State-religious relations in modern Russian society

Abstract

The paper discusses main aspects of the modern relations between the state and religion in the Russian society. It argues that the term 'state-religious relations' most fully reflects the essence of these interactions. The relevance of this topic is confirmed by social transformations that led to changes in all spheres, including a religious one. The authors are especially concerned with a tendency of clericalism that manifests itself in the society. The paper discusses main models of state-religious relations. On the basis of that it has been concluded that a cooperative model of state-religious relations functions in Russia, but with its own characteristics. The paper describes the nature of the relationship between the state and religion, using an example of the educational sphere that most clearly represents these links. In addition, the authors indicated factors of convergence of the state and religion providing positive and negative sides of that process. The conclusion is that, nowadays, new state-religious relations are developing in Russia, since the last models have been exhausted