Religious intolerance & oppression

Russia

Summary:

For seventy years following World War I, the official state religion in Russia was Atheism. The country had one of the most liberal constitution in the world with firm guarantees of human rights and freedoms. Unfortunately for the citizens of the USSR, it was almost never applied in practice.

Many faith groups in the country lost the confidence of their membership during the communist era because so many religious leaders cooperated with, and/or were employed by, the KGB -- the Russian secret police.

The country's predominate religion is the Russian Orthodox Church. The government gives preferential treatment to this group in the belief that it increases social cohesiveness. Unfortunately, this policy has negative effects on minority faith groups.

There is a strong anti-cult movement in Russia that is opposed to "religious extremism" and includes many benign new religious movements within that category.