THE GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CURRENT GEORGIAN POLICY
Abstract
For historical reasons the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) has always been a subject of Georgian policy despite its separation from the state registered in the country’s Constitution. At all times religion not only confirmed and preserved the nation’s spiritual values—it served the national and state interests. Today, rapidly unfolding globalization has posed the question of the future role of the church and religious values in general. This is especially important in Georgia where the Christian faith has been and remains one of the components of national self-awareness. “Language-Motherland-Religion” is the linchpin of the national ideology that was revived when the country restored its independence.
In the years of Soviet occupation, the Communists either destroyed churches or used them for different purposes (they were turned into clubs, theaters, or storage facilities). In the very early years of Soviet occupation, a Council of Militant Atheists was set up to carry out anti-religious propaganda based on Lenin’s ideas.
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References
News program of the Ertsulovneba TV Channel run by the Georgian Patriarchate, 12 March, 2009.
Constitutional Agreement between the State and the Georgian Orthodox Church, 2002, Art 1.3.
Ibid., Art 11.1.
Information supplied by Giorgy Targamadze on 22 May, 2008 during the Prime Time program of the Rustavi-2 TV Company.
Statement by David Gamkrelidze made on 25 May, 2008 in a program of the Rustavi-2 Company.
[http://www.interpressnews.ge/ge/ 2009].
[http://www.patriarchate.ge 2009].
[http://www.patriarchate.ge 2009].
Comment offered by Beka Mindiashvili at the conference on Secular Society and Religious Nationalism organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, quoted by Iveria TV company on 12 April, 2008.
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