Religion and perspectives on democratic governance in Moldova

I am making the final steps in a study on the symbiosis between the Church (Eastern Orthodox) and the State, comparing Russia and Moldova. For the purpose of my research I view Church as a political institution in the society rather than a religious practice. Although the study of religion, as an area of inquiry, is not part of my research interests, that particular topic is of an interest to me, as it aims at looking at the factors that affect the political development in a transition country.

My preliminary findings show that Church in Russia and Moldova has played a [significant] role in the consolidation of authoritarian practices, and in the hindering of democratic development. As I was looking at some recent events, my attention was drawn to few posts in the Internet, that seem to support my findings. Actually it was these posts, that convinced me I have to make a post of my own, and maybe start a debate on the role of Orthodox (Eastern) Church in Moldova.

One of the articles (in Romanian) I would like to point to , was written by a Romanian author, but reposted by a Moldovan Christian web-site. It talks about democracy, elections, and makes use of some human manipulation tools, such as antagonizing. Just to offer some examples, it says using some twisted and false logic that «liberalism is an element of the criminal extreme left». Then, referring to the forthcoming elections (in Romania, the article was written in March) the author revealingly writes: «we are summoned to the voting booths. We should vote either Christianity or liberalism?».

Of course, this is open to interpretation, and I will make my own further in the post. As the Church formally did not participate in the Romanian elections, we can assume it was meant to express the author’s view that Romanian parties labeling themselves as «democratic» should not be voted. So, basically the message was opposing Church to democratic parties, and to liberal democracies. That trend seems to be present also in Moldova, and less obviously in Russia.

I would like to bring also another case, that took place in mid-August in Moldova. For those who read Romanian, I would suggest to look at the «Juridical racisms» article, posted on Vitalie Sprinceana’s blog. The story goes that the Moldovan Adventist Church (MAC) has requested on 15 August 09 from the Chisinau Mayor’s office the permission to conduct some event on the city’s main square, the notorious PMAN (The Great National Assembly Square). This is perfectly in the line with the Moldovan law. More than that, to my knowledge (correct me if I am wrong) the permission is not even needed, as in case the event is non-commercial, the organizers barely should inform the City Hall. It is my understanding that the City Hall, which is run by the Deputy-chair of the Liberal Party, Dorin Chirtoaca, has been uncooperative with MAC and was rather inclined to go along with the request from the Moldovan Orthodox Church (MOC), demanding the MAC event does not take place.

Perhaps, that was suggested by political necessities, as tolerance to «others» [we vs. they, where "they" are just different from "we"] is not something Moldovans have gladly embraced since their country’s independence. I can assume, that the move was to please the electorate… yet, it is very undemocratic. We could engage in lengthy discussions whether the role of political parties is only to follow the electorate, or also to educate and «civilize» it – another time. If Liberal Party will guide itself by such principles during the forthcoming four years, when they stay for the first time in the Parliament, that would do them a bad service. Such moves do not position them as being strikingly different from the Communists’ Party of Moldova.

To get back to gist of the problem, the MOC representatives organized a press-conference, during which they presented the logic behind their request. The video can be accessed and watched here (in Romanian). Unfortunately I do not have the time to translate everything, which would make, however, quite an interesting reading. Making it short, the reasoning of MOC people was that PMAN is such a «saint» place of national and historic value, where no celebration with laud music or concerts should take place (MAC intended to run their event offering also a concert). Moldovan Orthodox Church advocates also claimed that representing the majority of Moldovan people, they had the right to prohibit the minorities (religious in this case) the right for rallying and proselyting in public places. Deconstructing their declaration and then their speakers’ speaches, we get the following message: we [MOC] have been longer in this place, so we should run the (religious) show. It looked like MOC was afraid of healthy competition (MAC proselytism) and instead preferred to use their dominant position in order to convince the authorities changing the law, so that it continuously favors them, while putting other cults at disadvantage.

Unfortunately, that kind of logic is based on authoritarian principles, when a group imposes to others what it believes is right, and when it reprimends what it believes is wrong. Religion plays an extremely important role in shaping a society, and influencing its development. Based on these two examples (which are not the only), I am wondering how big is the role of Church in hindering a democratic transition of Moldova, through spreading certain principles and «values» among people, promoting and encouraging specific «mental maps» throughout their flocks, and through lobbying with authorities, etc.? As I expect MOC would not change in the coming decades, and will continue to follow a similar path, what should be a successful strategy/policy of a government that genuinely wants to promote democratic reforms and changes in its country?

I am writing the message in a hurry, and that would be just a first (and the only) draft. Therefore any comments, suggestions, ideas that would complete or contradict mine, are very welcome.