Bill Shingleton, "Russia Is Hardly a Bastion of Religious Freedom," (Letter to the Editor) The Washington Times 9 July 1999:
While your article on Russia's attempts to restrict freedom of religion ("Russia moves to limit religion," July 5) satisfactorily covers the recent actions of the Duma, it neglects to look into the real state of religious affairs in today's Russia. If your reporter were to do so, he would realize that religion in Russia is restricted already.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church underwent a revival unprecedented in Russian history. After 75 years of repression and mandated belief in Marxism, attendance at Russian Orthodox Church services skyrocketed. As a result, there was an influx of money into the Russian Orthodox Church and a major increase in its political power.
While the Russian Orthodox Church uses the vast majority of its funds an influence for noble causes, its growing power also means that local officials are likely to accede to its demands. The result has been that people of "minority faiths" - Jews, Baptists, Mormons, etc. - often find themselves under heavy harassment and, in some cases, outlawed.
At the same time, government spending in support of the Russian Orthodox Church has exploded as Russian politicians attempt to reap the benefits of church support. While I was in Moscow last fall, I saw the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which Stalin had destroyed, almost totally rebuilt on the orders of Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. The lesson is that anyone hoping to believe in a minority faith in Russia should expect restrictions whether Boris Yeltsin signs the Duma law or not.