Comfortably Numb: The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church During and After the Soviet Era (original) (raw)

Patterns of Lutheran politics in a post-communist state : the case of Estonia / Alar Kilp

2009

The article addresses two major issues: the legacy of the communist regime on the popular attitudes towards religion and the Church, and the patterns of religious politics and the political behaviour of the Lutheran Church in a traditionally Lutheran post-communist country. In Estonia, the general alienation from organized religion has, in addition to the experience of the communist regime, also been aided by a weak relationship between the Estonian national identity and the Lutheran church of the pre-communist period. Religious politics in post-communist Estonia follows four main types-civil religion, an unofficial neoliberal-conservative-clerical alliance, the emergence of a Christian-Protestant political party and a moderate anti-clerical left-wing religious ideology. In general, Lutheranism in Estonia provides a framework of religious politics, where religious symbols and values culturally unite the whole political community, and allows the 'politics of religion' and 'religious politics' to be interpreted to a large extent according to the private preferences of individual politicians and activist pastors.

The International Dimension of Estonian Lutheranism in the 20 th Century

Estonian Lutheranism, with its institutions, forms of religious identity and theological re- search, has its own specific character. This singularity, however, comprises a combination of theological, social, political and historical aspects. One of the factors that has shaped and is characteristic of Estonian Lutheranism is its international dimension.The central question in the development of the international dimension of Estonian Lutheranism throughout the 20th century, which is being discussed in the article, is its influence on local religious identity. The history of foreign influence and how it relates to religious identity is the key to understanding the identity of the Estonian Lutheran Church in the 21st century.

Religion, Interrupted? Observations on Religious Indifference in Estonia

Religious Indifference. New Perspectives from Studies on Secularization and Nonreligion, 2017

The question whether secularization is indicated by forcefully expressed nonreligious positions or rather by an indifference toward religion has been a subject of academic debate. Therefore, studying religious situation of a country with assumed high secularization level would provide valuable insight into the nature of religious indifference. Based on historical and contemporary data, the article takes a look onto indifference toward religion in Estonia, which is often considered one of the most secularized countries in Europe. This is a pre-publication draft of an article: Remmel, Atko. “Religion, Interrupted? Observations on Religious Indifference in Estonia.” In Religious Indifference. New Perspectives from Studies on Secularization and Nonreligion, edited by Johannes Quack and Cora Schuh, 123–42. Springer, 2017.

Outside Conventional Forms: Religion and Non-Religion in Estonia

Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe (RASCEE), 2015

The paper focuses on the features that have influenced the current religious landscape of Estonia, considered to be one of the most secularised countries in the world, and its “special path” to secularisation. To explain the irregularities demonstrated by sociological surveys, the paper argues for a situational and inclinational approach to the study of (non-)religiosity as the majority of religious phenomena remain outside the conventional frames of religious commitment that are centred on religious belief and belonging.

Religious education in Estonia

Routledge eBooks, 2015

Total Population approximately 1.3 million Estonians 67.9% Russians 25.6% Ukrainians 2.1% Byelorussians 1.3% Finns 0.9% Other nationalities 2.2% Estonia could be said to be one of the least religious countries in Europe. According to the last population census from the year 2000, only approximately 29% of the adult population, (those aged 15 and above, total questioned 1, 121, 582) considered themselves adherent to any particular creed. Of this figure, about 13.6% declared themselves to be Lutherans. The majority of Lutherans are ethnic Estonians. The second largest religious tradition in Estonia is that of the Orthodox Church. Of the 29% of the population following any creed, 12.8% considered themselves as Orthodox. However, some new data suggests that the Orthodox community may have grown in numbers and become a fraction bigger than the historically dominant Lutheran church. 1 The Orthodox community in Estonia is divided (also ethnically) between the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church and the Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate. Most Orthodox believers belong to the latter church. All other Christian and non-Christian religious communities have adherents of approximately 2.6% of the adult population (15 and above). 2 The largest religious communities among those are Roman Catholics, Old Believers, the Baptists, Pentecostals, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Considering the above figures the percentage of atheists is surprisingly lowapproximately 6%. There is a small Muslim community in Estonia. Muslims have lived on the Estonian territory since approximately the eighteenth century. The majority of Muslims are ethnic Tatars. They have integrated well into Estonian society and there is no reason to associate them with 1 Information about current membership of religious organizations is based on data from the Ministry of

Religion and Religiosity as a Cultural Toolbox: Understanding the Estonian Religious Landscape

The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series History

It is significant, that both the institutional and ideological aspects of religion have emerged as distinct factors in the social and political life of contemporary societies. The reemergence and the consolidation of the religious institutions and identities in the social and political life of contemporary societies have given a renewed fillip to the study of religion and religiosity even in so-called 'secular' societies. The Baltic State of Estonia presents an interesting example of distinct understanding of religion in its non-institutional form, as a cultural tool to address ordinary concerns of human existence within the socio-cultural milieu of the society and within the non-institutional and syncretic idiom of spirituality. This article aims at presenting a broad overview of religion as a cultural toolbox in the study of contemporary religion particularly in the context of societies that have very limited experience with institutional forms of religion.