he acts council for culture it's an influential body both clergymen and dozens of prominent people representing the russian culture. so i guess the reason they included me in the presidential council was because they needed to have every preventative from the patriarch's council. i don't quite get it i would think that the council for culture should occupy itself with internal things and you're talking like a bureaucrat they needed a representative it sounds very bureaucratic like they want to have representatives from various groups one from women one from college students and so one. well in a sense the presidential council for culture is indeed a credit body. so they do need representatives from various segments of russian culture. they need to act composes act is right is. the do you need someone to represent such a crucial part of russian culture as religion. but i

suppose that you as a man of religion should pursue some goals so would do you say to my second question what do you need this for are you going to use this as an opportunity to fight for or against something. new fighting is a very boring thing to do and it is something we don't engage in unless we're talking about struggling with a selves. as from a mission in the presidential council for culture i do have certain goals. for instance we have all kinds of strategies in our country there is an economic strategy a defense strategy there is a strategy for education but there is no strategy for culture and moral development and this causes lots of problems there are no priorities and i'm not talking about an ideology as article thirteen of the constitution says they can be no state

ideology. but i just think they differently should be. said with regard to culture. because otherwise it is easy to lose your identity. a long time we have been discussing what kind of a national idea russia should have. i believe our national idea lies in a culture. mean a talker see orthodoxy and nationalism. in our culture as well as in our history and that there is where we should get the sense of direction. society. therefore i think a mission is exactly to identify. who this is in the public. so you think your job and the job of the council is to offer us some ideas this is not an ideology just some ideas to bring some sense of purpose into

the government's cultural policies and to get national priorities right. that is correct. you went to the film academy where you majored in scriptwriting apparently you had no intention of being a priest what brought you to the church how did it all happen. this is a private but i will tell you you have a very unusual story. well in fact we did me seem unusual to you. it is very common for my generation of clergymen those who are aged between forty five and fifty five like myself. families who are not part of the church. were actually atheists. we were in the young communist league. yes we were indeed in the young communist league we were an entirely lost

generation. some of our grandparents were religious but our periods were almost entirely. i was in exactly the same situation as the rest of my peers i knew or thought i would be a priest one day. when i went to college i was an atheist member of the young communist league. and then it just dawned on me one day that all the people i respected everybody i wanted to follow in my life were actually religious people but. tolstoy pushkin newton compelling because. shakespeare in many many others. even copernicus so yes copernicus was a priest you know but that's a different story so what toaster was excommunicated from the church he was not. yes he was some say that he was not really excommunicated.

i don't know anything about english would be like me arguing with you about articles in english all right that's the way he was excommunicated but the point is he was a believe as was copernicus and the people had no respect for party bosses in the office of the communist ideology were absolutely. and the girl who was in charge of ideological instruction at school i remember her name was marina and says for all the questions she was an atheist to. me that somebody must be to. to be wrong here it is essentially pushkin those newton in shakespeare this is this girl marina. if. i found the answer to my question will store and today. there is a traditional reunion. for priests who used to be students of the moscow state university and there is about

a hundred priests of my age coming through. your book every day saints was received really well by russian readers and now it's been translated and published in english. what countries and what kind of people would you like to reach out to with pickling wish edition. no idea so it wasn't your idea when you put it simply suggested translating this book into english and accept a deal with gratitude but you know that it was you know that's what it's a russian edition sold one point one million copies in the first year. we are printing ten thousand copies for the united states. so you know the stuff that. i believe there are many orthodox christians in the united states russian orthodox believe is alone are both strong probably have another million in canada plus we have greece by the way the book has also been translated into greek the first two

runs have been sold out and no they're printing the third one in six months in greece so we'll see but in any case and you happy that james billington academic has offered to organise a presentation of the english edition of my book the library of congress an affirmative response but just a reminder that your watching spotlight the program will be back in time after we take a break so stay with us don't. the

friendship asian of russia has started again after two hundred years up at the. jet. has arrived from overseas to lead the army have to. take my time to prepare myself to get it right i know. it's going to start over. james brown will reveal. the soldiers. to do it all again.

to build a. mission to teach.

to.

welcome back to spotlight i'm al gore love and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is. one of the most respected priests of the russian orthodox church and author of the bestselling every day saints and other stories. let's talk about politics now no t.v. show can ignore it these days somebody there is this high profile case of the band pussy riot their performance in christ the savior cathedral and the trial that followed where they were sentenced to two years in jail many people think that it was the church that sort of tough sanctions for them wasn't the official position of the russian orthodox church on this and what is your personal view. that able to

say that the church which purposefully sought a tough sentence for the girls this is total nonsense of course he's cute because it was indeed in the russian law is best. whether the act of the goes was a criminal offense or defense. no if you excuse my speculation if i were a judge myself i would have regarded it as an administrative offense. and i would have combined it with only a previous offenses. and i would have handed them down a fine oh about three hundred roubles. yeah if you were authorized by the church you bet and if. you ask the court to release them to the church to correct them in some other way. rather than by sending them to prison. no i wouldn't. work.

you mean some people can't change. or. that's the only point if i were authorized i would give them a three hundred fine and let them walk that would have caused an explosion but people would have said how come you give him a fine for such a terrible deed in the u.k. in flag of a monument to british soldiers sentenced to six months in prison no one in the u.k. question the sentence. in the russian city of a group of young people arrested painting swastikas on a scene ago they were sentenced to six years in prison and there was no outcry either let's go back a little as a priest do you thing there are people including these women who can be convinced to change their ways. no that is not true what's the time looking at them. they would repent. calling upon them to express if not removed

then it least sadness at what they had done. but in return they saying no they had their up at uni. they would do the same thing again and again and again this is long since you believe in god you should think they are of the devil and they will change their ways one day but the devil will come on you can say that then what are they just fools i believe that was largely due to foolishness but one day they will know better. and i think the worst part of this whole story is that one day these girls will grow up with their world in fact girls and they are in their late twenties now nevertheless i believe they have been handed down harsh sentence anyway one day they will grow up and they will grow wiser and they will reveal your age when they have done it and their children and grandchildren

will nonetheless be profoundly shocked by what their grandmothers did the issue of religion seems to be just as sensitive in the modern world as it used to be in the middle ages spotlights to me the has more. this religious complex in the north of moscow has a synagogue and also the structure and a mosque oh very close to each other according to the plan a buddhist temple is also to be built here and this complex is an attempt by moscow businessman to show that people of different religions can co-exist peacefully however considering the ever repeating really tryna do it scandals this point of view would seem to be too idealistic while there's no more includes ition and no one can be burned at the stake for pronouncing anti-religious fuse reason certain issues are not is still dangerous they aren't of the twentieth century so christians around the world right against martin scorsese's one thousand nine

hundred eight movie the last temptation of christ a year later it was lose one's turn to be furious condemn and so man regimes satanic verses ayatollah khomeini went as far as issuing the fatwa against their. right. the twenty first century is in a way different the world of islam has been raging over the innocence of muslims a us made film mocking the prophet muhammad the film on the a q but to thousands writing across the middle east north africa and asia attacking embassies and killing people the death toll is already around forty as if that was not enough a french cartoon issued on the nineteenth of september they did fuel to the fire meanwhile the also dick's question world is also the punk band pussy riot were sentenced for two years in jail. after their performance in one of the major russian orthodox cathedral politicians public figures and the general public in

russia were divided some called in the act a blasphemy others fight for freedom of speech the story went beyond russia with world stars showing their support for the band the ultimate expression of support for the sentence was this a question of who is sites vandals took down crosses and left graffiti on the walls of churches whatever the scale of polemic and event violence in any of the situations one outcome is guaranteed the skyrocketing popularity of those who provoked the religion related debate. religious wars crusades are history now but today we see these religious riots sometimes even involving bloodshed in response to what i see in significant provocations. scorsese and so forth. such a harsh reaction. i would distinguish between protests in the christian world and

the protests in the muslim world as a process in the christian world and the most people have demonstrated against a blasphemous exit bishan or something like that perhaps some of those provocations and. responding to. the should actually. by protesting against them that's exactly what happens unfortunately. what can you do about it people. respond to them especially when the us who insolent. in some of the recent events. something about it which. is indignation only natural. we have to realize that although they live in the twenty first century those people respond to things. with the traditions of a much earlier period. because they have

a younger religion i wouldn't say they're that much. six hundred years younger than christianity that isn't the point. i think they're. brave that they can ignore any response from the muslim world. purpose. i think they were deliberately provoking the muslim world even if they could whatever those people are doing in denmark or they are. if we compare this with the response in the christian world first of all christians generally don't have such a strong reaction and second people often quote jesus said about turning the other cheek. you should forgive. those words about turning the other cheek literally or you think of so many other things in religion you shouldn't take those words at face value because we know that sometimes priests take up arms and go into battle with soldiers they would carry across cannot carry

a weapon but there were some priests who would take up arms and i don't want to argue with you. for christ's words the other cheek. only applies to a situation. an attack is aimed against you personally in this case you should not repeat evil with evil but if i see someone taking a weaker person i definitely have to come to their rescue even if i'm a priest and even if i have to use force in this sense. that one of the ways to overcome evil should be by force. correct me if i'm wrong but i think in our religion it is impossible to offend god that is right so i guess you can't offend prophet muhammad tither but you can be offended he is above all that then why do they defend him. they're standing up for

him because their feelings are hurt when there is very simple. advocates of liberalism intolerance both in the west and in russia just don't realize that they're hurting other people's feelings. either that or they doing it on purpose like some said it's to cause other people's pain or else they're terrorists in a spiritual sense in a moral sense so they're ghouls and no different from those are real terrorists you know there's been a lot of talk recently about attacks on the russian orthodox church church heroics and people close to the church say there is a whole campaign unleashed against it and let's listen to what the patriot had to say about this recently. and. i cannot help thinking that it is a certain exploratory attack to see how deep people's faith and commitment to orthodoxy in. many have long barry d.

ability of people it was most of the people to show so far. to protect certain values and to defend their stance. i will not cite offensive statements made in reference to our people by some persons who claim to be a creative class. but it is a scornful view from above. today i think all those who are going through these provocations have seen for themselves that what they have before them is not a faceless mass. but people who are capable of defending what they hold sacred. what is this campaign against the russian orthodox church and its real old and do you think there is such you can paint yeah. absolutely i absolutely agree with the

patriarch when he suggests that there are certain forces at work. that are trying to persuade the people of. a great nation it is but that they should remain silent and passive when they're being humiliated and turned into a bunch of idiots and when their nation values i being trampled upon. we are essentially being told we will trample on your values well drag them to do it. but you should not resist you should take it as the way things are and you should read this and do nothing about it. just that i do agree that there are some forces at work they want to leave. with all these antibodies so to speak without this protective mechanisms of our society therefore i completely agree with the patriarch that when he says that we need to find the strength to resist these

harmful influences that we are faced with today as a nation and society. when i was just. if there really pose a threat to the faith they pose a threat to their faith into the mindset of the people and to the whole nation. the whole nation and its ability to organize this is what's really happening and not just in russia it's happening all over the world when i visited england in scotland i was amazed to see people dress up in traditional costumes and play their traditional music history and yet the new post is not merely to preserve your traditions and i need to just traditional dresses and so on. is to preserve something much more important because this is your identity your values what it was special about thank you thank you very much for being with us today and just a reminder that right yesterday was archimandrite two or three of the best sellers

every day saints and other stories and that's it for the alpha males here if you want to add your sales spotlight or have someone in mind to think they should get to be in this town to drop below half. hour you and let's give the show interactive movie back with more personal comments on what's going on in and outside of russia until then they'll r.t. and take. place. you won't go into the future looks like fish or swimming bird you can catch both of the premier mares like the aviation show of the summer check out a whole family of russian engineering feats didn't let ships truly fly or just go

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you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.