Ivan Zubov

Russia's withdrawal from Europe is on full steam.

Moreover, in parallel and at the same pace, the introduction of anti-scientific knowledge is underway in the country. Recall that recently, speaking at the III International Scientific and Theological conference "God - Man – the World", Director of the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Kudryavtsev seriously stated that the cause of all human troubles is the original sin of Adam and Eve. Now Valery Fadeev, a former journalist and now chairman of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, has joined him, who made very ambiguous statements at the St. Petersburg Educational Forum.

Firstly, he touched upon the issue of teaching religion at school, noting that "the truth of faith is as authentic as the truth of feelings and reason," and explaining that the purpose of the education system is to teach schoolchildren, including religious knowledge of the world:

"Communion with the Absolute is the answer to the challenge of time. (...) Man is dual. It combines both the profane and the sacred. There is a moral ideal in every person. And this ideal is irreducible to pragmatic interests. Intuition, inspiration, revelation, mystical experience, supersensible perception are absolutely real, it is a part of human life.

The truth of faith is as authentic as the truth of the senses and reason. And here one should not confuse a religious sermon, which belongs in a church or mosque, with an understanding of the importance of a religious worldview for humanity..."

To support his position, Fadeyev called for the help of authorities:

"Arnold Toynbee, one of the greatest historians and sociologists, said: the purpose of education is religious, not mercantile. Of course, he did not mean teaching the Law of God in school. He spoke about the value foundations of education. A person gets an education to navigate this complex world, to distinguish between good and evil..."

But that's not all. Quickly forgetting about the nationality of the famous Englishman Arnold Toynbee, Fadeev called on the audience to reject the European culture that breathes incense, replacing it – excellent logic – with medieval Arabic. It is the poetry of this period and this region that Fadeev considers "the pinnacle of world literature":

"Today, only European and American writers take part in foreign literature lessons, as if there is no big world. Does anyone know that the peak of poetry, according to experts, was reached in the 13th century and this is Arabic poetry? I found out recently, no one told me at school. (...)

Western civilization is completing its development cycle. The cycle started several centuries ago (...) But this cycle is ending. And we see obvious signs of the decay of Western civilization. To deny this is to show ignorance, and even worse, naivety. Naivety is a bad guide in our world. What we observe are not errors, not delusions, not local phenomena. This is the final act of the life of the Western socio-cultural supersystem..."

The Arab world