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The Society of Christian Enlightenment: from “Heretical” Blog to Heretical Offline Community

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The Society of Christian Enlightenment: from “Heretical” Blog to Heretical Offline Community SCE members gather in 2015. SITES The Society of Christian Enlightenment: From “Heretical” Blog to Heretical Offline Community Ekaterina Grishaeva On February 21, 2012, the feminist For two Moscow professors and Or- punk rock band Pussy Riot organized thodox believers, Il’ya and Yana Braz- a performance, Punk Prayer: Mother of nikovy, Punk Prayer was a catalyst for God, Drive Putin Away, at the Cathe- launching public debates about the dral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. modernization of the Russian church. Participants danced and made the The Brazhnikovys organized a group sign of the cross at the ambon and called the Society of Christian Enlight- solea for less than a minute before enment (the SCE or Obshchestvo Chris- being escorted outside the building tianskogo Prosveshchenia) in 2012. Their by guards. This episode provoked aim was to create an independent forum public debate and led to the arrest for theological debates that would carry and prosecution of three group mem- forward the legacy of the religious-phil- bers. The Russian Orthodox Church osophical meetings organized between considered the performance blas- 1901 and 1903 by the writers Zinaida phemous and called for Pussy Riot’s Gippius, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, and prosecution. Some church leaders Vasily Rozanov. Most of the intellectu- even advocated severe punishment. als who joined the SCE had been active Meanwhile, a few advocates argued churchgoers in the early 2000s before be- that Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer was lit- ginning to criticize the clericalism of the tle more than a radical yet modern Moscow Patriarchate. At SCE meetings, expression of its views. speakers raised issues they considered 32 important for the modernization of the Meanwhile, as a tiny group of intellec- © 2019 The Wheel. Russian Orthodox Church, such as the tuals, the SCE members continued to May be distributed for ordination of women and the Church’s rely on digital technologies to expand noncommercial use. www.wheeljournal.com engagement with feminism and social- the geographical outreach of their meet- ism, and elaborated an alternative theo- ings (through Skype connections), to logical discourse proudly described by communicate with each other between some of them as “heretical.” The SCE’s meetings, and to disseminate their activities illustrate how the concepts views to the wider society. of orthodoxy and heresy are evolving as new means of communication alter This article is concerned less with the the social conditions of theological dis- content of SCE beliefs than with the course. group’s relationship to various forms of communication. I approach the SCE It is important to emphasize that the as a hybrid phenomenon shaped by SCE was a group of conservative Or- social interactions offline and online thodox intellectuals: prior to 2009, communication. I analyze how digital some of them had advocated for the technologies have contributed to the engagement of the Russian Church in development of the SCE and why it be- the political domain and had support- came so important to them to organize ed monarchy. Yet their conservatism is offline meetings. First, I will show that interwoven with a postmodern way of online communication was a necessary thinking. They regard a postmodern step toward the emergence of the SCA interpretation of Orthodox tradition as as a “heretical” community. Second, I the key to recovering “true” apostolic argue that the development of the SCE Orthodoxy. Since they consider strict equally reflects the experience that dig- observance of church prescriptions to ital technologies do not meet members’ be the invention of modern society, they religious needs. Most of the SCE mem- propose to deconstruct the Church’s rit- bers were driven together by a desire uals and dogmas in order to be closer to to build an offline community that re- the non-institutionalized communes of sembled a monastery or parish, where early Christians. This conservative ap- “heretical identity” would be recog- proach formed the basis for what they nized by others. The rise of the SCE is call a “radical” interpretation of Ortho- therefore a revealing illustration of both dox tradition. the power and the limitations of online communication. Before the SCE was founded, these in- tellectuals developed and promoted Tradition, Individualism, and Digital their interpretations of Orthodox tra- Media dition primarily online, since there was 1 Peter Horsfield, “‘A no other public space for discussing The emergence of digital technologies Moderate Diversity radical or modern approaches to Or- has challenged and transformed re- of Books?’ The Chal- thodoxy. From 2012 to 2015, however, ligious authority, as various scholars lenge of New Media nine in-person meetings were held in to the Practice of have noted. For example, Peter Hors- Christian Theology,” Moscow and Saint Petersburg, each field points out that digital media have in Digital Religion, including between eight and fifteen changed the distribution of religious Social media and participants. These offline meetings knowledge by providing “for equal dis- Culture: Perspectives, enabled SCE members to develop their tribution and circulation of theological Practicies and Futures, “radical” interpretations of Orthodox ed. Pauline Hope ideas developed by the theologically Cheong et al. (New tradition and to build a common “he- uneducated as for the theologically ed- York: Peter Lang, retical” identity through discussion. ucated.”1 Online access to religious texts 2012), 254. The Wheel 19 | Fall 2019 33 makes it easier for individuals to inter- viding unrestricted access to religious 2 Mia Lövheim, pret religious ideas on their own, lead- knowledge and by strengthening net- “New Media, Reli- gion, and Gender: ing to a democratization of religion and works of Orthodox Internet users. Young Swedish making visible the plurality of vernacu- Female Bloggers,” in lar religious beliefs.2 To make sense of Before the SCE: “Radical” Interpreta- Religion Across Media: how the Internet enables an expanding tions of Orthodoxy Online From Early Antiquity variety of religious positions, Stewart M. to Late Modernity, ed. Knut Lundby (New Hoover and Nabil Echchaibi describe it Before the Russian state’s first attempts York: Peter Lang, as a liminal “third space,” where formal to establish control over the digital 2013), 153–68. Stefan structures of religious knowledge and sphere in 2011, the Russophone seg- Gelfgren, “Why practice are revised and transformed re- ment of the Internet—sometimes called Does the Archbishop flexively by religious users.3 As a result Runet—was a place for free debate on Not Tweet? How So- cial Media Challenge of the interactive character of the online political, social, and cultural issues. Its Church Authorities,” environment, religious authority tends communication culture resembled the Nordicom Review 36 to shift from institutions to diverse in- late Soviet tradition of dissidence and (2015): 109–23. ternet users, who project themselves “kitchen table discussions,” forms of and their opinions into the online mar- debate which were accessible to only a 3 Stewart M. Hoover 5 and Nabil Echchaibi, ket of religions. small number of people. Despite hier- “Media Theory and archs’ criticisms of secular online cul- the ‘Third Spaces of It is important to place the online visi- ture, Orthodox believers used Runet as Digital Religion’” bility of personal religious positions in a space for open debates on theological (Boulder, Colorado: a broader context. Modern social trans- topics and problems such as the rap- Center for Media, Religion, and Cul- formations such as enhanced reflexiv- prochement between the Russian Or- ture, 2014). https:// ity (that is, individuals’ increasingly thodox Church and the Russian state.6 www.researchgate. active shaping of their own identities) As some Orthodox bloggers expressed net/publication and a general crisis of institutions have in their posts, online discussions be- /287644204_The_ contributed to more individualized in- came an outlet due to the lack of open Third_Spaces_of_ 4 Digital_Religion. terpretation of religious traditions. A debate inside the Church and in the sec- person may now choose, from among a ular public sphere. 4 See Anthony variety of religious ideas and practices, Giddens, Modernity the ones that seem most suitable for his Most of the future SCE members were and Self-Identity: Self or her lifestyle, discarding those that and Society in the Late active Runet users and were recognized Modern Age (Cam- are burdensome. From this perspec- as online religious experts. In com- bridge: Polity Press, tive, digital media provide religious parison with print media, the Internet 1991), and Zygmunt people with the resources to rethink opened new perspectives for them to Bauman, Liquid Mo- their own religious views and make develop their “radical” interpretations dernity (Cambridge: individualistic approaches to religion Polity Press, 2000). of Orthodoxy. It provided them with more visible in the public sphere. quick and cheap ways of disseminating 5 Tine Roesen, Vera their religious-philosophical and liter- Zvereva, “Social Net- Following these theoretical premises, I ary works outside institutional control. work Sites on the Ru- analyze how the emergence of the SCE Having a keen knowledge of Orthodox net: Exploring Social has been shaped by a combination of Communication,” tradition, they sought to enlighten their in Digital Russia: The online and offline factors. Before the audience. The various digital communi- Language, Culture and Society’s formation, its members were cation platforms helped them to create Politics of New Media searching for an interpretation of Or- and maintain heretical networks. Communication, ed. thodox tradition that fit better with Michael S. Gorham, their philosophy and lifestyle. Frustra- Ingunn Lunde, and In the early 2000s, Il’ya Braznikov Martin Paulsen (New tion with offline social interactions led launched the website pravaya.ru, an inde- York: Routledge, them to move online. The Internet fur- pendent forum for Orthodox analysis of 2014), 72–87. thered their theological search by pro- political, cultural issues, and Orthodoxy, 34 today.
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