Alexander Dvorkin, Fighter Against Sects, Elected Chairman of the Expert Council under the Russian Ministry of Justice
The most malicious and consistent enemy of Protestants, Dvorkin! He has now gained the ability to use the state not only to support his delusional accusations against so-called “sects,” but also to employ state power structures!
Dvorkin’s personality itself is quite controversial. A theologian, doctor of philosophy, American citizen…
On websites dedicated to Dvorkin’s activities, it is stated that he was a member of an organization banned in the USA called the “Cult Awareness Network.”
The organization used methods of forcible deprogramming against so-called sectarians, which included abduction, intimidation, violence, etc.
In 1994, the “Network…” declared bankruptcy in order to evade fines for the damage caused to followers of new religious movements.
The organization was found guilty of numerous abductions of believers, including Muslims, Catholics, Rosicrucians, and Mormons. The executive director of the Cult Awareness Network, Cynthia Kisser, characterized even the Roman Catholic Church as a “sect.”
Dvorkin lobbies exclusively for the interests of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, not to mention that all Protestant churches are totalitarian sects in his view.
The Inquisition continues? And Dvorkin echoes Ms. Kisser.
In his speech, the theologian characterized all religious movements and spiritual schools existing in the world as sects, except for one single church – the Orthodox one, on behalf of which he acts.
He also “exposed” the activities of the most widespread religious movements operating in Ukraine, accusing them of levitation, “ear-pulling,” sterilization, etc.
The Russian Ministry of Justice will conduct religious studies expert evaluations. The corresponding powers have been transferred to the ministry by the law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Improvement of the Exercise of Powers of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
By order of the Ministry of Justice, which came into force on March 31, 2009, the procedure for conducting the evaluation and the regulations on the Expert Council were approved.
According to the document, the objectives of the state religious studies expert evaluation are: determining the religious nature of an organization on the basis of constituent documents, information about the fundamentals of its faith and corresponding practices; verifying and evaluating the reliability of the submitted information. The evaluation will also determine whether the organization’s actual activities correspond to the forms and methods declared at its state registration.
Meetings of the Expert Council will be held as needed when the Ministry of Justice sends a request for a religious studies expert evaluation.
Today the first meeting of the Expert Council for conducting state religious studies expert evaluations took place in Moscow. At the meeting, the president of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects, Professor Alexander Dvorkin, was elected chairman of the Expert Council. His deputies were Roman Silantyev, director of the Human Rights Center at the World Russian People’s Council, and Valiulla Yakupov, imam of the Apanaevskaya Mosque in Kazan and director of the “Iman” publishing house.
In accordance with the Ministry of Justice order of March 3, 2009, the council includes representatives of the executive and legislative authorities, specialists in state-religious relations, new religious movements, and pseudo-religious criminal and extremist structures, as well as representatives of Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
Among the members of the Expert Council are:
- Vladimir Alifanov, chief advisor of the division for interaction with public and religious associations of the Department of Mass Communications, Culture and Education of the Government of the Russian Federation;
- Vladimir Bobrovnikov, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Viktoria Burkovskaya, leading researcher at the Research Institute of Problems of Strengthening Legality and Law and Order under the Prosecutor General’s Office;
- Nina Volodina, professor of the Department of Philosophy at the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia;
- Evgeny Mukhtarov, chairman of the “Civil Security” center;
- Elena Rutkevich, leading researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Andrey Sarychev, deputy head of the Religious Organizations Registration Division of the Office for Political Party Affairs, Registration of Public, Religious and Other Organizations of the Federal Registration Service;
- Baatar Kitinov, head of the Department of World History at RUDN University, member of the council of the Moscow Buddhist Community;
- Irina Shershneva-Tsitulskaya, senior lecturer at the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of the Russian Law Academy of the Ministry of Justice;
- Alexander Shchipkov, advisor to the Chairman of the Federation Council;
- Valery Engel, executive vice president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia;
- Igor Yablokov, head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at Moscow State University, professor.
“Great hopes are placed on the reorganized council not only by government structures but also by law-abiding religious associations,” R. Silantyev said today in an interview with the Interfax-Religion portal.
No related posts.