This article is devoted to a religion role in the conditions of identification of the Kazakhstan society. Prompt process of modernization of the Kazakhstan society at a turn of the XX–XXI centuries brought to peculiar to «the religious Renaissance». At the same time, this process of spiritual revival revealed also certain problems which Kazakhstan didn't face. Paramount task today is systematic and profound studying, monitoring of a religious situation in our country, the analysis of a condition and dynamics, religious associations.
As it so happened, that Kazakhstan is situated between Europe and Asia, maybe culturally, not geographically. That’s why Kazakhstan is at the interface of social-cultural, confessional conflicts; here you can spot the invisible border between two world religions — Islam and Christianity. And from many centuries this border has impacted on the mind of folks, who live in this territory.
Confessional factor has an essential role in the becoming on ethnic identity on the first levels of ethnos’ conformation. Religion, as form of henotheism, created the pantheon of the alliance of tribes, which accepted victims and prayed only by this alliance, giving the sacral sanction for ethnic identity.
Nowadays pure henotheism is met very rarely (for example, Japanese Shintoism, Jewish Judaism). Generally World religions are over-national and over-ethnic. «Individuum, accepting Islam, is losing his own ethno-cultural definiteness like something religiously significant: a mere definiteness is his belonging to Islam» [1].
Anyway, henotheistic form of religious beliefs continues to be one of the basic of ethnic identity.
So, significant amount of people convince, that Kazakhs are only Muslim (sunni of Hanafi maskhab exactly), and Russians are the representatives of orthodox church and etc.
The breakaway of «your» religion looks like a betrayal, treachery of moral values of your folk. Religious aspect is becoming one of the important aspects of Kazakhstan identity’s infancy, because it appears because of the interaction of ethnic identities.
It is become clear, that now religion is the important factor of social life of our republic. For twenty years of Kazakhstan’s independence religion has passed the way of the fake world-vision, which was in the atheistic USSR, to idea-moral factor of development in the social mind. Religion, giving purports almost everywhere what’s around us, is become to understand as important element of the consolidation of Kazakhstan’s inhabitants. Also, increasing the role of religion in Kazakhstan society causes the beginning of a lot of problems and conflicts, which daily we collide with. And also, these questions are caused because of the connection with other sides of our life.
Let’s explain, if Kazakhstan is the unclerical country, how deep can religion enter into different institutes of state and society? Can connected with religion disciplines be set up into education of school and university? Should religion science be taught in state educational establishments? What aim do we need: to give the basic knowledge about religion or to civilize believing people? Won’t there be the youth divide between religious visions because of it? Each of these questions is the questions from sphere of education. Those kinds of questions are many from different spheres of social and state life on our country.
Another important problem in Kazakhstan is the strategical relationships between state and religious consolidations. According to Constitution of Kazakhstan, all religious consolidations have equal rights. But it’s not easy to realize this legislative norm. But what do equal rights mean for religion? All religious consolidations are given equal rights, but how can they realize it?
Obviously, those big, long-time existing confessions in the territory of Kazakhstan have unequal rights in compare with new religious consolidations. It’s not about new religious consolidations’ derogation of rights in Kazakhstan. Their rights are absolutely the same as in big traditional religious consolidations, but opportunities are not equal. This phenomenon is characterized for any modern country. It depends on the quality of believing people, because more people belong to one confession, more opportunities they have.
This confession has an essential role in society and country, country pays more attention to it, than to others. Believers of this confession impacts on moral and ethic atmosphere in society, confession has opportunity to be important on social and political map of state, to participate in many spheres of life — from education to attendance in governmental authority. Thin confessions cannot compete with them. It’s not about some kind of discrimination between other confessions, it is general world practice.
But Kazakhstan’s traditional religious communities relate very negatively to untraditional confessions. And here are the reasons. No matter how many people in the new confession, but all these religious sects are good at recruitment. The major part of converts is young people. This fact tells us not only about successful recruitment of new believers and followers, but also about untraining protectors of traditional confessions in Kazakhstan because of new changes. That’s why there is negative concern to Krishnan, Yegovian and other sects, which attract a lot of youngsters by their exoticism.
This problem is very serious, that’s why it needs an individual exploration. We should admit, that Kazakhstan young people convert into these kind of religious sects because of marginality, poverty, absence of some moral and ideological values, and they are religious not enough. That kind of youngsters follow their own practical aims, or wish, aspiration, lastly, to be understandable and to heard out by others, to find a support and empathy.
At the same time in Kazakhstan there is practice of giving some benefits to some confessions (practice is issued from big quality of believers and significance for Kazakh society), and also declaration about absolutely equal rights for all confessions. So here is a definite ambiguity. In our opinion, this question demands a maximal clearness. Indefinition in our legislation reduces the reputation of state institutes.
This problem could be not considered, but nowadays there is difficult situation, which related to religion. Religion should be reason of stability and pacification, not factor to conflicts. Religion becomes a motive in conflicts and oppositions. Like an ethnic aspect, religion becomes a basic element of all meaningful conflicts of modernity. Religion, which should unify society, contrarily, destroys. So why? Why does religion, which is the symbol of ethics, morality, humanity and peace-love, become a basic parent of conflicts?
Because religion cannot hold the aggressive and nihilistic tension of modern world, it gives up, becomes weaker, changing basic principles and canons. And politicians use that kind of religion for aggressive actions, which protects their mercantile aims. Here is seen the negative sides of politization of religion. That’s why now politization of religion is received negatively, and it will be the same, when spirituality is turned into ambition. So that’s why lamentable stereotypes have arisen, for example, Islam is the ideological basis of extremism and terrorism, orthodoxy is absolutely dogmatic religion, which doesn’t conform to claims of modernity, Catholicism is the religion of expanse of Western world and etc.
There is no veracity in those kinds of accusations of religion, but daily usual mind of our contemporary is easily ingurgitated these stereotypes, because everything is like that, but in the other hand, religions do not confute such accusations. Orallyyes, religious leaders usually tell us about important mission of religion, but they cannot achieve it in practice. For example, international religious leaders and leaders in the NIS territory have tried to be «intermediary» between antagonistic countries, remind them about high values and to give religious argumentations. As you see, this way was fizzled, and only powered way was successful. Corresponding situation was not exception. Mankind cannot easily apply religion and its principles. Religion does not cave in outer application. In addition, religion has lost its spiritual, cultural, valuable force. Nowadays religion is like decoration. Formally people listen to it, respect its confessional leaders, but in another case, when conflict happens, they changed their significance of priorities. The reason is in different meaning of word «belief». For example, this word is differently understood by politician, waiter, usual believer, scientist and philosopher. Each of them means accessible and understandable value of a word for themselves [2].
Because of that position of religion is conflicting and tragic. All its high values are sincere, but our contemporary, being believer, is not able to admit the basic verity of religion — everything is defined by God.
He is an origin of everything. There is no submission in a modern man, but no submission, no real belief, that’s why people do not live with help of norms of belief. So therefore no sincere belief, no high values, which only religion can show, because religion is a life of people according to God. That’s why, high qualities cannot be shown by religion and negative sides of its politicization impacts. And everybody tries to make «the regulator of people’s behavior» from their belief [3].
Nowadays basically religion is an element of politics. Manuel Castells said: «The basic confessions, practicing something like profane form of religion, depending on state or on market, are losing its own skill to dictate actions to congregation in exchange of safe of soul and sale of heavenly realty» [4]. Therefore, all today problems are not religious, but political. Politics originates problems and tries to solve it itself. Everything: from state-confessional relationships and relationships to radical religious sects to questions about outer symbology, wearing a hijab — connects with politics. We cannot say that religion and its leaders do not try to solve the problems, backwards, they often answer the questions, but their answers are not satisfied and problems are remained.
Answers are not satisfied, because asking people are not ready to listen to a deep, reasoned by a lot of religious dogmas answer, they need a short, easy and vivid answer in the sphere of usual meaning of religion, but religion does not have such answer. So pan-global situation look like that. That’s why reactions of states, politicians and societies are so clumsy on concrete problems round religion (just round, not essentially).
Essentially religion is not interesting for everyone, it is severe, and religious life with its claims is very difficult.
In Kazakhstan relationships of state, society and religious consolidations have created for twenty years according to multi-ethnicity and poli-confessionality of society. It is highly favorable factor of our politics, that such important problems for country are not solved rapidly. Reviewers of politics of our country cannot show the crass strategically mistakes in the state-confessional sphere. Kazakhstan has created an optimal model of state-confessional and interconfessional relationships according to a situation, where we are now. Both of Kazakhstan folk and government deserve it. Kazakhstan experience of creation the relationships between state, society and religion is really positive and interesting for many countries.
But world is rapidly changing, new geopolitical provocations happen and old ones are transforming. Central Asia is the difficult region in the sphere of religious situations. Kazakhstan suffers a sensible pressure from our borders, and religious direction is one of the directions, which cannot impacts positively on the development of Kazakhstan identity. Religion is an important factor of geopolitics, that also complicate whole situation round religion.
Exploratory group with professor R.K.Kadyrzhanov (Institute of philosophy and politology of MES of RK) conducted a sociological survey [5] in different regions of country and it became clear, that religious branches of country are not consolidative enough, the dominative faith is Islam in the form of the Sunni Hanafi maskhab and also there are many radical branches. Russian Orthodox Church has created Mitropolichii district in Kazakhstan, that was dictated not only by inner reasons.
Rome-Catholic Church, considering the Third millennium as «millennium of their own active mission in Asia», widens their attendance in the region of Central Asia. In the region, including Kazakhstan, many new religious consolidations have different directivity of its interests. In Central Asia the amount of radical religious branches increases. This situation does not relieve the religious situation. Kazakhstan has one of the most important aims — to keep and fix a religious world and agreement, which exist in the country. We have a durable basis, we need to support and develop it. And therefore we have some directions and forms of such development.
According to the words of N.A.Nazarbayev, the president of Republic of Kazakhstan: «…necessary to open everybody’s mind, that profane character of state allows to solve the problems of free choice of any religion or atheism more democratically and also ensures the equality of confessions» [6].
Need to develop a religious education with profane directivity of state, historical and mental features and control from the authority of confessions and state. Global experience shows, that religious education is very productive. It systematizes religious knowledge, furthers the best knowledge to the representatives of different religions between each other, which helps to formation of tolerant mind.
The perfection of legislation in the sphere of freedom of creed and state-confessional relationships is also important for keeping of religious peace and interconfessional agreement in the country. We have to rely on global experience, admitting engagements national interests by Kazakhstan.
We have to encourage the partnerships between confessions of Kazakhstan. Because collaboration with confessions between each other in the social sphere can support a religious situation in positive and optimal condition for Kazakhstan. Actually, contacts and collaboration with confessions and their leaders eliminate much ambiguities and misunderstanding, which sometimes happens between confessions. Intercivilizative, intercultural and interconfessional dialogue is also the effective supportive form of interreligious piece and rapport. That is why, do not forget, that the sphere of inner-religious verities, its dogmas possess unicity and cannot be the object of dialogues, discussions and positions’ approach. Also we should note the big and positive role of congresses of leaders of world and traditional religions, which are regularly carried out in Astana. Nowadays we talk more about threats from religion more than big positive potential of religion, and its potential is really big. We repeat such phrases like «religious extremism», «Islamic extremism and terrorism» as a vow, but we should understand these kind of notions do not exist. There are a lot of enemies of religion, who want to «poison» it, and not only Islam, it’s also Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and etc. There are politicians, who wish to «strengthen» their positions with help of religion: that’s why «excuses» of jihad is arisen and radical branches protect themselves by this way. There are politicians, who provocative Islam to answer, for example, the caricatures of Prophet and Koran’s incineration and all other geopolitical subterfuges, destroying Islam.
But it does not mean that this is religion’s fault. Religion has little, not using opportunities to unify society, state, international and global politics. It has its facilities, which concentrates around from childhood popular religious verity about evil, which can be destroyed by good, and, in spite of innocence of this thesis, it is sincere and possesses big power. Finally, also one of the instruments of consolidation of cohesion between religions and raise of protection of country against «religious» (pseudoreligious) provocations is a raise of level of trust to religious leaders. This is not an elementary question, it does not have many sides. People judge religions according to look of imam, pastor, rabbi. But now moral look of majority of them must change into positive side.
However, this aspect is important for country, but not the first, in comparison of weakness of religious leaders against activists of radical consolidations. Why must all responsibility be related to the representatives of law? Where is «spiritual medicine» for «fight for wahhabists and other representatives of radical branches? It is known, that it is impossible to win with help of force in the spiritual sphere. Here is possible only spiritual victory. Yes, radical religious directions think that their position is true. And representatives of radical directions do not want to discuss about their belief. But we should discuss them, there is no other way. How can they integrate into our Kazakhstan society? Where are meetings, conversations, discussions, controversies with, for example, salaphites? Where is a spirituality? Where is an ethic? Where is the wisdom of religious leaders? Where is the strength of good? Questions are difficult and dislikable, but how can religious leaders hope for easiness, when labour, dignity and wisdom are demanded by them?
In conclusion we should note an ultimate importance of question about profane character in Kazakhstan. The first article says: «The Republic of Kazakhstan proclaims itself a democratic, secular, legal and social state whose highest values are an individual, his life, rights and freedoms». Profane character allows believing citizens of country to satisfy their needs, realize their own right to freedom of creed. However, Central Asia is becoming more powerful in the islamization of society and, partly, states. So sociological surveys in Kyrgyzstan show a sustainable growth of views of creation Islamic country, nowadays more than 50 % support it. Also we can say about high instability in this country, but such situation is in Tajikistan, where powerful structures open rooms for prayer in state organizations or, backwards, close it and fight against hijab and other outer exhibitions of religiosity; they send young people to study in Foreign Islamic universities or, backwards again, call away, using threats. Now Tajikistan has to advocate their temporality.
In Kazakhstan today profane character of country is not doubted by absolute majority of our citizens and majority of different confessions. According to sociologic explorations, about 90 % respondents support a profane type of state conformation of Kazakhstan. However, representatives of religion have already had significant differences in the answers to this question. Besides, gradually the amount of supporters of more presence of religion in the culture and politics increases. But this question has other sides, but not so positive. Profane type of state does not dislodge a religion from social and state life of country. Firstly, state is renounced from religious consolidations, not from religion. Secondly, religion cannot be principally renounced from society, because almost all popularity of Kazakhstan is believers, so that’s why society is a believer too, and we are not able to break away. This kind of states has to be adequately understood: religion does not intervene into state, and state — into religious consolidations. But state cannot be controlled in the state-confessional relationships. This sphere is important for stability either state, or society. There are the features of relationships between state and religion, and we need to remember it. These relationships can’t not to develop, life has new tasks, and their decision demands a perfection of ways and methods in the state-confessional sphere. We will hope that perfection of these relationships causes the benefits of state and religion, and religious peace and tolerance will still be kept in Kazakhstan.
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