Leiden University Student Repository

Driel, Rens van (2017)

The Entry of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Public Debate on Human Rights: a Quest for Influence?

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

The purpose of this research is to shed light on the current attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards human rights. The analysis of the Russian Orthodox Church's basic teaching on human dignity freedom and rights, an official church document published in 2008 is central to this research. The content reveals a large difference between the Orthodox Christian world view and the Western liberal world view. Whereas Orthodox Christianity defines freedom as freedom from evil, Western liberalism defines freedom as individual autonomy. Connected to this difference in definition is the rejection of the philosophical foundation of Western society by the Russian Orthodox Church. What motivates the church to oppose liberalism is the protection of Christians in their quest for salvation. Taking into account the opinions of other scholars who have analyzed this document, I conclude that its publication points to a strategy adopted by patriarch Kirill. This strategy can be summarized as...Show moreThe purpose of this research is to shed light on the current attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards human rights. The analysis of the Russian Orthodox Church's basic teaching on human dignity freedom and rights, an official church document published in 2008 is central to this research. The content reveals a large difference between the Orthodox Christian world view and the Western liberal world view. Whereas Orthodox Christianity defines freedom as freedom from evil, Western liberalism defines freedom as individual autonomy. Connected to this difference in definition is the rejection of the philosophical foundation of Western society by the Russian Orthodox Church. What motivates the church to oppose liberalism is the protection of Christians in their quest for salvation. Taking into account the opinions of other scholars who have analyzed this document, I conclude that its publication points to a strategy adopted by patriarch Kirill. This strategy can be summarized as seeking to enlarge the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in society, without doing concessions in terms of dogma.Show less

Russian Orthodox Church

human rights

religion

morality politics

norm entrepreneurship

Author

Driel, Rens van

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Boele, O.F.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en