Russian Schools Will Begin Courses On Religions and Ethics

Russian schools in 18 regions (about 20%) of the country next year will begin a pilot program to teach about religion and ethics. Yesterday's Fresno Bee reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has announced a program under which schools will offer several choices: a course in one of the four traditional religions (Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism or Judaism), a course presenting an overview of all four faiths, or a course in secular ethics. This approach was designed to ease concerns about mandatory classes in Orthodoxy that were introduced in a few regions three years ago.