Why religion in Russia is embracing the internet

Published 21 October, 2008, 14:20

Christian chatrooms, clerical blogs and even internet social networking – all are innovations going from strength to strength in the Russian Orthodox Church. That’s despite the fact it’s a world where mobile phones, globalisation and even individual taxpayer identification numbers are opposed with fervour.

Believers from all over Russia get engaged in debates, find lost pilgrimage companions and even form relationships using a variety of internet services, like the Sobornoedelo.ru social networking site.

The project was launched in the summer of 2008, giving Orthodox Christians an opportunity to share photos, send messages and find people from their own parish. 

The site is closely monitored and censored by clerics to ensure moral dignity and conformity with Christian values. Since its launch, the website has gained 1100 members, but that number is predicted to grow over the next few months.

Clerics' blogs are, naturally, individual. Nevertheless, all of them note a necessity to express values and beliefs congruent with those of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to blogging clerics, the Church is not an institution where people can say whatever they want. Advice, on the other hand, is always gladly given.

However, religious sacraments still cannot be conducted virtually. Most clerics, in line with the Orthodox Christian faith, are opposed to the very notion of confessions or services online. They believe the sacraments are designed to be a living connection between a person and God, through a cleric as a mediator. For example, a project designed to recreate an Orthodox religious service was heavily criticised in 2006 and eventually shut down.

Nevertheless, the head of the press service of the Moscow patriarchy, Vladimir Vigilyansky, thinks that the outpour of religion on the internet is beneficial as a general rule.
 
“Missionary activity in any medium is good,” he said.

According to Vigilyansky, there are currently around 500 blogging clerics in Russia, 60-70 of whom are currently “extremely active”

The phenomenon of “religious internet” is not confined to Orthodoxy. Russia is a country which counts over 20 million Muslims who live in vibrant communities which, quite naturally, find a place within the Russian cyberspace.

Islam.ru is a social network website which allows Muslims all over Russia to create email accounts, share experiences and sign up to a virtual matrimonial agency. It also has closed forums and sections designed specifically for Muslim women.

The man behind the site, Abdullah Rinat Muhametov, says that Muslim women are more active on the internet than men. They help each other solve legal and medical problems, set up help networks and establish counselling services.

One of these forums eventually became an independent organisation offline. It is responsible for the publication of a magazine, arranging courses and setting up a hotline for Muslim women in Russia.

Unlike their Orthodox counterparts, Imams do not often read blogs.

“Being people of mature age, shaped during the Soviet era, they are often not on friendly terms with computers,” explained Muhametov. 

However, Shamil Alyautdinov, a relatively new face in the blogosphere, is a pioneer imam with his own journal-based website. He posts theological essays and video logs of his sermons. 

A global issue

Although a relatively recent trend, the phenomenon of various faiths going global through the internet is nothing new. Islamonline.net is an informative portal, providing a detailed outlook into the culture, history and news of the Islamic world. But it also provides a spiritual counselling service, a section dealing with women's issues and even a matrimonial page – an online matchmaking service for Muslim men and women. It is proving to be extremely popular, securing over 159 million page visits in 2006 from 213 countries.

Christian educational networks, social websites and chatrooms are easy to find and enjoy a stable level of popularity. 

Blogs with a Christian attitude have long been popular all over the world. They have their own portals, christianblog.com being the most popular. Whole websites have been dedicated to the issue of how to make your Christian blog popular and spread the Christian message further and wider.

Some of the advice given to budding Christian bloggers in a special section on ied.gospelcom.net is to adapt a strategy: “Have a clear mental picture of your target reader. Understand how not-yet-Christians think, and avoid things which would be off-putting, or only understood by Christians. Take time to assess your readership and site purpose.”

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