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Studying of Religion Science in the times of self-destruction ( 30.04.2009 )

The issue of Religion Science education in the schools is in different ways determined in western countries. In France, the country with long tradition related to the laicism and anti-clericalism, following the principle of the French Revolution, the education in Religion Science is considered inadmissible.  Religion Science is taught in the Catholic Schools, and in many private schools as well, where parents expect for their children to be educated and with good upbringing.

In some parts of France, around 40% of the kids go to schools where Religion Science is taught.

In Austria, the Religion Science in the state schools is not forbidden, and children have rights to be religiously educated in accordance to their religion. For instance, if there is an Orthodox priest or a layman in the school, who teaches the basics of the Orthodox religion, he is to receive a regular wage from the state, as well as the other teachers. The number of students attending Catholic religion and the teachers of that subject is normally bigger.

The freedom of religion, which is declared in the constitutions of all European countries, understands the rights of the children and youngsters to get their Religion education in the schools. Considering this, we may say that the idea of “separation between the Church and the State” is a kind of unavoidable contradiction with the idea of separation between the Church and School, particularly in the way that the Bolsheviks have done in Soviet Russia. The Religion education was strictly forbidden in that time, with a funny explanation that youngsters are obliged to choose for themselves what to do: to believe in God or not, but only as they reach maturity. In today’s contemporary countries where the Religion Science is forbidden or prohibited, exactly this argumentation is used to justify such embargo, stating that we may not enforce the kids to have one or the other point of view to the life.

The blunder of the arguments given is easily denied, as the kids are already indoctrinated with one or another approach to the world in the schools, no matter religious or atheistic. If the Religion Science is excluded from the educational system, if the mentioning of God is forbidden, if the religious symbols are persecuted from the schools, this implicitly means an enforcement of atheistic approach to the education. In many cases as well the atheistic position is entered explicitly, - i.e. Biology lessons, where the Darwin Theory of Evolution is the only choice.

The exclusion of the Religion Science in the schools is often excused with the existence of various different religions, so that it would be better to prevent the inter-religious conflicts or any other disputes, by excluding the Religion Science completely from the educational system. Such explanation must be observed as a blunder and dangerous one. Atheism cannot be used as a common denominator instead of all the religions. Besides, the traditional religions in the world: Christianity, Islam and Judaism never pretend to be any source of conflicts or disputes. They may only become such source when used by terrorists, extremists, fundamentalists and other radical groups.

It is the most important now, that children from different religions become used to each other, and to respect each other. And, such act is not possible, if mentioning God and use of religious symbols is forbidden. Every child has the right to be educated about his/her religion and the religion of their parents and grandparents. After becoming matured, every youngster may abandon the religious paths – after all, it is to be his/her personal choice. But, the to deprive anyone publicly from his legitimate right of learning the Religion science, is contradictory to the idea of the right of free religion in general, and in all.

The opponents of Religion Science education observe this Science as to various confrontations and try to use all the arguments for their own benefit.

However, let us consider the following questions:

Why the Religion Science is worth? What bad or evil may the Religion Science influent to the kid?

In the conditions of moral destruction, as the drug addiction is a regular disease among youngsters, when the promiscuity sex relationships become a life-norm of behaviour, as the forming the family and rising children stops being the priority for the young people, then the positive role of Religion Science becomes more and more evident. All traditional religions educate the human being to the feeling of responsibility, they strive to point to the importance of creating a healthy and full rights having family, of birth and growing and educating children. Consequently, with centuries and ages, the Faith in God was giving to humankind the essential reason the vast nation’s resistance of disappearing gradually from the face of this planet.

The continual growing demographic crisis, prevailing over both the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, has its spiritual cause. In the basis is the refutation of the traditional understanding (meaning) of the family, as the basis of the human being. Traditional Christianity particularly educates about the sin of abortion, about the rejection of the contraceptives, about the harmful consequences of voluntarily rejection of having and growing your children. Both in Russia and to the West as well, the families with many children are a real rarity; most often, there are one or maximum two kids, rarely three, and many families are childless. The scale of the moral values is turned upside down for the contemporary human, and such turning originates from the so-called sexual revolution, in the basis of which the idea of denying the traditional meaning of the family is placed.

Nowadays, the Sexual education is a regular subject in the schools, in many European countries. Students are acknowledged how to perform the sexual act, how to protect themselves from diseases, how to use the preservatives and contraceptives. In a fact, this is a kind of encouraging the students to enter free sexual relations, dissuading them from the chastity, injecting in them an anti-religious approach to the marriage and creating a family. Such lessons are nothing else, but a school of perversion, which cripples and destroys the kids, provoking them to low level and animal instincts, depriving them from the chastity relation to everything.

If we intend to have a healthy society, but not a society of spiritual freaks and rakes, unable for reproduction, then we are obliged to direct our children to a righteous relation to the family and the birth giving. In making the positive example for creating a healthy family, the lessons of Religion Science may be helpful. Thus, they should be involved in the regular schools education. And, we must not be frighten that the Religious Science knowledge will violate any freedom. We should only be afraid that by depriving the kids from Religion Science, we easily may deprive them from their future, and our own people and country sentence to gradual destruction.

Nowadays, there is a comprehensive opinion of the secular politicians that the consequences of the demographic crisis may show as unfixable problem for the peoples of the so-called highly developed countries. Governments bring new laws for immigration, increasing the stimulus’s for the families with many kids, they strive in making a more beneficial and healthy economic environment, in order to increase the birth rate.

But, all such methods appeared to show as insufficient, though they are in use. The State is not capable to withstand the problems arisen, to overcome the tendencies of a constant decrease of the birth rate. The State is in need of a powerful ally in the face of Church, where many means of moral-spiritual education of the children and youngsters exist, so it will bring to a better and righteous perception of the family.

It is necessary to establish such perception of the family, which is normally and naturally present in every spiritual human being. The Liberalism, the Relativism, and the Atheism in the countries where they became state ideologies, destroyed the traditional picture of the family, and turned upside down the human’s natural tendency of reproduction. If we really do not want such process of self-destruction to continue, we are obliged to give our children a healthy spiritual education. In addition, in that field, Church may offer and give a great and various help to the State.    

Archbishop Volkolamskii Hilarion Alfeev