Confessional policy of the Bolsheviks in the Сrimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1920-1930s

The article examines confessional politics in one of the most diffi cult periods for religious organizations that are the 20–30s of the XX century. At this time, active anti-religious work was carried out, so there were created some special organizations supposed to get rid of any manifestations of religious consciousness among the Soviet citizens. All the diversity of this policy is discussed on the example of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The policy that revealed the relation to the Orthodox and Muslim populations and took into account the national specifi cs of the region varied from relatively loyal attitude towards religious organizations in the 1920s to the events of the Great Terror of 1937–1938. The Crimean ASSR was multi-confessional. The authorities faced the need to compromise between the fi ght against religion and the desire not to aggravate confl icts with national minorities. The anti-religious policy was not supposed to confl ict with the policy of indigenousization. Throughout the pre-war twenty years, anti-religious work in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was not fully implemented and was poorly organized. The slowdown in the implementation of the anti-religious line was caused by both unsuccessful selections of the personnel and insuffi cient funding of the anti-religious activities carried out.

Substantiation of the Testimonial Knowledge in the Religious Epistemology: The Approach of J. Greco

Currently, the study of religious knowledge is carried out mainly within the framework of religious epistemology, which does not exclude its consideration from the standpoint of a non-cognitive approach, for example, fideism. However, the greatest interest is in cognitivism, whose proponents explore the problems of religious knowledge using a number of standards of classical epistemology, yet at the same time modify them, creating standards of religious epistemology proper. One of the authors who develop this direction is J. Greco, who continues the tradition of studying evidence ("testimonial evidence") and its role in the formation and functioning of religious consciousness. In an effort to organize witness knowledge, he tries to typologize it, distinguishing, on the one hand, knowledge presented as a set of witness data, and, on the other hand, as knowledge transmitted and assimilated in the processes of communication that take place, for example, within a religious community. J. Greco criticizes the arguments of skeptics who claim that it is impossible that the evidence can serve as a sufficient basis for religious belief. The article emphasizes the simplicity of such an approach, since J. Greco does not distinguish the types of knowledge that are formed as a result of evidence (in particular, reflexive and value-based knowledge, which are formed and assimilated in different ways), which are different in their epistemological characteristics. At the same time, he focuses on a problem that is significant not only for religious, but also for classical epistemology, namely, the influence of the moral authority of a particular form of comprehension of being (science, religion, etc.) and its specific representatives who develop the relevant knowledge on the assimilation of certain epistemic truths by both specialized communities (for example, the scientific community) and society as a whole. The philosophical arguments of J. Greco shows that the theme of religious evidence within the framework of classical epistemology is not reduced to banal statements that they do not meet the criteria generated by scientific knowledge. These reflections touch upon a number of topics relevant to this epistemology. At the same time, these arguments point to the need to develop a religious epistemology based on the specifics of religious knowledge with its own verification criteria and methodology for obtaining it.

Dostoevsky - Strakhov - Tolstoy: Toward to the Story of One Conflict

The well-known epistolary conflict between Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Strakhov over the latter's slander of the great Russian writer's terrible sins is considered in the article from the point of view a philosophical anthropology and relations not two but between three participants of this story: Dostoyevsky, Strakhov and Tolstoy. This conflict is presented through anthropological, existential, and class prisms of description, based on a reconstruction of Strakhov's concept of man as a controversial, dual, and undefined being reflected in Dostoevsky's work. A direct relation between the definition of the dual nature of man in the works of Strakhov and Dostoevsky and interpersonal conflicts within "boundary forms of literature" is substantiated. Special attention is paid to the class of seminarians, the object of Dostoevsky's targeted criticism. He saw their worst characteristics in Strakhov personality. Tolstoy plays the role of an arbiter in this controversy, assessing the situation both in terms of literary, existential and religious thought. In the course of his examination of this conflict, his unexpected closeness to Dostoevsky was discovered in regard to assessment of Strakhov. The point of their coincidence was the "pink Christianity" of the writers, who justify man in a quite similar manner, in terms of their religious consciousness.

Schelling – from Logos to Myth

This article aims to analyze the beginning of the transition from logos to myth. To incorporate the religious into his Enlightenment philosophical system, Schelling presents a reconstruction of myth. The conceptions of the religious consciousness of the Self from antiquity as presented. The myth embodies cultural reality and the history of self-consciousness, an idea that was later considered by Mircea Eliade. Myths evolve in parallel with human evolution. The need for the development of abstract thinking and the complex social environment presuppose the new mythology. Christianity in history appears as part of the mechanism of human development, which generally symbolizes the transition from mythology to Christianity. Theology must abstract mythologies from the purely divine, but together they participate in the formation of human consciousness.

Consolation by Justice: Religious Consciousness of Pandemic Traumatic Events

The article reviews secular and religious consciousness of the traumatic events of the coronavirus pandemic. Authors use the theory of cultural secularization for distinction of these two types of consciousness. In the modern age, the theory of "multiple worlds" developed, whose authors proved that people live in different worlds, realities and belong to different types of consciousness. The article analyzes two types of consciousness that create different life worlds of those who have these consciousnesses. The ethical component of understanding the universal traumatic event is analyzed in the aspect of the problem of connection between the concepts "consolation" and "justice". Consolation practices have been known since antiquity, and justice as an effect of establishing cosmic order is considered in many world cultures. In times of crisis, archaic layers of social consciousness become actualized, since it is required to use all resources of collective memory. The secular consciousness is characterized by the idea of man-made immanent justice: justice is established by the creators of human laws. Religious consciousness is based on the idea of a transcendental source of justice that is Creator of being who is a transcendental subject. Comprehension of a traumatic event for religious consciousness is a process of its normalization by giving it the quality of a just event that is necessary for ordering the world, restoring balance between the actions of people and the actions of nature. The psyche is calmed down by giving a just meaning by correlating it with the universal law of the Cosmos or the Creator's plan. Religious consciousness will always seek consolation in the aspect of the relationship between the immanent and transcendental levels of being, since its world is fundamentally dual, metaphysical.

1. Meeting Mary

‘Meeting Mary’ introduces Mary, the mother of Jesus who has a place in the religious consciousness of the 3.8 billion Christians and Muslims. Muslims and Christians agree that by the power of God a Jewish virgin named Mary miraculously became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus the prophet, miracle-worker, and Messiah. The Virgin Mary is one of the most famous women in history but she has also been subject to misunderstandings, unquestioned presuppositions, and misinformation. The Virgin Mary continues to be a religiously divisive figure. The Marian traditions spans through the sculptures Mary of the Miraculous Medal from 1830 France and Virgin Mother by the contemporary artist Damien Hirst.

Post-liberal Communitarianism in Contemporary Russia: Future in the Legacy of the Past

The address to communitarianism as a system of ideas and a model of the “ideal type” of a public organization can serve as the foundation for scientific and philosophical research of the problems of organizing public dialogue and social consolidation, the implementation of the organic relationship of technological progress with institutional and anthropological conservatism. The issue of communitarianism has a certain tradition in Russian thought of different eras and directions (Slavophilism, philosophy of the “new religious consciousness”, Eurasianism, ethical and anthropological studies in Soviet – orthodox and non–Marxist – philosophy and certain recent historical, philosophical and political science works), which is both indirect and in some cases quite direct. Comparing the approaches of domestic and foreign authors to the factors of transformation of society on the principles of social harmony allows us to conclude that when in Western philosophy communitarianism is simply the criticism of liberalism and the search for a balance between various social forces interests, in Russia it is capable to reach a fundamentally higher axiological and theoretical level within the framework of integration with the conceptual baggage of the Russian idea and the real experience of the state of social justice understanding.

FORMS OF RESOLVING THE CONFLICT OF LEGAL AND RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS IN MODERN TIME

The main types of conflicts between modern forms of religion and law have been identified. One of them is headed by representatives of traditional churches. The other is the bearers of a new, non-traditional religious consciousness – "New Religious Movements". The third – representatives of the secular legal worldview. Religious expertise is determined as the most adequate form of resolving conflicts between them. The key problems arising in the process of applying this expertise are analyzed.