Vaughn by Vaughn Marc

Author:Vaughn, Marc
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Religion, Globalization, and Ukraine

When the USSR dispersed, a survey on religious affiliation showed that only 39% of Ukrainians considered themselves religious. Of course, it might depend on who is asking, and how clever it might be to admit to having faith of any sort. Atheism was official dogma, taught as the “whole truth” in schools. Being outed as religious was very bad for your employment or advancement prospects.

It was a well-worn tactic—successive Russian regimes had tried to control the Ukrainian soul. The USSR was not officially hostile to people holding faith, but it insisted that Ukrainian Orthodox Christians be led by a Russian metropolitan in Russia, who had everything to lose if he failed to toe the pro-Soviet line. That was not popular. Nevertheless, a stubborn 39% of Ukrainians were determined to tell a Russian census-taker that they were Christian.

By 2015, poll numbers put self-identification as Christian at 78%!

There are different ways cultures react to globalizing pressure. Ukrainians could have simply assimilated to Russian culture, as intended by the politburo. Many did. Or Ukrainians could have fled to some place where they could maintain their Ukrainian identity. Again, many did. Or Ukrainians could become secret believers, hiding their true faith and nationalism. The Ukrainian who chose that response held a nationalism tied to religion at the deepest level. Everything else could be stripped away, but you could live and die as a Ukrainian Orthodox believer.

The Church had proved itself by suffering alongside its people. It handed out the most abject defeat to Russia’s social engineering attempts. Religion might be on the decline in Western Europe, but it’s the opposite in Ukraine. The power of the Church is that it is the most Ukrainian thing in Ukraine.

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