Auditing the Soul of Russia

Don’t venture into a foreign monastery with your own rules.

- Russian proverb

A heated conflict has broken out in Russia in the wake of the national legislature’s passage, and President Yeltsin’s veto, of a new law on religion. The law, which was spearheaded by the Orthodox Church and leftist-nationalist Duma lawmakers, was an attempt to curb the activities of cults and sects in Russia, while strengthening the position of “traditional” religions. Russian Life Executive Editor Mikhail Ivanov talked to supporters of the law and to those who would suffer if it passed, and offers ideas on what this all means for Russia today.