The Ministry of Education has rejected Pentecostal and Hare
Krishna calls for the withdrawal from state schools of a textbook partially
concerning religion which they argue incites religious discord. Forum 18 News
Service notes that the book, "Man in the World of Culture", warns
that Baptist, Pentecostal, Adventist and Jehovah's Witness activity is a
breeding-ground for fanaticism. It also puts the Hare Krishna and Zen Buddhist
movements on a par with the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, which was responsible
for the fatal gas attack on the Tokyo subway in March 1995, and suggests that
Krishna devotees need psychiatric help. Andrei Aleshko, legal assistant to
Minsk's Orthodox diocese, said he is concerned about a quotation in the book
criticising Orthodox worship. "If once we have seen the text we agree that
it hurts the feelings of believers," he told Forum 18 from Minsk on 24
June, "the Church will call on the education ministry to withdraw the
book."
The textbook was approved by the education ministry last year for use by
eleventh-grade (18-year-old) pupils in Russian-language secondary schools, and
has a circulation of 147,200 copies. Most schools in Belarus teach in Russian.
The 3-page section of the book under dispute introduces pupils to
"non-traditional religious organisations and sects". Although every
religion purports to be in possession of absolute truth, it maintains, "particularly
propitious conditions for the manifestation of fanaticism are created by the
activity of sects," the most widespread in Belarus being Baptists,
Pentecostals, Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the book, sects
typically claim "exclusivist ideological principles" and tend towards
isolationism, while those espousing non-traditional doctrines also employ
"new techniques which transform the psyche of the people they
recruit".
Turning to non-traditional religious organisations, which are variously
described as "new religious movements," "New Age
religions," "non-traditional cults," "totalitarian
sects" and "pseudo-religious formations," the book lists the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness [Hare Krishnas] and Zen
Buddhism alongside groups such as Aum Shinrikyo and the Russian movement the
White Brotherhood. These organisations are characterised by unquestioning
acceptance of doctrine and blind subordination to a teacher, guru, leader or
prophet, claims the book, as well as insistence that members "divorce
themselves from the real world".
The textbook also refers to "the common technique of shutting off the
mental faculty of reason by means of endless rhythmical repetition of the same
phrase." Krishna devotees, it points out, must repeat the 32-syllable Maha
Mantra 1,728 times a day, thus leaving little time to think about anything
else. "Religious believers such as these typically feel the need to be
within their community at all times and are afraid of leaving it," the
section concludes. In such instances, it is alleged, "psychiatric help is
certainly required".
Writing to education minister Pyotr Brigadin on 8 April, Pentecostal Bishop
Sergei Khomich demanded that the textbook be withdrawn from schools, arguing
that it will contribute to "the continued incitement of interreligious
discord in our country". Since the Pentecostal Union is a registered
religious organisation, he points out, Pentecostals should not be listed
alongside "sects renowned for their destructive activity, such as the
White Brotherhood and Aum Shinrikyo".
In his 7 May reply to the Pentecostal leader, Vladimir Shcherbo of the
education ministry's general secondary education department claims that the
word "sect" is used in the new textbook as a scientific theoretical
term without evaluation or implication of antisocial tendency. While the
current edition of the textbook will not be withdrawn, "corresponding
changes... concerning the spiritual potential of religion" will be
introduced when it is next published, promises Shcherbo.
In a 15 April letter addressed to the country's general public prosecutor,
members of the Minsk Krishna Consciousness Community likewise call for the
withdrawal of the textbook, since the information published within it
"does not correspond with reality and damages the reputation of Krishna
Consciousness believers". The Krishna devotees complain in particular
about the book's apparent definition of their organisation as a sect.
In a 7 May reply to the community, chairman of the State Committee for
Religious Affairs, Stanislav Buko, also maintains that the term
"sect" is used in the textbook as a scientific term without
evaluation or implication that an organisation so described should lose its
state registration. Making no reference to any of the book's allegations
specifically relating to Krishna worship, Buko concludes that, if Krishna
devotees believe that the textbook violates their legal rights or interests,
they may resolve the issue "in the legally prescribed manner". On 3
June the Minsk Krishna Consciousness Community again wrote to the general
public prosecutor requesting that "all legal measures be taken to halt
illegal actions aimed at offending the religious feelings of believers and the
incitement of religious discord in society".
In their original letter to the public prosecutor, the Krishna devotees pointed
out the "atheistic character" of the textbook. At the end of the
disputed section dealing with sects and non-traditional religious
organisations, five quotations relating to religious belief are printed under
the heading "Let's take note." Four of these are indeed negative
("To believe means to refuse to understand," "Religion is a
weakness...") The final quotation, attributed to parapsychologist Wolf
Messing, is specifically critical of Orthodox Christian worship: "When
that phrase ['Holy God... have mercy on me'] is repeated hundreds and thousands
of times, a hypnotic state results. On top of that there are countless
prostrations, hammered out before icons."
Aleshko said he had not seen a copy of the book and asked Forum 18 to supply a
copy. "If I ask the education ministry for it, maybe they won't give it to
us," he declared.
So far, however, the Pentecostals and Hare Krishnas are apparently the only
groups to have protested against the new textbook.