RELIGION

Iakov TROFIMOV

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Iakov Trofimov, Ph.D. (Philos.), professor at the Karaganda “Bolashak” Institute of Actual Education (Karaganda, Kazakhstan)

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In the 20th century, religious studies acquired another term—“secular religion,” meaning veneration of leaders (Stalin, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, etc.) as gods. The leader is omniscient and omnipotent. His monuments pepper entire countries; his portraits (“icons”) are seen in offices, classrooms, and elsewhere. His works are treated as a holy script of sorts to be carefully studied and strictly followed in everyday life. People are expected to worship him the way traditional religions worship their gods. The living “god” meanwhile rules all individual lives on earth.

The cult of Eternal President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi, or Father of all Turkmens) is a graphic example of a contemporary secular religion present in all spheres of life. The huge gold monument that follows the Sun symbolizes the cult, while the two volumes of Rukhnama the president wrote in 2001-2004, as well as his other works and speeches provide the spiritual foundation of this new religion. “Rukhnama-zation” of the whole country is the core of Turkmenistan’s secular religion.

Rukhnama should be studied everywhere—in kindergartens, secondary schools, higher educational establishments, offices, factories, and plants. “Secondary schools have acquired a new curriculum which takes fifteen minutes out of every lesson to read Rukhnama, irrespective of whether the lesson that follows deals with exact, natural, or social sciences. All employees are expected to…………..

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