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Russia Needs an Alternative to the “Kalashnikov”
Written by DNI.RU News Agency
Thursday, November 29, 2012
UPF's contribution to a round table on "The role of secular and spiritual culture in the revival of human values" is noted in this report on DNI.ru
Moscow, Russia - A round table on the role of culture as a means for grassroots diplomacy took place in the Moscow Center “Strategy” on November 29. Russia can become a spiritual superpower that will be known not only for its Kalashnikovs and Stolichnaya vodka but also for our great masters of culture and spirit. For this purpose, participants called for overcoming the period of spiritual and moral stagnation in Russian society and creating a new world vision.
Modern society is on the threshold of global crises - political, economic, and ecological. Humankind has chosen a materialistic vector of development, and such development leads to a self-centered dead end. We are not united enough and have no reliable ideological support to effectively confront new civilizational challenges. According to participants of the Moscow Round Table on "The role of secular and spiritual culture in the revival of human values: Cultural exchange as an instrument of grassroots diplomacy," it is culture that can provide the basis on which a new world view will be built.
Art in its various manifestations can effectively influence society. It would not be correct to separate culture into spiritual and the secular dimensions, because great authors draw inspiration from spiritual ideas. However, modern culture has deviated from its goal of protecting and promoting spiritual and humanistic values and suffers from a lack of ideas.
"We are losing a part of our generation, which is raised on a pseudo culture, when the spiritual and moral values manifested in Orthodoxy are leveled and impaired by the flow of information which bypasses the leadership of the Church," noted the representative of the organization "Family of Russia," which is promoting family values as the basis of moral development.
"They say that our time is devoid of ideology, being the post-modern period with no ideas. But there have always been ideas, from time immemorial: the values which are embedded in the works of art. The unity of the world is the main factor which is now being forgotten. And to remember this is our main task," said the painter and systematic thinker Andrei Vereshchagin.
Commenting on the scandalous “Pussy Riot” activists, the experts noted that contemporary art is mainly represented by the school of protest, which does nothing to glorify the greatness of Russia. Therefore, the task is "to collect those bright and good forces" which will serve for the benefit of Russia and restore her ideological leadership. Russia can become a spiritual beacon for the whole world. "All nations are unique, and Russia occupies a special position between the West and the East," noted the representative of the international center of spiritual culture "Divya Loka," Ilya Kurilenko. "We have a different philosophy and methodology, but we are all humans and we live on one and the same planet; and if we don't respect each other and instead prevent revival of humanistic values, even if they belong to a different tradition, we will never reach world peace."
The leader of the Universal Peace Federation-Russian, Konstantin Krylov, emphasized the special role of culture in grassroots diplomacy, especially in the regions where Russia is viewed with distrust and prejudice, including Georgia. He said, "Our task is to make our country to be famous not for "Kalashnikov" or "Stolichnaya", but mainly for Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, and Dostoyevsky. I consider the role of culture as an important means of grassroots diplomacy."
A number of cultural initiatives were presented at the Round Table, among them: workshop for young artists on the premises of the former factory located near the town of Egoryevsk in the suburbs of Moscow; the plan for constructing 108 temples for the unity of all religions in the Nizhniy Novgorod region; the historical-architectural complex "Parents' Blessing" in Kostroma related to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov House; and pilgrimage to Kumbha Melu, festival of yoga and unity that will take place in India in the winter of 2013 (the event is held once every 12 years, and tens of millions of spiritual seekers from all over the world are expected to converge on India).
Participants were reminded that not long ago, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his speech at the Asia - Europe Forum in Laos proposed holding an international conference on interfaith dialogue in Russia. According to him, it is necessary to seek a platform for interaction between religious leaders and civil society structures. The Russian News Service quotes the Prime Minister as saying " Living in a multinational country we have accumulated a rich experience, with a great number of nationalities." RIA “Novosti” has added that the Chairman of the government underscores that UNESCO is expected to be the central mechanism in intercultural dialogue, because it is experienced in this field.
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