Russian Presidential Candidates Asked About Religion In Russia

While we are used to American presidential candidates being asked about their religious views (see prior posting), now Russian candidates seem to be expected to respond to similar inquiries. A posting today by the Real Russia Project reports that members of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement, recently asked two candidates in Russia's 2008 presidential elections their views on the recent revival of religious life in Russia. Both Dmitri Medvedev and Sergey Ivanov said that the rebirth of the Russian Orthodox Church had very positive effects on Russian society. Responding to another question, neither of them thought that building the largest Orthodox Cathedral in the world was a particularly important goal. Ivanov said, "One should not think of cathedrals in the same way as the competition to build the tallest skyscraper. The main thing is that there should be a lot of churches and that they should not be empty."