Essay: Russia is not a conservative country

Question: How conservative of a country is Russia?
Consider:
1. The 2021 LegitRuss Survey indicates that Russians aren't very conservative as indicated by:
“ | To understand the extent to which Russians actually share conservative values, the best initial strategy is to ask them directly, and also to ask multiple questions to make sure our conclusions are not skewed by any particular wording. LegitRuss principal investigators Kolstø and Blakkisrud have already taken us part of the way, reporting that Russians are not, on the whole, actually very “traditional” when it comes to religiosity. In fact, they find that believers differ very little from non-believers on issues such as abortion, premarital sex, and divorce, with society overall being largely split, if not leaning toward the non-conservative position. In addition, just over half, 56 percent, report belonging to a religious denomination at all, and of these, only 81 percent belong to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), and 14 percent are Muslim. Only a decided minority of 26 percent think that the ROC should have a say in politics, with 71 percent opposing this. That said, 40 percent do confess to agreeing that it is God’s plan for Russia to be successful—large share of the population but still not a majority.[1] | ” |

2. Russia has the 3rd highest divorce rate in the world.[2] See: Russia has the 3rd highest rate of divorce in the world.
3. Conservatives believe that drunkness is a sin. Russia has the 2nd highest rate of alcoholism in the world
4. Russia has gay clubs in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersberg (The business Central Station operates a gay club in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg and there are other gay clubs in these cities).[3][4]
As far as the homosexuality/LGBTQ issue in general, Russia is more anti-homosexuality/LGBTQ than many people in the West and it has laws against the spreading of homosexuality/LGBTQ propaganda (See: How gay is the West and how lasting is homosexuality in a society?).[5][6] However, according to the website Russia Today, being gay is not a crime in Russia and homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993.[7] See: How anti-homosexuality is Russia? Are there countries that are more anti-homosexuality and more family-friendly?
According to Statista.com, as far as homosexuality/LGBTQ, 40% of Russians are emotionally ambivalent; friendly; interested, or indicate that it is hard to say how they feel/think about homosexuality (See: Russian Attitudes Toward LGBT Persons in 2021 - Statista.com). If you look at man in the street interviews in Russia, there are a variety of people's views on homosexuality (See: What RUSSIANS think about LGBT? and What Russians think about LGBT? and Do you hate LGBT? 100 Russians). On the other hand, in 2016, openly homosexual men holding hands and walking through Russia in public laws do get pushback from some people (See: This is what it's like to be gay in Russia, The Independent.com, 2016).
In 2024, Amnesty International, which is pro-LGBTQ and left-leaning in its political views, reported that Africa has a "barrage" anti-homosexuality laws.[8] And Africa is very family friendly with fertility rates in various African countries that are far higher than Russia.[9]
A study conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says that Africans are among the most religious people on Earth.[10] Africa has a high fertility rate and it is seeing a big population boom. According to the Institute For Security Studies: "Africa's population is the fastest growing in the world. It is expected to increase by roughly 50% over the next 18 years, growing from 1.2 billion people today to over 1.8 billion in 2035. In fact, Africa will account for nearly half of global population growth over the next two decades."[11] See: Religion and Africa
There are also Islamic countries with anti-homosexuality laws - some involving the death penalty that are more family-friendly than Russia and have higher fertility rates.[12][13][14]
5. Russia's current president Vladmir Putin is a divorced man. There are press reports that he has four children by a girlfriend subsequent to his divorce.[15] See: Is Vladimir Putin a beacon of family values or a complete failure in this matter?
6. Christian conservatives have among the highest church attendance figures in the world.
Also, according to a 2019 report "Using data from surveys carried out by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2018, the sociologist Yana Roshchina worked out that while almost 81 percent of adult Russians consider themselves Orthodox, this is often a declaration of identity rather than faith. Just 6 percent of the population and 43 percent of believers go to church several times a month. According to Interior Ministry statistics, 4.3 million people across the country attended Easter services in 2019 – around 100,000 fewer than a year before."[16]
Pew Research reported in 2017: "Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often or consider religion central to their lives. For example, a median of just 10% of Orthodox Christians across the region say they go to church on a weekly basis."[17]
In 2022, it was reported that attendance at Russian Orthodox Church services in Russia has dropped to around one percent.[18]
7. Conservatives have family values and often have big families. In 2022, Russia's fertility rate of 1.58 births per woman was one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.[19] It's fertility rate is below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.
Russia has a demographic crisis partly caused by its subreplacement level of births. See: Russia's economy is that of a shrinking, aging, and poorly qualified population and Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse
8. Conservatives are pro-life.
In 2024, the Statista website reported "More than 500 thousand abortions were performed in Russia in 2022. Starting from over 2.1 million abortions recorded in the country in 2000, the number of terminated pregnancies continuously decreased over time. The figures include induced abortions as well as miscarriages. The abortion rate in Russia stood at 314 procedures per 1,000 live births in 2020.[20]
On December 13, 2023 Barron's reported: Putin Says Abortions Against State Interests, But Opposes Ban.
However, Russia is trying to lower its abortion rate. Between 2016 and 2021, Russia reduced the number of its abortions by 39%, and strives to reduce it by 50% by 2025.[21]
9. Conservatives believe in chivalry. Alcoholism and drunkness often lead to domestic violence against women. Russia's Leaders Won't Deal With a Domestic Violence Epidemic. These Women Stepped Up Instead
10. Conservatives believe in law and order and the rule of law. Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian
11. Conservatives very much believe in gun rights. Compared to the United States and Switzerland, Russia has significantly lower gun rights. See: Essay: Do you strongly believe in gun rights? Don't move to Russia!
12. Conservatives are for liberty and are against godless communism. Communist China has state atheism (See: China and atheism).
Reuters reported concerning Russia and communist China: "China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two."[22]
Under Xi Jinping, China is experiencing the worst persecution in 40 years and millions of Christian children have been forced to publicly renounce their faith (See: Chinese Christian persecution worst in 40 years, Mission Network News, December 2023). See: Persecution of Christians in China

As recently as 2022, Russia was cited as having the fifth highest rate of new HIV diagnoses globally.[23]
13. The Kennan Institute reported in 2023 about Russia's AIDS epidemic:
“ | As recently as 2022, Russia was cited as having the fifth highest rate of new HIV diagnoses globally... The high prevalence of HIV is attributable to multiple factors, including high rates of intravenous drug use and unprotected sex among high-risk populations.
Today, Russia’s response remains muted, and the crisis continues to grow. The rate of infections is estimated to increase by 10 percent to 15 percent per year, meaning that up to 150,000 Russians will be diagnosed with HIV in 2023 alone. Russia’s population is over 140 million people. For comparison, in the United States, with a population of over 330 million, approximately 36,000 are estimated to be infected in 2023.[24] |
” |
Politico reported about Russia's AIDS epidemic in 2020:
“ | Today, there’s little denying that AIDS is also a Russian disease. More than 340,000 Russians have died of AIDS, two-thirds of them in the past decade. In 2018 alone, the last year for which precise figures are available, AIDS took the lives of 37,000 people across Russia, with the rate of new infections rising by between 10 percent and 15 percent a year, according to the World Health Organization...
Although needle-sharing among drug addicts was one of the main reasons the disease spread so quickly, most HIV transmissions in Russia — 57 percent — are now a result of heterosexual sex. Drug use is responsible for 40 percent, while gay sex accounts for around 3 percent, according to Russia’s Federal Research Center for AIDS Prevention and Control in Moscow.[25] |
” |
See: Russia's HIV/AIDS epidemic
14. Russia has a problem with its everyday law and order.
Consider this: Russia Facing 'Critical' Shortage of Police: "Corruption is also taking a toll. A police major from the city of Tomsk said that officers are "beating confessions out of people, inflating arrest quotas. We're seeing this all the time. It's only going to get worse. There will be falsification of evidence, targeted beatings. There just isn't going to be time to investigate anything properly." - Newsmax, 2023.
Also, Russia Suffers Gun Crime Explosion as Police Say Cases Have Gone Up by 600% - Newsweek, November 2022.
Organized crime is prevalent in Russia via the Russian mafia. Please see: Russia: The mafia as the state and Business as Usual: The Rise of the Russian Mafia and Vladimir Putin's cozy relationship with organized crime in Russia and Russian mafia
15. Conservatives, particularly business people, believe in small and honest government. Many conservatives go into business rather than government or education where there are more liberals and leftists.
Russia has an unfriendly business environment. See: Russia's unfriendly business environment
The Kennan Indicates concerning Russia:
“ | Albats suggested that democracy should be viewed as a commodity that needs to have buyers. In order for democracy to develop in Russia, there must be a class of "consumers of democratic politics," consisting primarily of people involved in small and medium businesses. Unfortunately, Albats warned, this constituency is in decline in Russia. The number of people employed in small and medium business has declined from a peak of 8.9 million in 1995 to only 6.3 million in 2001. At the same time, the proportion of bureaucrats relative to the population has been increasing: In the last days of the Soviet Union, there was one bureaucrat for every 75.6 citizens, and in Russia today there is one bureaucrat for every 49.6 citizens.
Thriving in a system rife with corruption and little accountability, Soviet-trained bureaucrats have stifled the growth of small businesses in Russia, according to Albats. She noted that the majority of regulations existing in Russia today were issued not by the Duma or the President, but by various state agencies—between 1991 and 2001, Russian federal ministries imposed 1474 regulations on business, compared with 156 passed by the legislature. Albats contended that bureaucrats find it easier to control several large businesses than many small businesses, and have set up a regulatory framework to reflect that preference.[26] |
” |
See also: Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian
16. Just War Theory is a Christian theory of moral ethics that goes back to Saint Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. At best, Russia's war in Ukraine in Ukraine was a preventive war and at worse it was a war of aggression with war crimes in Ukraine that caused more evil than it attempted to solve. See: Did the February 2020 invasion of Ukraine by Putin launch a just war? No, it did not. and Russian war crimes in Ukraine

Just War Theory is a Christian theory of moral ethics that goes back to Saint Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
17. Many Christian parents are closely involved in their children's education and King Solomon taught "Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men." (Proverbs 22:29). The Bible teaches to be industrious (Proverbs 21:5; Proverbs 6:6-11). Solomon also said that a righteous man will leave an inheritance to his children's children (Proverbs 13:22). Many of the leading universities were founded by Christians.[27][28]
However, this is true about Russia:
Contents
Why does Vladimir Putin, the leader of "Holy Rus", hug the godless, communist, persecutor of Christians Xi Jinping so tightly?

Reuters reported concerning Russia and communist China: "China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two."[29]
China is experiencing the worst persecution in 40 years and millions of Christian children have been forced to publicly renounce their faith (See: Chinese Christian persecution worst in 40 years, Mission Network News, December 2023). See: Persecution of Christians in China
See: China and atheism and Atheism and communism
Persecution of Christians in China
See also: Persecution of Christians in China
As noted above, China is experiencing the worst persecution in 40 years and millions of Christian children have been forced to publicly renounce their faith (See: Chinese Christian persecution worst in 40 years, Mission Network News, December 2023). See: Persecution of Christians in China
As with all forms of public assembly, the Chinese Communist Party keeps a tight rein on all religious activity,[31] including those of Christians.[32][33] While thousands of state-sanctioned churches exist in China, the process for obtaining a permit for a new church is cumbersome, and to be approved, clergy must also take exams over communist ideology.[34] There is a shortage of Chinese-born ministers who would pass state qualification, and Chinese citizens are forbidden by law to worship at churches with foreign-born pastors.[34] For all of the above reasons, the vast majority of Christians in China opt to worship at underground "home churches." Leaders and members of these churches face fines, imprisonment, and confiscation of church property.[35] In some extreme cases, an underground church is labeled a cult, which the CCP uses to justify some of the worst of its persecution, including torture and forced labor.[36]
The Chinese government forces all practicing religions in the country, including Christianity, to conform to the nation's communist ideology.[37] Kindergartners are forced to sign an atheist manifesto.[38] The Chinese government acted to crack down on Christians evangelizing their children.[39][40]
Chinese president Xi Jinping is very opposed to Christianity and began a renewed crackdown.[41] In 2017, after Islamic extremists killed two Chinese Christian missionaries, rather than protect Christians, the Chinese government enacted further persecutions against Christianity.[42] That same year, the Chinese government made it illegal for Christian parents to take their children to church.[43][44][45] Also in 2017, it was reported that in China's Jiangxi province, the government had a plan of denying important poverty relief packages to Christians unless they replaced images of Jesus they had with images of President Jinping.[46] In April 2018, the Chinese government banned online sales of Bibles, among other actions against Christians.[47] In 2019, the government required all religious texts to be rewritten to conform with communist ideology,[48] and it required all religious groups to promote Communist Party principles.[49]
In 2018, it was reported that the level of persecution against Christians in China was at its highest level since Mao Zedong,[50] and subsequent studies had similar findings.[51]
In December of 2023, Mission Network News reported:
“ | Christian persecution in China is the worst it’s been in 40 years, according to Dr. Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid.
Dr. Fu spoke about this issue recently on The Voice of the Martyrs Canada’s podcast, Closer to the Fire. “Without any exaggeration, the persecution against the Christians and other religious minorities has really reached the worst level we have not seen in 40 years since the Cultural Revolution…. For the first time, we have seen the Communist Party is cracking down on the Church across the board; literally declared a war against Christianity.” He says Chinese censorship efforts especially target Christian youth. “For the first time, millions of Chinese children were forced to sign a form – these are Christian children – to renounce their faith in public.” Communist leaders also continue to remove crosses from church buildings. “Even the government-sanctioned churches have been targeted for persecution,” says Fu. “Those pastors who refuse to voluntarily destroy, remove, and demolish their crosses have been facing huge risks of persecution.” Furthermore, Chinese Christians know their every move is increasingly watched as China embraces digitalized social monitoring.[52] |
” |
See also
User:Conservative's essays
References
- ↑ How Conservative Are Russians? Findings from the 2021 LegitRuss Survey, Ponars Eurasia, 2022
- ↑ Divorce rates in the world in 2024
- ↑ Police raid gay venues in Russia after top court bans ‘international LGBTQ movement’, CNN, 2023
- ↑ Russia LGBT: Police raid Moscow gay clubs, media say, BBC, 2023
- ↑ New Russian ‘LGBTQ propaganda’ rules unveiled, Rt.com
- ↑ Russian ‘LGBTQ propaganda’ law signed by Putin explained, RT.com
- ↑ Gay rights in Russia: Facts and Myths, RT.com
- ↑ Africa: Barrage of discriminatory laws stoking hate against LGBTI persons, Amnesty International, 2024.
- ↑ Africa’s population boom: burden or opportunity?, Institute For Security Studies
- ↑ Why so many Africans are religious: Leo Igwe
- ↑ Africa’s population boom: burden or opportunity?, Institute For Security Studies
- ↑ WHICH COUNTRIES IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY ON GAY PEOPLE?
- ↑ Across vast Muslim world, LGBTQ people remain marginalized, AP News, 2022
- ↑ THE FUTURE OF WORLD RELIGIONS: POPULATION GROWTH PROJECTIONS, 2010-2050, Pew Research, 2015
- ↑
- Putin secretly living with gymnast girlfriend and their children in luxury mansion by Nataliya Vasilyeva, The Telegraph, February 28, 2023
- Investigation reveals Putin’s ultra-luxe palace he shares with gymnast girlfriend, New York Post, 2023
- Putin ‘funnels millions by buying largest apartment in Russia for gymnast lover’, Independent, 2023
- Is Putin secretly living with girlfriend at new $120 million villa?, India Today website, 2023
- Vladimir Putin's rumored girlfriend Alina Kabaeva hit with new round of U.S. sanctions, CBS News, 2023
- Who is Alina Kabaeva, Putin's alleged girlfriend?, BBC, 2023
- Vladimir Putin's gymnast 'lover' admits in a TV interview he is her 'ideal man' - as new photographs show the luxury forest estate where she reportedly lives with their secret children, Daily Mail, 2023
- ↑ Russians Are Not Waiting for a Church Boom, 2019
- ↑ Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe, Pew Research, 2017
- ↑ Attendance at Russian Orthodox church services in Russia has dropped to around one percent.
- ↑ Russian fertility rates fall to record lows on the back of a deteriorating economy and sanctions pressure, bne IntelliNews, 2022
- ↑ Number of abortions in Russia from 2000 to 2022
- ↑ Russia's plan to reduce abortions
- ↑ Putin to visit China to deepen 'no limits' partnership with Xi, Reuters, 2023
- ↑ HIV in Russia Is a Human Rights Problem, 2023
- ↑ HIV in Russia Is a Human Rights Problem, 2023
- ↑ The epidemic Russia doesn’t want to talk about, Politico, 2020
- ↑ Bureaucrats and Russian Transition: The Politics of Accommodation
- ↑ Christianity’s Role in the Development of Modern Institutions, Wesleyan University
- ↑ Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford—Once Christian?, Answers in Genesis
- ↑ Putin to visit China to deepen 'no limits' partnership with Xi, Reuters, 2023
- ↑ China’s Communist Party Reaffirms Marxism, Maoism, Atheism, New American, 2014
- ↑ Multiple references:
- Williams, Thomas D. (August 19, 2018). China Communist Party Reasserts Absolute Control over Religion. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- Yun, Michelle (July 8, 2019). Christian family details crackdown on church in China. Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- Starr, Penny (June 21, 2019). Pompeo: 2018 Religious Freedom Report Finds ‘Extreme Hostility’ to All Faiths in China. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- Fu, Eva (June 21, 2019). Pompeo Condemns Atrocities in China, Vows to Safeguard International Religious Freedom. The Epoch Times. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ↑ Bohon, Steve (December 15, 2018). Church in China Under Intense Attack by Communist Government. The New American. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
- ↑ Kuo, Lily (January 13, 2019). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/china-christians-religious-persecution-translation-bible. The Guardian. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 [1]
- ↑ Persecution Of Christians Around The World
- ↑ Torture testimony of Liu Xianzhi
- ↑ Martel, Frances (September 7, 2017). Government Christian Leader: ‘Theology Shall Reflect Chinese Culture’. Breitbart News. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Williams, Thomas D. (February 22, 2019). Chinese Kindergartners Forced to Sign Atheist Manifesto. Breitbart News. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ↑ Cimmino, Jeffrey (September 3, 2019). China cracking down on teaching religion to children. Washington Examiner. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- ↑ Bohon, Dave (September 5, 2019). Communist China Prohibiting Children From Converting to Christian Faith. The New American. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ↑ Multiple references:
- Williams, Thomas D. (April 22, 2018). China Aid: President Xi Jinping Views Christian Churches as ‘Severe National Security Threat’. Breitbart News. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
- Williams, Thomas D. (January 1, 2020). China Passes Tighter Restrictions on Religious Practice. Breitbart News. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- Dou, Eva (December 30, 2019). Activist Chinese Pastor Gets Nine-Year Prison Sentence. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- Freiburger, Calvin (January 2, 2020). China sentences ‘unauthorized’ Christian pastor to 9 years in prison. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- Bohon, Dave (January 4, 2020). Popular Chinese Christian Leader Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison. The New American. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
- Barillas, Martin M.; Baklinski, Pete (January 9, 2020). ‘Intense’ spike in Christian persecution after China’s secret deal with Vatican: US gov’t report. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ↑ China Ramps Up Christian Persecution After Two Missionaries Are Murdered. CBN News. September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Williams, Thomas D. (September 12, 2017). Chinese Gov’t Bans Christian Children from Attending Church, Vows Punishment to Offenders. Breitbart News. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Hodges, Mark (September 11, 2017). Chinese gov’t bans kids from attending church services. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Haverluck, Michael F. (September 11, 2017). China: Children not allowed at church. OneNewsNow. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ Martel, Frances (November 14, 2017). China Urges Rural Christians to Replace Jesus Images with Xi Jinping. Breitbart News. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ Multiple references:
- Mass, Warren (April 5, 2018). China Bans Bible Sales at Online Bookstores and Tightens Control Over Religion. The New American. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- Williams, Thomas D. (April 4, 2018). China Pulls Bibles from Online Bookstores in Crackdown on Christianity. Breitbart News. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- Wise, Talia; Lane, Gary (April 5, 2018). Bible Ban: God's Word Disappears from Online Stores in China. CBN News. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- Johnson, Ian (April 5, 2018). China Bans Online Bible Sales as It Tightens Religious Controls. The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- Connor, Neil (April 4, 2018). China cracks down on sale of bible amid Vatican talks. The Telegraph. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ↑ Mass, Warren (December 24, 2019). China Orders People of Faith to Rewrite Religious Texts to Conform to Party Line. The New American. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ↑ Barillas, Martin M. (January 6, 2020). Chinese govt demands Christians use religion to ‘spread Communist Party principles’. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ↑ Multiple references:
- Richardson, Bradford (June 6, 2018). 'Human rights disaster': China's persecution of Christians at highest level since Mao. The Washington Times. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
- Williams, Thomas D. (October 5, 2018). China Returning to ‘Mao’s Era’ of Violent Christian Persecution. Breitbart News. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- Wang, Yanan (August 7, 2018). Beijing demands Christians infuse faith with 'Chinese characteristics' amid crackdown on religion. The Washington Times. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- Tennant, Michael (September 11, 2018). Communist China Cracks Down on Christianity. The New American. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ↑ Williams, Thomas D. (August 8, 2019). Report: Religious Freedom in China at 40-Year Low. Breitbart News. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ↑ Chinese Christian persecution worst in 40 years, Mission Network News, December 2023