Religion, the Church, and Public Opinion

The "Orthodox revival," the "second Christianization" of post-Soviet Russia, and other clichés in our media require empirical verification, of course. The findings of representative surveys regularly conducted by VTsIOM [the Russian Center for Public Opinion Research] since 1989...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Russian social science review 1998-11, Vol.39 (6), p.51-66
Main Author: Dubin, Boris V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Christianity
Eastern Orthodox churches
Faith
Labor unions
Orthodox Eastern church, Russian
Polls & surveys
Public opinion
Religion
Religion and politics
Religion and sociology
Religious orthodoxy
Russian Federation
Social conditions
Social conditions & trends
Trust
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Description
Summary:The "Orthodox revival," the "second Christianization" of post-Soviet Russia, and other clichés in our media require empirical verification, of course. The findings of representative surveys regularly conducted by VTsIOM [the Russian Center for Public Opinion Research] since 1989 enable us to analyze the quantitative aspect of the problem (fluctuation in the number of believers over several years, frequency of church attendance, observance of basic rituals), as well as to trace the connection between Russians' stated religious beliefs, on the one hand, and their value orientations on other levels (ethnic stereotypes, ideas about the past, political attitudes), on the other. At issue is the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC): the number of believers in the regular VTsIOM surveys who belong to other Christian denominations and to non-Christian faiths falls within the limits of statistical reliability, that is, statistically permissible error; Islam has the highest number of believers (about 4 percent), while the others do not reach even 1 percent. Hence other faiths will be excluded from what follows, and the terms "believers" and "Orthodox" will be used provisionally as synonyms. 1
ISSN:1061-1428
1557-7848
DOI:10.2753/RSS1061-1428390651