributed during the action stated in particular: "As Christians of Evangelical Faith (protestants), we and our children have experienced all manner of humiliation against us on the part of unworthy persons. In recent times spontaneous persecutions have come to be regular occurrences. Special repressions and discrimination against the rights of protestant Christians have been experienced in Moscow. Bureaucrats have treacherously confiscated a parcel of land from Moscow's central "Emmanuel" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, as a result of which the church has suffered material losses and moral harm."
"We protest against the wanton arbitrariness of bureaucrats, against propaganda and the incitement of interreligious strife, and against discrimination against the rights of believers who do not belong to RPTs. We demand the return of the parcel of land and we demand that the construction of protestant churches not be hindered.," the leaflets note. (tr. by PDS, posted 31 May 2005)
Related article: "Pentecostals protest in Moscow"
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The problems of religious freedom in Russia were discussed on 26 May by Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus with the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights. The head of RPTsMP received Alvaro Hill-Robles at his working residence in Moscow, Pravoslavie.ru reports, citing ITAR-TASS.
The patriarch gave high praise to the report by the commissioner for human rights devoted to the religious situation in Russia. "Perhaps we might quarrel with a few points, but on the whole the report reflects the situation in our country and leaves a good impression," the patriarch said. He thinks that Hill-Robles "has penetrated will the problems of religious life in Russia." According to the head of RPTsMP, "we do not have any conflicts on religious grounds and this leads to interreligious dialogue."
In addition the primate of RPTsMP expressed "concern" over the activity of "destructive sects" in the Russian federation. The patriarch noted that these "sects" "often exert a destructive influence on the psyches of people, engage in financial speculation and, at times, drive people to suicide." H e said that pseudoreligious organizations often accuse the state authorities of an absence of support. The meeting was attended by the representative of the Moscow patriarchate in the Council of Europe, Hegumen Filaret Bulekov. (tr. by PDS, posted 31 May 2005)
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A press conference titled "Power of change; freedom of speech" devoted to the situation that has developed around the conduct in Arkhangelsk of the "Experience the Power of Change" project was held on 24 May in the "Dvina-inform" Arkhangelsk press center. Several religious associations and public organizations of Arkhangelsk province have manifested opposition to the action that is directed to rehabilitation of drug addicts and other asocial persons, a Portal-credo.ru correspondent reports.
Press conference participants included the director of the Moscow "Power of Change" Center for Social Aid, Yury Ananiev, who is the director of the project, the director of the juridical department of the Russian church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) (RTsKhVE), Sergei Altukhov, and the director of the National Research Center for Television and Radio of Moscow and expert of the Council of Europe, Professor Aleksei Samokhvalov. Organizers and workers of the project made public the problems that have arisen in the course of carrying out the "Experience the Power of Change" project.
The main problem is opposition on the part of the "Citizens' Security" public organization, which has positioned itself as antisectarian. Second, there have been several negative statements which resounded on the part of the leadership of Arkhangelsk diocese of RPTsMP and certain news media with regard to the churches and religious organizations and to the "Power of Change" center that have participated in carrying out the project in Arkhangelsk province.
"These actions violate our right to conduct such a project that the Russian constitution and the law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" give to us. Besides, they ignite interreligious strife and sow definite hostility in society which is completely unnecessary to us," Yury Anaiev said. He thinks that leaflets against the action distributed in the city by "Citizens' Security" are an obvious case of incitement of such hostility.
Project participants described results of the project so far. For example, the confidential telephone service, consisting of ten telephone lines working around the clock and encompassing three cities--Arkhangelsk, Severodvinck, and Novodvinsk--has been called by around 2,000 persons. In the main the people calling are dependent upon alcohol. The majority asked the question: "What can I do?" They have tried medical methods of treatment but have not found a way out of their situation. The telephone monitor answers that there is a way out and that is in God, because God can give the power that changes a person's life. Thus the project is called "Experience the Power of Change." "We do not invite them to a specific church but we talk about God," Yury Anaiev noted.
The "Jesus" film, according to reports which were distributed by organizers of the project on 24 May, was watched by around 6,000 viewers and 99% of the responses filled out after viewing the film were of a positive nature. This action took place in 25 movie theatres and palaces of culture and comprised in all around 200 showings.
Present at the press conference from RPTsMP was Fr Evgeny Sokolov, the rector of the church in the State Pedagogical University, who declared on the program "Vesti-plius" that the directors of the movie houses and palaces of culture where the "Jesus" film was shown have committed the sin of Judas, betrayal of Christ. Present from the "Citizens' Security" organization was a certain Olga, who refused to give her last name, and several youths who apparently are Fr Evgeny's parishioners. They tried to break up the press conference, turning it into a heated debate. Throughout the press conference they raised questions: "Where is the money coming from?" "Who is conducting the project?" "Why are sectarians doing this; what right do they have?" An attorney for RTsKhVE, S. Altukhov, answered that everything is being done within the limits of the law: "As regards financing, the action is being conducted on the numerous contributions from numerous churches, as well as private individuals. In addition, local churches have turned to specialists who work in Finnish television who gave informational support, since, unfortunately, we do not ourselves have specialists who are able to film television shows. This is expensive work; it requires equipment, and so forth. And they responded!"
S. Anokhin noted especially that all organizations participating in the project are registered and have the right to conduct such projects. And accusations about psychological pressure and hypnosis are incorrect and unproven. Somewhat earlier, to the questions about financing of the actions, A. Samokhvalov made the point: "We have looked at the site of the Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk diocese. The account for 2004 is posted there. It enumerates the charitable actions of the Orthodox church in the region. And it is good that there are such actions, but nobody hides the fact that, for example, the actions are conducted with financing from Norwegian church aid. Another action has the support of Danish church aid. This is all good, especially since the government has abandoned the solution of problems associated with treatment of drug addiction and problems associated with alcoholism and homelessness, and public organizations have tried to fill in this gap. I do not reproach the Orthodox church because it takes money from Norwegian organizations. They are doing the right thing in conducting these actions. So one should not reproach other organizations when they conduct various social actions at the expense of foreign or Russian sources. Incidentally, we have far fewer Russian charitable organizations in our country than are in other countries. And even the large corporations that do exist try to turn these charitable contributions into some kind of advertisement for their corporations."
At the press conference it was declared that "the visible part of the
project," in the news media, is approaching its conclusion. (tr.
by PDS, posted 26 May 2005)
SHOWING OF "JESUS" FILM BY "EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF CHANGE" ACTION EXERTS
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE ON THE PERSONALITY
Official web-site of Arkhangelsk diocese, 24 May 2005
Organizers of the "Experience the Power of Change" action conceal the information that the "Jesus" film is not what they represent it to be. If one compares the version of the film "Jesus" by John Heyman with the picture that was shown in movie houses during the "Experience the Power of Change" action one will be persuaded that the final portion of the film was deliberately changed.
The length of the film was extended by ten to fifteen minutes and in this part, after a splice, there is a short summary of the film and then a "prayer of faith," which the voice of Emmanuel Vitorgan announces off camera: "Pray the prayer of faith and Christ will come into your life. Here is a model prayer that I will recite first alone. 'Lord, Jesus, I need you. I ask you to forgive my sins. I trust in you and I ask you to become my Savior and Lord. Take my life into your hands. Make me the person you want to see me as. Amen.' And now, according to the call of your heart recite this prayer right away. I will repeat it slowly, separating phrase from phrase, and you repeat it after me. . . . Now, when you have prayed this prayer of faith and asked Jesus Christi to come into your life, you can be assured that he has come to you, and be sure that your sins are forgiven, and from now on you are God's child and you will be granted eternal life with God."
So there you have it, in the simplest way, right in the movie theater, the birth of "children of God" occurs. It was this goal that this sequel was directed toward.
In this situation one can affirm that the organizers of the action have violated the copyright law, intentionally concealing information from the audience. In addition, the organizers of the project have exerted psychological pressure upon the personality by controlling the consciousness of the individual, forcing him to participate in a religious ritual right there in the movie house. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 May 2005)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 26 May 2005
ORGANIZERS OF "EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF CHANGE" ACTION DO NOT BELONG
TO PROTESTANT DEMONINATIONS
Official web site of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk diocese of RPTsMP
The organizers of the "Experience the Power of Change" do not belong to protestant denominations. "They designate themselves either as 'protestants' or as 'Christians of Evangelical Faith,' or as 'Pentecostals,' or, deceitfully, as 'simply Christians,' and their religious promotional events are presented as social projects like creating centers for rehabilitation of drug addicts or the 'Experience the Power of Change' action. However real protestants--Lutherans and Calvinists--do not recognize such organizations as protestant or even Christian." This is stated in the concluding document of the international scholarly action conference titled "Neopentecostal sects in Russia, the threat of religious extremism."
In the words of the director of the press service of the Arkhangelsk diocese, Deacon Valery Suvorov, in addition, the action that is being conducted which is declared to be a social action is no such thing. In essence, during its course inducement of new converts into various sects is being conducted. "We have good contacts with traditional protestant confessions. For example, the Arkhangelsk diocese participates in the 'Norwegian Church Aid' project, which was organized by the Lutheran church of Norway. And here the social purpose of the project and its results are clearly seen. For example, an antituberculosis program was conducted as were charitable soup kitchens, free lunches for schoolchildren, and clothing was distributed and the work of social centers was developed." According to the executive director of the "Rassvet" organization, Elena Ermolina, at the present time a project for prevention and aid for HIV/AIDS titled "Love your neighbor" and a project for arranging palliative aid are being conducted jointly. It should be added that the protestants themselves view neopentecostals negatively. For example, the president of the Associated Eurasian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, P.I. Bilas, noted of the neopentecostals: "'Word of Faith,' 'Word of Life,' and 'New Generation' are unacceptable to us in the form in which they exist in our country." (tr. by PDS, posted 27 May 2005)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 26 May 2005
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For the first time in free, democratic Russia, members of those evangelical churches that were persecuted under the soviet regime have come out into the streets. Just as in the time of the Soviet Union, when Baptists and Pentecostals held mass services that were forbidden by law and tried to insist upon their rights, demanding freedom or the right to emigrate from the country, contemporary protestants on 22 May came out into one of the central squares of the capital--Pushkin Square. In the application for conducting the demonstration a different place had been indicated--Tver Square, which is across from the residence of the Moscow mayor (the former Moscow city council), but authorities did not permit it and moved it to Pushkin Square, a traditional spot today for conducting demonstrations and events. This even caused some misunderstanding when, in a letter, Pentecostals accused the "Religiia i SMI" web site of intentional disinformation.
Elders of the churches and bishops of the evangelical associations who made speeches at the demonstration talked about how they love the authorities and their own native Russian state. The speakers were convinced that the authorities do not need bureaucrats who do not execute the laws, and in addition, it would be good for the authorities to dispense with such authoritarian bureaucrats since the authorities also themselves demonstrate and are Christians and full-fledged citizens of Russia.
The formal occasion for the rather sharp expressions of the evangelical believers was the violation of civil rights of the "Emmanuel" Pentecostal church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (KhVE) of Moscow which is a member of the Russian Assemblies of God (that comprise more than twenty churches and groups in a number of Russian provinces). Bureaucrats in the capital at first allocated, and then took back from the congregation, a parcel of land for which the church had already made an investment. Besides this, in the Solntsevo district representatives of the mayor's office refused to authorize the land under the club the church already had purchased, denying them the possibility of turning it into a house of worship.
The Muscovites' problems evoked a great outcry in the provinces and became a reflection of the difficulties with which the overwhelming majority of protestant groups throughout Russia have to contend. The initiators of the public action were the Pentecostals, and most of the speakers also were in the main Pentecostal leaders, ministers of the Russian church of KhVE, headed by Bishop Pavel Okara, with which the Assemblies of God maintain close relations.
The way that protestant believers are not allowed to rent premises, are not permitted social institutions, are effectively denied land for building churches or if they are allocated land are not allowed to build could be narrated after the Christians of Evangelical Faith by Pentecostals of other unions and associations, Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Adventists, Methodists, and so on. The very idea of a demonstration, as the organizers stated, was supported by representatives of the Catholic church and Baptists. Church leaders, finding within themselves the courage to go out onto the square, managed to express the pain of "nonorthodox Christians" living in our country.
The pastor of the Emmanuel church, Alexander Purshaga, announced that the demonstration is not a political event. It would be different if the discrimination against the rights of evangelical churches were the policy of the Moscow authorities. Then, Alexander Purshaga noted, "we would make a political demonstration." The demonstration was also not even a religious event, since, in the pastor's words, "we do not have either the time nor the desire to enter into conflict with other religious groups." The pastor of the Emmanuel church stated that protestants do not deserve the kind of treatment they have received on the part of bureaucrats. The distinctive features of evangelical churches include their strong families and prohibition against alcohol and smoking. But charlatan experts on sects, in Purshaga's opinion, confuse protestant congregations with various kinds of satanic sects with which they have nothing to do. The leader of the Moscow Pentecostal church said that the real initiators of the demonstration were those very bureaucrats of the capital who violated the law.
The quest for freedom in their own homeland was the leitmotif of the demonstration and the speeches, which were interspersed with performances by the protestant choir in white clothing accompanied by electronic instruments and an orchestra. Protestant freedom consists in a strict submission to the norms of the law, the more so since, as many speakers acknowledged, Russian legislation on religion is fully democratic, on paper. In reality, as Alexander Purshaga noted, it is obvious that it is necessary to call it persecution when, for example, there are no places where one can worship, and to call it robbery when money and land are confiscated. The topic of the law in Russia was discussed by an attorney and one of the directors of the Slavic Legal Center, Vladimir Riakhovsky. In his opinion, protestants effectively assembled the demonstration in defense of the Russian constitution, since all the basic demands of the demonstrators coincide with what is written in the fundamental law of the country. At the same time, according to Riakhovsky, the courts universally render political decisions and many courts frankly declare their own preferences in the religious sphere. For example, an Orthodox chapel has been built on the grounds of the Moscow city court, although Russian proclaims itself to be a secular state.
Restrictions evoke within protestant circles a response that is characteristic not only for believing Russians but also for Americans and Europeans that is purely civil. "Unjust" bureaucrats become aliens for evangelical leaders, but not the government itself. Although government servants receive from protestants their just deserts. The pastor of the "News of Hope" KhVE church in St. Petersburg, Ilia Astafiev, conveyed greetings from evangelical believers of the northern capital and stated directly, in the fashion of Petersburgers, that bureaucrats, including Muscovite ones, who are caught stealing are unnecessary. These bureaucrats, according to Astafiev, live not according to the law but according to concepts.
The director of the Christian Military Union, Oleg Askalenok, noted that bureaucrats seek only new enemies and do not deal with social problems, but for some reason it is evangelical churches that they interfere with. An aide to the bishop of Russian KhVE churches for Moscow province, the pastor of the church of the Holy Trinity, Vasily Romaniuk, noted that Christians do not fight for the rights of the minority by any means, because the chief minority in our country is the bureaucrats who live on the taxes of citizens. The congregation that Romaniuk heads was illegal during the soviet period. The pastor recalled those persons--of whom the current bureaucrats are weak copies--as persecutors of protestants. In Romaniuk's words, "we have not forgotten what kind of things interrogations and searches by KGB were."
Many Pentecostals and Baptists view the new Russian state critically as from soviet times. While Orthodox experts on sects consider traditional protestants in Russia whose numbers have multiplied in the 1990s merely with a prefix "neo" (as in "neopentecostals"), the protestants themselves view the authorities as "neo-Russian." As the pastor of the "Transfiguration" church of KhVE of Moscow, Nikolai Romaniuk, declared: "We do not want to remain in groups and circles as our grandfathers and grandmothers did under the bolshevik regime." Before the revolution of 1917 the tsarist government prohibited protestants from building houses of worship, and all the way to 1945, the pastor emphasized, believers were physically repressed. Violations of freedom of conscience, in Romaniuk's opinion, "are now simply protruding, and we do not see other civil freedoms from the authorities; we are not allowed to put on our own television programs, we do not get land, we cannot build houses of worship. Again they want for us to quit the country and go to USA or Europe." However Pastor Romaniuk assured those assembled that protestants are not going anywhere but will remain and will create strong families and achieve their rights. "Do not prevent us from being good citizens; do not prevent us from working for the good of our country and forming a healthy nation. If the cold northern winds will not allow us to establish our freedom then protestants are ready to go along the paths of their ancestors."
The injury from the government, which is by no means democratic in fact, resounds both in Moscow and in many other provinces and republics. The senior presbyter of the churches of North Ossetia of the Russian Evangelical Christian Baptist church, Alan Pitoev, reminded participants in the event that among those who died at the time of the terrorist attack in Beslan were children of protestants. As Pitoev stated, "if it is given to us to die as citizens of Russia, then why can we not live as citizens of Russia." The Ossetian minister posed the question to the assembled crowd: what is now meant by freedom and democracy in Russia if they say one thing and do another? Moreover, Pitoev stressed, decisions made in the center are echoed in the provinces. Other speakers seconded Pitoev: the bishop of KhVE churches in Kabardino-Balkar republic, Soslan Kadiev, and the bishop of KhVE churches in Vladimir province, Sviatoslav Purshaga.
A natural injury also exists for native Muscovites, members of the Emmanuel Pentecostal church, who collected the means for constructing the house of worship in Moscow. One of the ministers of the congregation, Ernest Gaman, noted that they have had Moscow registration since 1933 and they sincerely love Moscow, although "Muscovite bureaucrats for some reason do not like me." A member of the church, Nina Pavlovna Zaitseva, whose presence showed that there are pious elderly women also in Pentecostal circles, noted that "we have received all our rights with the help of the united efforts of all protestant denominations, whose gifts and ministries differ but there is one Spirit."
About 300 to 400 persons assembled on Pushkin Square. This number reflects the proportions of protestant congregations, which number about 4,500 in Russia. In the center of Moscow evangelical singing resounded and banners waved, on which was written article 28 of the Russian constitution regarding freedom of conscience, as well as "Protestants for equality of rights of all confessions." "Protestants against incitement of interreligious strife," "We demand not to prevent construction of protestant churches," "Do you really think, o man, that you will escape the judgement of God?" and "Mayor Luzhkov, be a man of your word." Those assembled decided to hold a demonstration on Pushkin Square until such time as bureaucrats resolve their problem, despite the arrest by police of an activist of the church who stood with a sign on 22 May across from the mayor's office at the monument to Yury Dolgoruky. The demonstration became a civil action of those Christians whom many consider to be agents of the West, but if one can call the protestants Europeans in spirit, then their aggressive opponents at least are North Koreans.
A resolution was adopted at the conclusion of the demonstration. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 May 2005)
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Protestant churches should express their civic position together. This was stated to a Portal-credo.ru correspondent by a Rostov-on-Don pastor of the Pentecostal church of Christ the Savior (a member of the Russian Church Of Christians of Evangelical Faith), Vladimir Khvalov. He said that because of the isolation of various evangelical denominations society will not listen to them, although protestantism in Russia already constitutes a civil community. "We want to address Pentecostals of other churches, and Baptists and Adventists, in order that we be united not around doctrines but around a social and political position," Vladimir Khvalov stated. He also is the head of the Association of Christian Churches of Rostov province, which includes 25 different churches.
For now, according to Vladimir Khvalov, restrictions of individual congregations on the part of government workers are occurring "with the silent consent of other evangelical brothers, who sit by while others are suffering and others are being oppressed."
As Pastor Vladimir Khvalov said in an interview with Portal-credo.ru, he has done everything in his power so that the Association of Christian Churches would speak out also in the conflict between the church of Christ the Savior and the Rostov mayor's office. Back in the mid-90s the congregation proposed building a Christian evangelistic center in the center of the city and a house of worship, but the authorities still have not given permission even for construction. According to Khvalov, the mayor's office of Rostov-on-Don has refused to allow the Pentecostals to own the land underneath their house of worship, where they are conducting services at the present time. Bureaucrats of the city administration also have not given permission for renovation of the church building, which the congregation bought in the 90s and which had housed a cafe.
Pastor Vladimir Khvalov stressed that the rights of believers in the city are certainly being violated, since there is simply no place for people to gather and worship; there are more than 1,000 members in the Rostov congregation and another twelve affiliates throughout the province. In March the church tried to call attention to itself and declared a forty-day fast for deliverance of the church from persecution. When the Pentecostals filed suit in court against the mayor's office for granting land and reconstruction of the building, they did not find justice in the court. According to Khvalov, the Christians were told in court that they are trying to get rich. The head of the city committee for cossackdom and religion, who oversees the religious organizations of the provincial capital, Vladimir Popov, constantly holds interrogations under torture of Pentecostals who come to him with their problems and he assures the believers that they are doing everything wrongly. Pastor Vladimir Khvalov reported that as a Christian he is always prepared for persecution, but as the leader of the church community he despondent "because both the authorities and the Orthodox continually throw mud at the church in the local press, calling it a 'sect,' and in this way they are committing spiritual genocide." (tr. by PDS, posted 25 May 2005)
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We live together in a law-based state. But first I want to say that in the event of the denial to the "Emmanuel" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of the possibility of building a house of worship we are confronting bureaucratic tyranny.
Perhaps this is not guaranteed by law? No, it is guaranteed, it is protected by law. In the Russian federation there is in effect a law about the basic civil state service. If one consults the text of this law, it says that state servants do not have the right to any kind of preference for any separate religious association. They do not have the right to use their official position for developing this or that kind of attitude toward religion, which is what religious associations are confronting today in reality.
This is a clear, living example which perhaps has served as the stimulus for conducting the present action. The "Emmanuel" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith was allocated a parcel of land for construction. The church worked out the planning documents and conducted preparatory work, at great expense. After this bureaucrats rescinded the already existing permission and offered some other parcel of land, which actually was a matter of words only since in effect no other specific parcel was offered. When the formal offers were made, we then received another letter to the effect that residents of that district opposed the construction of a church building in their territory.
I absolutely agree that it is necessary to heed public opinion on any matter, including a question of construction. But we are not talking about the construction of some manufacturing enterprise; we are talking about the construction of a house of worship.
We live together in the circumstances of a democratic state. We have lived in these conditions since the beginning of the 1990s. At this demonstration, I think, the absolute majority are Christians. And today are we raising our voices in favor of building a Muslim mosque next to my house or next to your house? Or is there such difficulty in Muslim regions where today Christian organizations, including Orthodox ones, confront similar problems in constructing their houses of worship? After all, the state nevertheless must take into account in such a question not only the opinion of the majority but also the opinion of the minority.
There is in law the concept of positive discrimination, when the rights of the minorities, national minorities or religious minorities, are protected. This is the direct function of the state. And the state is obliged to guarantee the rights not only of the majority but also of the minority. But today we are confronted with open tyranny.
The refusal of local bureaucrats to grant permission for construction was appealed in court. But unfortunately the court sided with the administration. And I think that here we have a purely ad hoc, political decision. But unfortunately what else could we expect today from our courts?
The first thing I said here was a quotation of an article of the constitution: we live in a law-based state. But in reality we very often confront arbitrariness, including judicial arbitrariness. I quoted article 18 of the constitution, which says that the basic human and civil rights and freedoms must be protected not only by executive offices and legislative authorities but also they are protected by the justice system. But have any of you ever turned your attention to the new building of the Moscow city court in the district of Preobrazhenskoe metro? There, on the grounds of the Moscow city court, a newly constructed Orthodox chapel towers today. And here we talk about a secular state and we talk about secular authorities. And we talk about a state employee not having the right to show any kind of personal preference, including religious preference. But what kind of fair judicial investigation could someone of a religious organization other than Orthodox count on if on the grounds of the temple of justice, where justice is supposed to preside, there is located a chapel of one religion, even if it is the most popular one? But we talk about a secular court!
And I think that today we have the complete moral right to declare a challenge to the Moscow city court for a review of our case and to demand that this case be reviewed in a secular court.
Of course there are many problems. And apparently the biggest problem is the need to change our consciousness. We talk a lot about how we have won and obtained some democratic goals. Today we talk about freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience. But freedom of conscience is the most fundamental right, without which there cannot be any other freedoms--freedom of conscience, like other citizens' rights and freedoms, entails not only a right but also obligation and responsibility. It cannot be that there may be freedom for me and freedom for my church and my organization and not be freedom for others; that cannot be.
So by today's action we are showing that we are appealing to Muscovites and to all who hear us, asking for support for what we express today. Why do we appeal to everybody? Because even if you do not share our convictions, if today our rights are violated then tomorrow yours will be violated, too.
Literally last week I worked in Astrakhan. I was involved in a court case where a serious problem had arisen for a Muslim society, against which cossacks, inter alia, had taken some action. Turning to the cossacks I asked: "And what's with you, have you forgotten yourselves how you were driven underground? How you were forbidden to attend church and wear your national costume? So today you should be on the opposite side, supporting those who are in trouble and give them your hand of help." Well, it doesn't happen and it cannot be that today someone has problems and I do not and, praise God, it will always be so. Tomorrow even I will have a problem.
I want to conclude my speech recalling the words of the famous protestant teacher Martin Niemoller, which he spoke regarding what was happening in Germany in the 1930s. He said: "When they came for the Jews, I was silent, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the labor union members, and I was silent because I was not a member of a union. Then they came for the Catholics, but I was silent, because I was a protestant. They came for the communists and I also was silent because I had nothing to do with them. And then they came for me. But by that time nobody was left who could speak in my support."
Therefore, our problem today is everybody's problem. Because we are talking today about democracy and about freedom of conscience. But the only thing that we demand of our government workers is to observe the constitution that we have adopted together and that is the fundamental law of our state.
V. Riakhovsky is a member of the Expert Consultative Council of the Plenipotentiary for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, a member of the Working Group for Improvement of Legislation on Freedom of Conscience, co-chair of the Slavic Legal Center, and a member of the Moscow city college of attorneys. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 May 2005)
Posted on the Protestant.ru site, 24 May 2005
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