Controversial bill on evangelism introduced in Russian parliament

[Jack Ryan]

EXPERTS DIFFER IN OPINION ABOUT LEGISLATIVE CONTROL OF PREACHERS
RIA Novosti, 17 February 2016
 
A draft law defining in federal legislation the concept of missionary activity has evoked a mixed reaction among representatives of religious organizations and experts questioned by RIA Novosti. Some see in it a long-needed measure; to the contrary, others declare it to be in contradiction with the constitution of the Russian federation.
 
The authors of the draft law introduced this week into the State Duma—the Arkhangelsk provincial assembly of deputies—want to supplement the existing law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" with an article entitled "Missionary activity." The initiators explain that in its current form the legislation does not adequately regulate the legal relations connected with the procedure for conducting missionary activity and it lacks in particular control of the activity of "missionaries, including those who have come from abroad and are preaching on Russian territory."
 
"I remind you that Russia is a secular state, where all religious organizations have equal status. Their activity is regulated by the law 'On freedom of conscience,' into which it is proposed to introduce changes. I suppose that there already now is a negative conclusion by the government," Yaroslav Nilov, a deputy of the LDPR fraction and head of the duma's Committee on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, told RIA Novosti. He said that this may be because when it has successfully gone through state registration a religious organization has the right "to implement the goals of its charter, which are guaranteed by the constitution." He said that such goals include the dissemination of the faith, conduct of educational events, implementation of canons, conduct of ceremonies, and "engagement in such activity as may be called missionary activity."
 
Therefore, the deputy suggests, the government has considered that to prescribe in addition the concept of "missionary activity" in the law is "excessive."
 
The news agency's interlocutor assured that the standing committee "has an obligation to discuss and to determine future prospects" of the legislative initiative. He also noted that a number of legislative assemblies have adopted similar regional laws.
 
Position of Religious Organizations
 
The Russian Orthodox Church has declared that it does not support the initiative of the Arkhangelsk deputies. The director of the Legal Service of the Moscow patriarchate, Hegumena Kseniia Chernega, reported that a similar draft law was prepared by the cabinet of ministers several years ago. The initiative for regulating missionary activity—which is first of all illegal—belonged, she said, not to the church but to the Ministry of Justice.
 
"We rejected this idea since there were many subjective concepts," Chernega stated, explaining that at the time there was talk, for example, about problems in determining the affiliation of a person with one or another confession or who is a representative of a religious organization. "We are talking, in such a case, about the persons who act with authorization or who are leaders of religious organizations, clergy," the director of the Legal Service of MP explains.
 
Chernega thinks that the constituent elements of the country [subjects] cannot be given the right to regulate missionary activity. This violates the constitution and "may seriously infringe the rights of citizens."
 
The first vice-chairman of the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Russia, Damir Mukhetdinov, told RIA Novosti the performance of missionary activity is nothing other than "the obligation of the true Muslim." He emphasized that this is "a very difficult topic," since, on one hand, one is talking about an attempt to combat preaching activity of "destructive sects and movements," and, on the other hand, this deals with questions of doctrine that require a definite point of view of theologians and religious leaders.
 
"In such a case, we will have to change the religious imperatives themselves since after all the charters of the ecclesiastical boards of Muslims say that their purpose is to spread their religion, that is, to engage in missionary activity," Mukhetdinov thinks. In his view, legislative limits on missionary activity "will not be accepted by believing people," since they will take away from them one of the primary dogmatic functions: "to bear the word of God."
 
Opinion of Experts
 
In his turn, the senior scientific associate of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leonid Siukiyainen, suggests that legislative regulating of the activity of missionaries "is possible in principle." "In the past 20 years there have been many situations which evoked the desire and necessity of adopting such legislative acts. They have been adopted in a number of constituent elements of the Russian federation. We know the situation that troubles the Russian Orthodox Church and we know many sensitive issues that are connected with Muslim religious organizations. Therefore I think that it may make sense to regulate this," the legal expert said. At the same time, he emphasized that the regulation should be accomplished without violation of provisions of the chief law of the country and not contradict relevant European documents on this topic that Russia also has signed.
 
The necessity of adopting a law on the federal level was previously stated by the president of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects, Alexander Dvorkin. The religious studies expert explained that such a measure would be aimed, in the first place, not at sectarians but at organizations in whose name they are conducting their mission. He said that imprisonment of individual members of sects is "an extremely undesirable development of things," since sects "dream that their members would receive real prison terms," so that then they can "talk about persecution of religion in Russia." (tr. by PDS, posted 17 February 2016)

TEXT OF AMENDMENT OF RELIGION LAW

Introduced by Arkhangelsk provincial Assembly of Deputies
 
Draft
 
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
FEDERAL LAW
 
On introducing changes into federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations"
 
Article 1
 
To introduce into chapter II of the federal law of 26 September 1997 "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" a change, adding to it article 5.1 of the following contents:
 
Article 5.1 Missionary activity
 
1. Missionary activity means informational and organizational activity of representatives of religious associations, and also of persons distributing religious literature and other items of religious significance, produced by religious associations, directly or indirectly intended for the dissemination of their teaching and religious practice on the territory of the Russian federation among persons of a different faith and/or nonbelievers.
2. A missionary is a person who conducts missionary activity on the territory of the Russian federation.
3. Informational missionary activity is activity of missionaries aimed at announcing, popularizing, and disseminating any religious views, notions, and religious practice by oral, printed, electronic, and other means.
4. Organizational missionary activity is activity of missionaries aimed at the creation of organized religious structures (associations), training of specialists, organizing and conducting religious events, and creation of other conditions for accomplishment of missionary activity.
5. Religious associations have the right to conduct missionary activity.
The procedure for conducting missionary activity by a religious association on the territory of a subject [constituent element] of the Russian federation is established by legislation of a subject of the Russian federation.
 
Article 2
 
The present federal law becomes effective from the day of its official publication.
 
V.V. Putin,
President of the Russian federation
Moscow, Kremlin
 
(tr. by PDS, posted 17 February 2016)
Russian original posted on official site of State Duma, 15 February 2016

http://ria.ru/religion/20160217/1376279891.html