An article by Iuliia Sinelina published in the January–February 2019 issue of the Russian Social Science Review presented data on religious identification, as contrasted with religiosity, in the Russian Federation. Perhaps not surprisingly, survey respondents’ assertions of religious identity significantly exceeded their self-reported measures of actual religious observance and belief. The same might be said (given what we know about their personal conduct) with respect to some of the political leaders in Russia and in many other countries of diverse faith traditions (the United States included) who have overtly identified themselves with religious constituencies that help them to delegitimize liberal-democratic values and fortify their cultural-conservative, majoritarian-nationalist bases of support. As noted in an article in The Christian Century (August 2, 2018) on the otherwise surprising linkages between American Evangelical Christian leaders, hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the current political leaderships of both countries, it may be that sexual and gender politics generate the most heat, but “traditional values” also include “patriotism, respect for the military, and the celebration of historic religious national identities, as in ‘Christian America’ or ‘Holy Russia.’” In the present issue of the Russian Social Science Review, Denis Zhuravlev suggests that such a marriage between church and state authorities may do more to corrupt a politicized religious establishment than to morally uplift a political elite. Other articles in this issue explore topics concerning moral, ethical, and religious education and the application of Orthodox Christian values in psychology and philosophy.
—P.A.K.