ABSTRACT
The term "religious culture" refers here not only to the life of the Russian Orthodox Church—its religious corpus, worship rituals, and organizational principles—but also to a wider range of social practices that bear the imprint of Russian Orthodoxy. In 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church marked its first millennium. The festivities commemorated the time when Grand Prince Vladimir committed himself and his nation to Eastern Christianity, making it the official faith of ancient Rus. Among the features of communist society that continuously fascinated Western observers was an ambitious Soviet policy aimed at transforming the human personality. Soviet ideology mandated that the "New Soviet Man" be created from the raw materials of the Russian citizenry. The atheistic socialization agenda included a wide range of positive incentives. Proper behavior and attitudes were reinforced by legitimate authority and thus carried a positive emotional charge. Soviet believers who evaded the state's socialization efforts had to bear excessive costs for their religious activities.
