While in the West, politician and leaders take their cues from liberalist agendas and the radical leftist intelligentsia, in Russia the more conservative and traditional views hold sway. This is no more obvious than in the recent round table discussion held on July 27th by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation with representatives from the largest influencers in Russian society.
The purpose of this discussion was, as the chamber announced:
“Cooperation between state institutions and society to protect and preserve traditional Russian spiritual and moral values: principles, priorities, objectives.”
Among those attending were some of Russia’s biggest conservative Christian activists:
- N.I. Moskvitina; a member of the OP Commission on Demography, Protection of Family, Children and Traditional Family Values
- V.M. Korovin; the Deputy Head of the International Eurasian Movement, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Church
- A.B. Kormukhin; the leader of the public movement "Forty Forty"
- A.B. Tsyganov; a member of the Public Council at the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications and Editor in Chief of the Katyusha Russian News Agency
- E. Y. Zhgutova; the head of the Ivan Chay Public Center for the Protection of Traditional Family Values
These influencers of Russian society now were able to influence Russian policy, and while these were the major promoters during this meeting of conservative Christian values, they were not alone. Many at the discussion were on the same page, with the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations with Society and the Media saying that:
“Our society is waiting for concrete, practical steps from the political authorities…the values of the Russian Orthodox Church are the foundation of the state policy to preserve and strengthen Russia's traditional spiritual and moral values.”
While the West continues to deteriorate, it is clear that in Russia their federal foundation is continuously being grounded by traditional conservative Christian values supported by outspoken and strong Christian activists.