Freedom of conscience in Russia

Living in a legal state, you need to know many nuances. For example, what is freedom of conscience. In the Constitution of the Russian Federation there is a separate article (No. 28) devoted to this issue.

For quite a long time, the state (and any other) sphere of life in Russia was inextricably linked with religion. The process that made our country a secular state was quite long. The prerequisites for this were observed under Peter I, and the final picture was formed with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. However, the concept of "freedom of conscience" is relevant not only to religion. We can talk about the narrow and broad meaning of this concept.

Freedom of conscience is an opportunity and the right of every citizen to have his own convictions. This is in a broad sense. In the narrow, freedom of conscience and religion stand on the same level. It is customary to say that a person has the right to profess any religion or not to profess it at all.

What other characteristics does the secular state have?

• In Russia no faith should be recognized and considered official;
• Absolutely all religious organizations are separated from the state, and are equal before and before the law;
• The same applies to citizens with different views of the world, religion. Any of them (be it Orthodox, Muslim, Buddhist or a representative of another religion) has the same rights and duties as other people.

It is worth noting that if in 1917 the freedom of conscience in the Constitution implied a complete separation of the church from the state. And in 1997, the Federal Law noted how important role played by Orthodoxy in the history of Russia's development. That is why many church holidays today are celebrated among ordinary citizens.

The rapid development of science and constant stunning discoveries give people food for thought. They lead to the fact that he begins to demand and seek evidence for his convictions. Science is the root cause of the fact that in all civilized states there is freedom of conscience. It allows you to choose what each individual person is closer to: critical thinking or reliance on higher powers. For the normal development of society, it is necessary to have both groups of people.

However, today's democratic sentiments often lead to the fact that adherents of freedom of conscience are too zealously starting to defend their point of view. At the same time, under the cover of scientific arguments, they rarely differ from religious fanatics. And the most diverse forms of free-thinking (godlessness, nihilism, atheism, skepticism and many others) take on an extremely negative color. On the other hand, the reaction of the clergy to certain antics of the various currents against the church (the case of the Pussy Riot group, for example) may also be too harsh. This provokes other people to struggle with established religious traditions.

Perception of religion from a purely philosophical point of view is the most acceptable for humanity. This will allow everyone not only to learn to think, but also to accept and consider a variety of points of view and views on the world.