p Even though it is adapted to current conditions, religion does not change its anti-scientific nature. The cultural growth of the Soviet people, their belief in the unlimited possibilities of science and technology, and their enthusiasm over the greatness of communist construction—all these factors tend to alienate people from religion. The clergy, therefore, faces the task of strengthening religion and preserving its influence with believers.

p The church’s ideological re-orientation is manifested by its attitude to science, communist ideals, and society’s moral progress. In the past, the clergy declared science and communism “ungodly”. Today theologians say more and more often that religion does not contradict science and communism, they try to convince believers that there is no conflict between knowledge and religion, they recognise the benefit of science and education. The process of renovation, of “updating” religious dogmas is characteristic of all faiths. In their sermons and religious conversations with believers, clergymen strive to conceal 110 the opposition and irreconcilability between the scientific and religious conceptions of the world, and to make religious dogmas look scientific. They do not stint praise for the achievements of science. Father V. Povetkin, for instance, taught his parishioners: “Science and religion are barren when they are apart as the world’s most beautiful bridegroom and bride. I shall perform marriage ceremonies over them now and, having become husband and wife, religion and science will be father and mother of the truth which will warm our hearts as the sun in spring.... It is impossible to imagine a better situation for strongly influencing the minds than the word of science from the lips of a priest!" “Because Allah had singled out Man from the environment of other creatures and made him a caliph (successor) of his,” said a preacher in the Moscow mosque ,“this obliges Man to be the master of nature and, following a straight path, to subjugate its gifts to himself, to try to improve his life using his knowledge of sciences and to try to be of use to people and society.”

p Similar views are propagated by the ministers of other religions, too. “The word of God,” said Karev, a famous Evangelical preacher, “is God’s answer to many questions of our soul— not of our mind but of our soul. It is science that gives answers to the questions of the mind. But it is the word of God that answers the questions of the soul.” This concept is not new. The idealists of the past also claimed that there was no contradiction between science and religion and asserted that religion only supplemented science and vice versa. Trying to adapt themselves to the sentiments of present-day believers, clergymen of all religions spare no effort to convince their flock that the church has always been a supporter of progress and nowadays makes an invaluable contribution to the Soviet people’s causes and undertakings. Such preaching often looks convincing for credulous parishioners.

p The clergy’s time-serving has been and still is a serious obstacle preventing believers from parting with religion. It must be remembered that new arguments are needed to expose the anti-scientific nature of modern religion because “sophisticated” religion, as Lenin pointed out, is even more dangerous.

p Religion does not evolve smoothly. While obsolete rituals in worship have been discarded, attributes of former ignorance, 111 such as witch-doctors, false healing of the sick, prophesies and other “miracles” are still alive. Their alleged sanctity is preserved under cover of religion. This is true for all religions but, perhaps, most of all for Islam. One can discern in the evolution of social concepts in present-day Islam the desire of Moslem preachers to convince the believers that Islam is ineradicable and that the most important tenets of the creed are of ever- lasting value. “In contrast to Judaism, Christianity and other religions,” asserted an official of the Moslem Religious Board for Transcaucasia, “religion of Islam is more flexible and meets modern conditions quite well. Islamic religion will continue to exist also under communism, not like it is now but in a modernised form after the far-fetched and obsolete propositions have been removed from it.”

Sociological studies in the last few years show that all religions, Islam included, increasingly lose their adherents. And even those customs and rituals that had a religious significance in the past are gradually changing their meaning and in many cases are observed only to keep up the traditions. Although Islam is not so influential as it was before, it still has a certain effect on people in Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Transcaucasia, especially on the elderly. It should be borne in mind that Moslem religion has absorbed certain traditional folk rites and customs, making them religious. This is why even now some people do not see any difference between real folk rites and customs and religious ceremonies. Today, when science and technology and the whole way of life repudiate the reactionary religious functions, there are, unfortunately, individuals who do not believe in God but perform religious ceremonies thinking naively that they are of folk origin.