Wow! I would never have guessed this: The Russian government is allowing Christian education in public schools as a way to assimilate immigrants, especially Muslims, to Russian society.
Here is how the Los Angeles Times report begins:
KOSTROVO, RUSSIA — Today they would learn about drawing, Russian Orthodox saints and God. The 7-year-olds sat straight at their desks, sun pouring through lace curtains and cherry trees blooming in the fields beyond. The teacher set a birch branch before the children and told them it was fragile and unique, just like their souls.
“If you think you can’t draw properly, who will help you?” she asked.
“God will help us,” a boy called out.
“Yes, God will guide your hand, so be confident, have faith.”
This is Tuesday, one of the two days a week dedicated to Orthodox education at this sleepy public school in the lush forests outside Moscow. All the girls and women have forgone pants in favor of skirts, and every student is learning Christian catechism along with reading, writing and arithmetic.
It’s an unlikely scene, not least because this is a public school in a country that, just a few decades back, prided itself on institutional atheism. It’s also a strange sight because as many as half of the pupils are Muslim, with a few Jews, Buddhists and nonbelievers mixed in. Many of their families arrived recently from Central Asia and the Caucasus in search of better schools and jobs.
At school, the students paint massive murals of Jesus, memorize myriad details about Orthodox saints and discuss New Testament stories with the local priest, who barrels into class in flowing black robes to oversee the students’ spiritual formation. At home, some of the children are learning to read the Koran in Arabic.
Unbelievable! Did you ever think you would see something like this in your lifetime! Most European nations are running from their Christian roots and Russia is embracing them.
The government has so far avoided entanglement in a growing debate over whether the classes are appropriate for public education. The decision over whether to add them — and the nebulous question of where culture ends and theology begins — has been left in the hands of local school officials.
The Russians are basically saying that multiculturalism stinks!
….. supporters believe that the courses in Orthodox history and culture will unify Russia by filling an ideological void left by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Orthodox Christianity is the defining core of Russian history and identity, they say, and should be a compulsory subject for every student. Muslim immigrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus are in particular need of Orthodox understanding, they contend, so they can grasp the culture of their new home.
Unbelievable! I’m so stunned I don’t know what else to say!