Freedom of Religion in Ukraine - Has it Become a Mirage?

A recent announcement and proclamation by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sets an interesting precedent for religious freedom in Ukraine.

 

Here is the announcement:

 

Here is the key excerpt starting at the 2 minute 32 second mark with the key section highlighted:

 

"Ukrainians will never again be gears of some empires.  We have already gained it and we will ensure the full independence of our state.  We will ensures in particular, spiritual independence.  We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul.  A meeting of the National Security and Defense Council was held today.  The meeting at which we considered numerous facts of connections of certain religious circles in Ukraine with the aggressor state.  Unfortunately, even Russian terror and full-scale war did not convince some figures that it is worth overcoming the temptation of evil.  Well, we have to create conditions where no actors dependent on the aggressor state will have an opportunity to manipulate Urkainians and weaken Ukraine from within.  So, first.  The National Security and Defense Council instructed the Government submit to the Verhovna Rada a draft law on making it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with the centres of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine.  Second, the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience was committed to ensure the religious examination of the Management Statute of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the presence of a church-canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate and, if necessary, to take measures provided for by law.Third. Ensure the verification of the presence of legal grounds and compliance with the conditions of use by religious organizations of the property located on the territory of the National Kyin-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve.  Fourth.  All bodies responsible for ensuring national security must intensify measures to identify and counter the subversive activities of Russian special services in the religious environment of Ukraine and apply personal sanctions - the surnames will be made public soon.  And fifth.  We need to raise the status and strengthen the capabilities of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.  This structure will be reformed, which will enable it to really protect the rights and legitimate interests of the Ukrainians and the state.  With these measure, we guarantee Ukraine's spiritual independence."

 

This resulted in Presidential decree No. 820/2022:

 

...which translates as:

 

DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 820/2022

 

On the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated December 1, 2022 "On certain aspects of the activity of religious organizations in Ukraine and the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)"

 

In accordance with Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine, I decree:

 

1. To implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated December 1, 2022 "On certain aspects of the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine and the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)" (attached).

 

2. Control over the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine put into effect by this Decree shall be entrusted to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

 

3. This Decree enters into force from the day of its publication.

 

President of Ukraine V.ZELENSKY

 

December 1, 2022 DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 820

 

Ukraine is overwhelmingly Orthodox with 64.9 percent of Ukrainians identifying as Christian Orthodox compared to only 9.5 percent Greek Catholic and 18 percent Protestant.  According to The U.S. Department of State, Ukraine's constitution protects freedom of religion and worship.  By law, the government can only restrict this right "...in the “interests of protecting public order, the health and morality of the population, or protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons.  On January 6, 2022, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) came into existence, formally becoming independent of the Russian Orthodox Church for the first time since 1686.  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) continued to be also officially registered as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church even though it remained a constituent part of the Moscow Patriarchate, also known as the Russian Orthodox Church, following the creation of the OCU. The government at times struggled to manage tensions between the newly created OCU and UOC-MP, which competed for members and congregations. 

  

Here is a quote from the State Department report:

 

"After the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted autocephaly to the newly created OCU in January, thereby recognizing a Ukrainian Orthodox institution independent of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Kremlin, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the UOC-MP labelled the OCU a “schismatic” group. UOC-MP representatives stated but did not provide evidence that the OCU had carried out “raider attacks” by deceiving and stealing parishioners by using a similar name. There were continued reports of what some media and political observers characterized as radical groups physically assaulting and pressuring UOC-MP supporters and vandalizing UOC-MP property as well as UOC-MP priests locking out parishioners who wished to change to the OCU. In March representatives of the group Right Sector, commonly characterized as a violent radical group, reportedly pushed and possibly hit UOC-MP parishioners during a scuffle between OCU and UOC-MP members near a UOC-MP church in Hnizdychne, Ternopil Oblast. UOC-MP leaders accused the newly formed OCU of seizing churches belonging to the UOC-MP; the OCU responded that parishioners rather than the OCU had initiated the transfers of affiliation."

 

When surveyed, the 64.9 percent of Ukrainians who disclosed that they were Orthodox believers can be broken down as such:

 

new OCU - 13.2 percent 

 

UOC-MP - 10.6 percent

 

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate - 7.7 percent

 

"just an orthodox believer" - 30.3 percent

 

undecided - 3.1 percent

  

As is typical of issues in Ukraine, there is always a "story behind the story".  It is quite apparent that religion is being used as a wedge to further divide Ukraine and the fact that freedom of religion and worship are part of the Constitution of Ukraine as quoted here:

 

Article 35

 

Everyone has the right to freedom of personal philosophy and religion. This right includes the freedom to profess or not to profess any religion, to perform alone or collectively and unimpededly religious rites and ceremonial rituals, and to conduct religious activity.

 

The exercise of this right may be restricted by law only in the interests of protecting public order, the health and morality of the population, or protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons.

 

The Church and religious organisations in Ukraine are separated from the State, and the school - from the Church. No religion shall be recognised by the State as mandatory.

 

No one shall be relieved of his or her duties before the State or refuse to perform the laws for reasons of religious beliefs. In the event that the performance of military duty is contrary to the religious beliefs of a citizen, the performance of this duty shall be replaced by alternative (non-military) service.

 

...seems to be irrelevant to Ukraine's ruling class as Presidential decree 820/2022 clearly expresses.  Ukrainians are free to worship as long as it is with a religious that is acceptable to Kyiv.  Ukraine's religious freedom is increasingly looking like a mirage.

A Divided America - The Intersection of Religion and Politics

While I have posted on this subject in other postings, I have only recently become aware of another analysis by a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that looks at American society at the intersection of research, culture and public policy. In its 2019 American Values Survey, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) provides us with an interesting snapshot into how religion impacts political persuasion and how it impacts Americans' concerns about the direction that the United States is heading.  Here are some highlights from the report.

Let's start by looking at the critical issues and how Republicans and Democrats rate the importance of each issue:

1.) Health Care - 48 percent Republicans 77 percent Democrats

2.) Climate Change - 17 percent Republicans 72 percent Democrats

3.) Foreign Interference in Elections - 26 percent Republicans 72 percent Democrats

4.) Terrorism - 63 percent Republicans 50 percent Democrats

5.) Immigration - 60 percent Republicans 49 percent Democrats

6.) Crime - 50 percent Republicans 46 percent Democrats

As time has passed, the importance of issues to Americans has changed.  Since 2016, the percentage of Americans that believe that terrorism is of concern has fallen from 70 percent to 54 percent, concerns over jobs and unemployment has fallen from 61 percent to 45 percent, concerns about crime has fallen from 54 percent to 45 percent and concerns about the federal deficit has fallen from 49 percent to 40 percent even though the federal deficit has done this:

Over the three year period from 2016, certain issues have become more important to Americans.  Americans' concern for presidential electoral fairness has grown from 41 percent to 48 percent, concerns over immigration have grown from 44 percent to 49 percent and concerns over climate change have grown from 34 percent to 49 percent, a rather significant increase.

Now, let's look at how religious affiliation impacts the top three issues for each group:

It is interesting to note that health care one of the top three issues of concern for Americans of all religious affiliations whereas the fairness of presidential elections is a top three issue of concern only for black Protestants, non-Christians and Americans with no religious affiliation.  Climate change is another key issue that is of concern only for Hispanic Catholics, non-Christians and Americans with no religious affiliation.

Here is a graphic showing Donald Trump's jobs approval and strength of support by party affiliation and religious affiliation:

As you can see, religious affiliation  has a strong impact on support for Donald Trump.  Trump is supported by 82 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning independent white evangelical Protestants who prefer him to be the Republican Party's nominee.  Trump is also supported as nominee by 75 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning white mainline Protestants and 73 percent of white Catholics.  By way of comparison, 60 percent of Catholic Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 65 percent of religiously unaffiliated voters support Trump's candidacy.  When it comes to Donald Trump's behaviour, 52 percent of white evangelical Protestants wish Trump's speech and behaviour were like previous presidents compared to 68 percent of other Christians, 70 percent of Catholics, 72 percent of white mainline Protestants, 74 percent of Hispanic Protestants, 81 percent of black Protestants, 69 percent of non-Christian religious Americans and 85 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans.

Donald Trump's personal conduct has also had a varying impact on his support levels by both party and religious affiliation as shown here:

Only 36 percent of white evangelical Protestants state that Trump's behaviour makes it less likely that they will support him, the lowest level of all religious groups in the United States.  Trump's behaviour gets the poorest reviews by both unaffiliated Americans and black Protestants with 76 percent and 80 percent respectively stating that his behaviour has made it less likely that they will support him.

American society is becoming increasingly polarized.  This survey by the Public Religion Research Institute shows us that religion plays a very significant role in the societal divisions that have become apparent in the United States since November 2016.

Christianity in America

With the Republican Party relying heavily on America's Evangelical Protestant Christians for support as shown here:

...recent research by Pew would suggest that American politics is headed for a sea change. 

First, let's look at Pew's research which shows dropping regular (i.e. once a month or more) church attendance:

Over that past decade, the percentage of American who say that they attended church more than once monthly has dropped by 7 percentage points to 45 percent while the percentage of Americans who stated that they attended church less than once monthly if at all has also risen by 7 percentage points to 54 percent.  In the early 1970s, only 11 percent of American adults stated that they never attended religious services; by the late 2010s, this had risen to 27 percent, an increase of 16 percentage points or 145 percent.

Here is a graphic showing how the share of Protestants and Catholics have been shrinking and the percentage of "nothing" (i.e. no religious affiliation) has risen:

As well, over the past decade, there has been a broad-based decline in the share of Americans who identify as Christians and a corresponding rise in Americans who identify as unaffiliated, particularly among Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) and Millennials (born 1981 to 1996):

Not surprisingly, there is a very significant generation gap in American religious identity:

Data shows that there were 233 million adults in the United States in 2009 of which 77 percent identified as Christian resulting in approximately 178 million American Christians.  Today, there are roughly 256 million adults in the United States with only 65 percent identifying as Christian resulting in approximately 167 million American Christians, down 12 million over the decade.

One thing that will have an impact on future voting patterns is the share of white American Protestants who describe themselves as "born-again or evangelical" Christians as shown on this graphic:

Some of the drop of the number of white Protestant born-again or evangelical Christians from 19 percent to 16 percent over the decade can be attributed to the declining share of whites in the overall population and the dropping share of adults that describe themselves as Christians.

There is no doubt that the political landscape in the United States which is strongly influenced by the religious identity of voters is undergoing a massive change, a change that will have a significant impact on the voters that the Republicans have counted on for decades.  Religion also goes a long way to explaining the growing political divide in America as the left leans away from formal religion and the right clings to its belief system.

Who Backs Israel?

Given the growing religious/political divide in the United States, a poll taken by Pew is particularly pertinent, especially given the recent activities in Israel and the Gaza.  The white evangelical backing of Donald Trump and his agenda for the Middle East is striking but, for those of us who grew up in an Evangelical ecosystem, not terribly surprising.  What is surprising is the level of support for the state of Israel, particularly when one looks at a comparison between the levels of support from the American Christian community and the American Jewish community.

Here is what Pew found regarding American attitudes toward the existence of Israel as a nation given to the Jewish people by God based on religious affiliation, noting that the numbers don't always add up to 100 percent because some respondents declined to answer or said that they "didn't know":

American Jewish respondents:

1.) Jews of all types - 40 percent yes, 27 percent no

2.) Religious Jews - 47 percent yes, 27 percent no

3.) Non-religious Jews - 16 percent yes, 27 percent no

4.) Ultra-orthodox Jews - 81 percent yes, 13 percent no

5.) Modern orthodox Jews - 90 percent yes, 5 percent no

6.) Conservative Jews - 54 percent yes, 25 percent no

7.) Reform Jews - 35 percent yes, 35 percent no

American Non-Jewish respondents:

1.) Non-Jews as a whole - 44 percent yes, 34 percent no

2.) Christians overall - 55 percent yes, 32 percent no

3.) Protestants overall - 64 percent yes, 26 percent no

4.) White Evangelicals - 82 percent yes, 12 percent no

5.) White Mainline - 47 percent yes, 37 percent no

6.) Black Protestant - 51 percent yes, 39 percent no

7.) Catholics overall - 38 percent yes, 45 percent no

8.) White, Non-Hispanic Catholics - 34 percent yes, 51 percent no

9.) Unaffiliated - 16 percent yes, 37 percent no.

It is interesting to see the wide-ranging relationship between religious affiliation and the belief in the God-given right of the Jewish possession of Israel.  At 82 percent, white evangelical Christians' support for the Jewish possession of their birthright is higher than for any other religious group other than modern orthodox Jews and is nearly twice the level of religious Jewish support for the concept of a God-given promise of a Jewish homeland.

If we look at another aspect of support for Israel, when asked if American support for the state of Israel is sufficient, 54 percent of Jews say that support for Israel is "about right" and 31 percent say that it is not sufficient.  In contrast, only 31 percent of white evangelical Protestants feel that American support for Israel is "about right" and 46 percent say that the United States is not supportive enough of Israel.

Lastly, when asked if there is the possibility of a peaceful two-state solution (i.e. Palestine and Israel coexisting peacefully), 61 percent of Jewish Americans say yes and 33 percent say no.  In contrast, only 42 percent of white evangelical American Protestants say yes and 50 percent say that a peaceful solution is not possible.

Given that white evangelical Protestant support for Donald Trump and, by extension, his agenda for Israel is at an all-time high as shown here:

...and that 69 percent would prefer Trump as the presidential candidate in the 2020 presidential election, one would think that Israel has it made.  Unfortunately for the pro-Israel cause, the religious landscape of America is changing with the percentage of evangelical Christians in America dropping by 3.4 percent over the years between 2007 and 2014, now representing only one in four Americans.  As well, the demographics of evangelical Christianity are changing significantly; in 2007, only 19 percent of evangelical Protestants were racial and ethnic minorities compared to 24 percent in 2014.  This demographic change within the evangelical movement could play a significant role in how voters view Washington's preferential treatment of Israel and its status as the God-designated home for Jews since a majority of these voters tend to avoid voting Republican.

Race, Politics, Religion and Climate Change

A recent report by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) examines why Americans are so conflicted about climate change.  The report, "Believers, Sympathizers and Skeptics: Why Americans are Conflicted about Climate Change, Environmental Policy and Science" polled 3022 respondents, looking at how Americans rank the importance of climate change compared to other issues including jobs and frames the responses in terms of individual political and spiritual experiences as shown here:

Employment issues concern 22 percent 

Increasing gap between rich and poor concern 18 percent 

Health care concern 17 percent

Budget deficit concern 13 percent

Immigration reform concern 10 percent

Rising cost of education concern 9 percent

Climate change concern 5 percent

When looking at environmental concerns, 29 percent of Americans point to soil, air and water pollution as key problems compared to 25 percent who are concerned about climate change and 23 percent that are concerned about water shortages and drought.

Now, let's look at how PRRI divided Americans based on their beliefs about climate change and the percentage of respondents that took the positions:

1.) Believers: 46 percent of Americans believe that the earth is getting warmer and that these changes are a result of human activity.

2.) Sympathizers: 25 percent of Americans believe that the earth is getting warmer but that changes are due to natural fluctuations or due to unknown causes.

3.) Skeptics: 26 percent of Americans believe that there is no solid evidence that the earth's temperature has risen over the past few decades.  The reason that one-third of Skeptics gave for not believing in global temperature increases was because they have not noticed a change in weather around them.

Not surprisingly, political leaning has a substantial impact on beliefs about climate change.  Of Democrats polled, 65 percent are classified as Believers, 20 percent are Sympathizers and 13 percent are Skeptics.  Of Republicans polled, 22 percent are Believers, 28 percent are Sympathizers and 46 percent are Skeptics.  Looking even further to the right, of Tea Party affiliates, 23 percent are Believers, 23 percent are Sympathizers and 53 percent are Skeptics.

To gain a better understanding of the extent to which Americans are concerned about climate change, PRRI created the Climate Change Concern Index which used two questions:

1.) do respondents believe that climate change is a crisis?

2.) do respondents believe that climate change will have a negative impact on them personally?

Here is a pie chart that shows how Americans fit into the Climate Change Concern Index:

According to the Climate Change Concern Index, race, political leanings and religious affiliation has a strong impact on how concerned Americans are about climate change:

1.) Race: 46 percent of Hispanic Americans are very concerned about climate change, 25 percent of black Americans are very concerned about climate change and 23 percent of white Americans are concerned about climate change.  When it comes to the personal impact of climate change, 41 percent of Hispanic Americans feel that they will be personally harmed by climate change compared to 36 percent of black Americans and 18 percent of white Americans which is interesting given the number of wealthy white Americans that have oceanside property.

2.) Political leaning: 41 percent of Democrats are very concerned about climate change, 14 percent of Republicans are very concerned about climate change and 28 percent of Independents are very concerned about climate change.  When it comes to the personal impact of climate change, 44 percent of Democrats believe that Americans will be harmed a great deal as a result of climate change compared to 18 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of Independents and 21 percent of Tea Party members.

3.) Religion: Concern about climate change varies widely based on religious affiliation as shown on this graphic:

White evangelical protestants and white Catholic respondents had far fewer respondents that were very concerned about climate change and far more of their adherents were very unconcerned about climate change compared to their Hispanic and black religious peers.  It is also interesting to note that 29 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans are concerned about the personal impact of climate change compared to 17 percent of white mainline Protestants, white evangelical Protestants, white Catholics and Jewish Americans.  Looking at the differentiation between Believers vs. Sympathizers vs. Skeptics, the study found that only 11 percent of Believers are white evangelical Protestants compared to 22 percent of Sympathizers and 28 percent of Skeptics.  As well, only 29 percent of Believers state that the Bible is the literal word of God compared to 41 percent of Sympathizers and 41 percent of Skeptics. 

The study even looked at the terminology used to describe the issue.  To assess the influence of the  terminology used,  half of the sample were asked about whether they thought that the issue of "global warming" was getting more attention than it deserved and the other half were asked whether they thought that the issue of "climate change" was getting more attention than it deserved.  Here are the results:

Using the "climate change" descriptor:

- 54 percent of Americans disagreed and 43 percent agreed that "climate change" was getting too much attention.

Using the "global warming" descriptor:

- 50 percent of Americans disagreed and 49 percent agreed that "global warming" was getting too much attention.

It's interesting to note that even relatively subtle changes in terminology can have an impact on a person's perception of the issue.  Drilling through the data, the study found that 38 percent of Democrats thought that the issue of "global warming" was receiving too much attention compared to only 24 percent for "climate change".  Among Tea Party members, 75 percent agreed that "global warming" was getting too much attention compared to only 64 percent for "climate change".

I found the statistical breakdown of climate change/global warming perceptions to be extremely interesting, particularly when one looks at the impact of both politics and religion on one's feelings about the issue.  I also found it rather interesting that one-third of those that are skeptical about global warming is because they have not noticed a change in weather around them and that a significant minority of white Evangelical Protestants have chosen to totally ignore science because it clashes with their religious beliefs, particularly the 77 percent who believe that recent natural disasters are a result of the Biblical "end times" as described in the Book of Revelations.