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 We continue discussing the topic raised in the December edition: "the spiritual ways of Russia". It gets more and more clear that we can not solve the problems our country is facing without return to our spiritual background as well as cultural and historical traditions.
It is impossible to be constantly fighting consequences without touching upon reasons. The main reason is loss of moral guiding lines of the society. When everyone stands for themselves; when it is more important how famous you are or how much money you own than searching for and implementing your life's calling, work for the public and motherland's good. Often new generation does not suspect that there is other life than that shown in low-quality western and domestic movies. Under these circumstances are we capable of restraining crime, terrorism, drug addiction, corruption, social distress, family crisis, spiritual bankruptcy? Lack of inner buttress makes a man vulnerable, incites people to doing harm to all that's around.
What can we undertake in this direction? We should provide those who want and can help with opportunity to be heard. This is all dependent both on legislative and executive and judicial authority. Russia Orthodox Church and organizations of other traditional creeds are there to assist. And though Russian Orthodox mainly addresses a certain particular person taking care of his saving the church plays a great role in a society. Its authority helps to adjust state policy, liquidate ambitions of confronting parties; makes think of week people; supports moral laws; takes up people to participate in a common affair. This is just as it has always been in the history of Russia.
We should take advantage of the experience gained by the Church: it will be useful in these hard times. It will become the core which would provide our warriors, officers of defense structures with strength of mind in order to defend the country from outer threats and inner diseases. It will become the barrier which shall protect our youth from alien ideology ruining moral principles. A state is not just national resources, military and economic strength. The Church can generally reconcile separated and conflicting layers of society. It may show the way leading outside common struggle for money and power.
The idea of separation of Church and State shall be understood as non-intervention of state to freedom of conscience of its citizens. But it does not mean that we may allow spiritual vacuum because it will be either filled with influence of sects or cynical materialism against the state and its citizens. We have already made certain of sects ability to influence our life b acts of terrorism in various parts of our country. Contemporary criminal associations dragging into their environment significant part of our youth are built on the grounds of pure materialism/pragmatism violating any moral laws.
A state's duty is to defend our traditional moral values. Restrictions are required as a last resort only. But the state must ensure the sources of our spirituality to be available so that everyone could make their choice freely. Corresponding education and enlightenment must be also accessible.
We have to take measures of legal and financial support to restore our native tradition of training people striving for the benefit of the country.
In order to reveal spiritual potential of the country and to get acquainted with our true history a time section of state electronic mass-media should be provided. Journalists and writers highlighting positive prospects to youth should be supported.
Evaluation of damage (and respectively, responsibility) resulting from actions violating our moral and spiritual way of life should be reconsidered. It concerns non-stop commercials advertising beer due to which a teenager with a bottle in hand is perceived as something standard. This is about hard rotation of "thrillers" and enjoying crime and catastrophes scenes on TV as a result of which life itself is devaluated. To drift though life, to steal and remain unpunished, to live for own benefit and pleasure in euphoria of intoxication, the thesis of "those who are stronger are right"- the majority of mass culture pieces preach the ideas. Do we have to give up?
We have to strengthen liability (and its inevitability in judicial practice) for the crimes based on national and religious grounds. Peaceful neighboring of peoples' creeds is our treasure that cost us dear.
We've got a common work to do.
Russia has its own spiritual way. And we have to keep going.
Main editor,
Chairman of the movement "For legal support of domestic commodity producers"
Bochkov S.O.
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