Научная статья на тему 'REACTION OF PROFAMILY DEFENDERS TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY OF UKRAINE'

REACTION OF PROFAMILY DEFENDERS TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY OF UKRAINE Текст научной статьи по специальности «Философия, этика, религиоведение»

CC BY
80
20
i Надоели баннеры? Вы всегда можете отключить рекламу.
Ключевые слова
LGBT / pro-family defenders / Protestantism / Ukraine

Аннотация научной статьи по философии, этике, религиоведению, автор научной работы — Kuryliak V.

The relevance of the study is due to the existing polemical approach to the activities of LGBT communities in Ukraine on the part of pro-family activists. The purpose of the article is to try to analyze the positions of the defenders of traditional forms of the family, to understand their main slogans and the reasons for insisting on their own convictions. The work presents a cross-section of the main topics of discourses that were initiated by Ukrain-ian theologians and leaders of Protestant denominations. It was found that Ukrainian pro-family activists have not yet developed a unified position on the EU's demands to grant the same rights to people who practice non-tradi-tional forms of relations. It was determined that in Ukraine there are three positions of attitude towards LGBT communities: complete rejection, the desire to correct the "defect", that is, to help a person understand the correct path or ignore. It was found that the European integration processes shook the Ukrainian institution of the family, but at the same time contributed to the fact that activists, family defenders made attempts to create a kind of dialogue among themselves in order to find a compromise between the preservation of Christian moral values and the requirements of the European Union. However, the existing conflict between the parties of pro-family defend-ers in relation to LGBT communities did not allow us to propose a unified position. Therefore, the question of the attitude towards LGBT people in Ukraine remains open so far.

i Надоели баннеры? Вы всегда можете отключить рекламу.
iНе можете найти то, что вам нужно? Попробуйте сервис подбора литературы.
i Надоели баннеры? Вы всегда можете отключить рекламу.

Текст научной работы на тему «REACTION OF PROFAMILY DEFENDERS TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY OF UKRAINE»

сфере). BicHUK Мiжнародного гумантарного yuieepcumemy. 2017, No14, с. 55-61.

14. Козобродова Д. М. Развитие парадигмы нестабильности в украинской социально-философской мысли. Наукове ni-знання: Методологiя та технологiя. Фiлософiя. 2018, Вип. 2 (41),c.39-47.

15. Козобродова Д. Концепция социальной самоорганизации в социальной философии. Virtus. Scientific Journal. 2018, September, 26, c.29-34

16. Козобродова Д. Эволюция представлений представлений о сложных самоорганизующихся средах/ системах в гуманитаристике на рубеже XX-XXI вв. Фiлософiя oceimu. Phylosophyof Education. 2018, Vol.23 (2), c.219-233.

17. Селиверстова А.С. 2018. Развитие представлений о хаосе как предмет социально-философского анализа // Наукове ni-знання: меmoдoлoгiя та mехнoлoгiя. № 2 (41), с. 102-114.

18. Селиверстова А.С. 2018. Социальный хаос как проблема социальной философии // Scientific Journal Virtus. November #28, c. 43-47.

19. Селiверстова Г.С. 2019. Входження постнекласичного гуманитарного поняття «хаос» в освггню сферу: сощально-фшософський аспект проблеми соцiалiзацil особистосп // Освттй дискурс: збipнuк наукових праць (фiлocoфiя, педагогжа). Випуск 12 (4), с. 36-45.

20. Селиверстова А. С. 2019. Место хаоса и самоорганизации в феномене, выраженном концептом "BRAIN- PSYCHE-MIND / CONSCIOUSNESS" // Международная научная конференция "Концепти соцюкультурно! трансформаций сучасного суспшь-ства", ПНПУiм. К.Д.Ушинського. Одеса, 24 травня 2019р

21. Лао Цзы. Дао дэ цзин. Книга пути и достоинства: сборник /пер. и послесл. Д. П. Конисси. Москва: Центрполиграф, 2016. 221 с.

22. Каталог гор и морей (Шань хай цзин)/ Пер. Э. М. Яншиной. М., 2004, 201с. Girardot N. J. Myth and Meaning in Early Taoism: The Theme of Chaos (hum-tun). Berk., 1983.

23. Ершова-Бабенко И. В. 2005.Психосинерге-тические стратегии человеческой деятельности

(Концептуальная модель). Монография. - Винница, KNYGA NOVA,2005. - 368 с

24. Ершова-Бабенко И. В.2020. Психомерность социальной реальности в аспекте самоорганизации как предмета социально-философского и психосинергетического анализа. Монография. / Ершова-Бабенко И. В. Козобродова Д. М - Одесса: Бондаренко М. А., 2020 - 162с.

25. Ершова-Бабенко И. В.2020. Психосинергетика: методологический статус, теория и практика: юбилейный сборник научных трудов профессора И. В. Ершовой-Бабенко / ред.-сост. В. Б. Ханжи, Н. В. Кривцова. - Одесса : Фешкс, 2020. - 256 с.

26. Seliverstova A. The problem of social chaos from the psychosynergic position // Theory and Practice of Introduction of Competentence approach to higher education in Ukraine. Monograph, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. Vienna, 2019. p. 59-66.

27. £ршова-Бабенко 1.В. (1992). Методолопя дослщження romi^ як синергетичного об'екта. Монографiя. Одеса: ОДЕКА, 124с.

28. Ершова-Бабенко И.В., Селиверстова А.С. 2020. Хаотизация психомерности социальной реальности: социально-философский и психосинерге-тический контекст. монография / Одесса: Украинское синергетическое общ-во, Бондаренко М.А., 196с.

29. Yershova-Babenko I., Kozodrodova D., Seliverstova A. 2020. Psychosynergetic Approach to Formation of Teacher's Pedagogic Self-organization in the New Ukrainian School// Theory and Practice of Future Teacher's Training for Work in New Ukrainian School: monograph / Edit. I.F Prokopenko, I.M. Trubavina. Prague, OKTAN PRINT, pp. 72-81.

30. Kozobrodova D. 2019.Theoretical foundations and ideas about complex self-organizing environments / systems in the humanities at the XX-XXI centuries // Theory and Practice of Introduction of Competentence approach to higher education in Ukraine. Monograph, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University.Vienna,. p. 29-36

REACTION OF PROFAMILY DEFENDERS TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY

OF UKRAINE

Kuryliak V.

PhD, doctoral student of the Department of Culturology and Philosophy

National University «Ostrog Academy», Head of the Department of Philosophy, Theology and Church History

«Ukrainian Institute of Arts and Sciences»

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the existing polemical approach to the activities of LGBT communities in Ukraine on the part of pro-family activists. The purpose of the article is to try to analyze the positions of the defenders of traditional forms of the family, to understand their main slogans and the reasons for insisting on their own convictions. The work presents a cross-section of the main topics of discourses that were initiated by Ukrainian theologians and leaders of Protestant denominations. It was found that Ukrainian pro-family activists have not yet developed a unified position on the EU's demands to grant the same rights to people who practice non-traditional forms of relations. It was determined that in Ukraine there are three positions of attitude towards LGBT communities: complete rejection, the desire to correct the "defect", that is, to help a person understand the correct

path or ignore. It was found that the European integration processes shook the Ukrainian institution of the family, but at the same time contributed to the fact that activists, family defenders made attempts to create a kind of dialogue among themselves in order to find a compromise between the preservation of Christian moral values and the requirements of the European Union. However, the existing conflict between the parties of pro-family defenders in relation to LGBT communities did not allow us to propose a unified position. Therefore, the question of the attitude towards LGBT people in Ukraine remains open so far.

Keywords: LGBT, pro-family defenders, Protestantism, Ukraine.

Introduction. According to the conviction of the majority of pro-family activists (at the national level -Alliance «Ukraine for the Family», All-Ukrainian Charitable Foundation «Family» by Adrian Buko-vinsky, «All Together» Civil Movement, Public Movement of People with Future «Love Against Homosexuality», also hundreds civic associations at the local level who advocate for the preservation of a heterosexual family), the family in the full sense of the term are considered to be men (male), women (females) and children who have emerged as a result of family life. As in most countries, there is a family institution in Ukraine and there are those who actively protect family values. To such people in the Ukrainian society are representatives of various religious denominations. The most active among them, according to the public figure Ruslan Kukharchuk, are Protestants who act as the majority during street events in all regions of Ukraine except Ivano-Frankivsk region and Lviv region [1].

Since 2004, Protestant propaganda from the United States began to penetrate Protestant churches and was at the forefront of the liberal movements of LGBT. For a long time, Ukrainians did not notice the meager manifestations of the LGBT community until the EU began to associate them with the image of civilized Europe, and USA Protestants helped to make the bridge between LGBT and the traditional enemy of the Slavic churches of the twentieth century - militant Marxism. So, the circle is closed. The family emerged as the centerpiece of the idealized past, and liberal experiments with it - «devilish temptations» and the way into the social abyss.

Protectors of the nuclear heterosexual family in Ukraine include active and passive pro-families. We consider active those who promote the banners to popularize their views, investigate the issues of the LGBT community at the scientific level, take part in various actions, protests and conferences. To passive pro-families refer to the usual manifestation of public opinion, which is obtained as a result of statistical research among ordinary Ukrainians. It was recorded that more than 210 thousand people in 60 Ukrainian cities joined from April to September to the festive street family events «All togetherfor the family!». Pro-families with the positive slogans: «There is a family - there is a country», «All together - for a family», « For family, for a child, for a happy Ukraine», etc. tried to attract the attention of politicians and passive promoters to the need to protect the family institution at the state level and to strengthen families at the personal level. In these slogans, activists' efforts to bring family issues beyond the religious context were embodied in the category of the logic of preserving the country and national security.

In other events, which were a protest reaction to the actions of officials, such as the removal from the site of the Presidential Administration of a petition that protects the rights of a heterosexual family in Ukraine, the peremees stressed that more than 24 thousand Ukrainians from 25 thousand signed a petition at the time of the removal, which is necessary for its consideration by the authorities, which testifies to the family-centered views and active civil position of a sufficiently large part of society, which can not be ignored. The initiator of the creation of this petition was the Protestant pastor Victor Tantsura, most of the signatories were also Protestants. In April, more than three thousand people came under the administration of the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Office of the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Human Rights to declare disagreement with the actions of officials who removed the petition. On the night before « Equality March» in Kyiv, June 17, 2018, pro-family activists gathered at the Prayer Room - about 300 people on Maidan Nezalezhnosti and just as near the monument to Hrushevsky. About half of the participants were Protestants in this campaign. And at the end of June in Kyiv, near the Verkhovna Rada, almost three thousand people, mostly Protestants, made certain demands to the authorities in response to the beating of the pro-family activists before the «March of Equality».

Thus, some speak openly and quite rigidly, for example: the governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Archbishop Pavlo, commenting on the Church's attitude to LGBT communities, said: « These people violated all the commandments, and they are cursed. There should be no communication with them, and there is no forgiveness for them. They are the instrument of the devil [2]. Others less harsh and rigid, trying to stay within the framework of a tolerant attitude, use methods that would, according to their plan, help the representatives of sexual minorities understand the falsity of their views. Thus, the relevance of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the patronage measures of the family activists and to establish their main differences, which are present in the polemical field regarding the LGBT communities of Ukraine. The study of this context is necessary in view of the European integration course of Ukraine and the important role played (and by many signs, growing), which is played by religion and the Church in Ukraine. From the extent to which the European orientation of the current government and the value of the conservative part of Ukrainian society reach agreement, the future of social reforms, in particular regarding public morality and the Ukrainian family as a sociological phenomenon, will greatly depend on the extent to which the consent of the Ukrainian society will come to an agreement.

Goal. Taking into account the foregoing, the purpose of the article is to establish the positional differences of the family-centered movement concerning the protection methods of defending the values of the traditional family in Ukraine. Achievement of the goal involves consideration of polemical aspects of the internal nature, establishment of the category of politiciza-tion of the question or true civil status, analysis of the signs of fundamentalist intolerance or Christian love, the expression of the positions of «Christophastism» (unions of evangelical Christians with radical nationalists) or the evangelization of nationalists.

Review of sources. Ukrainian Protestantism is in the field of religious scholars and sociologists of religion, at least since the first half of the twentieth century. Earlier, his appearance was mainly reflected in his ideological rivals - Orthodox priests and apologists, which made their responses tendentious and emotionally colored. Soviet propaganda came from the Marxist view of religion as a remnant of the past. However, there were attempts at weighed works, especially at the end of the Soviet era. Ukrainian scholars in the mass have taken a liberal, tolerant attitude towards the Protestant community of Ukraine. So far, most of the works here are descriptive, trying to document the turbulent and vivid religious life of Ukraine.

The works of Lyudmila Filippovich, Anatoliy Ko-lodny, Viktoriya Lyubaschenko, Victor Yelensky, Roman Sitarchuk, and Peter Yarotsky are important. Mikhail Cerenkov, Mikhail Mokienko, Sergey Sannikov, Yuriy Reshetnikov, Maxim Balaklytsky defended dissertation. These works are important for a common understanding of the history of Protestantism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They outline the place of Protestantism in independent Ukraine until 2013. But later processes have changed a lot in Ukrainian society and in the role of Protestantism in it. The most innovative, actual phenomena, including the analyzed ideological opposition of the Protestant and LGBT community, have not received proper coverage in science. According to many estimates, EuroMaydan and the later crisis marked the emergence of non-Soviet Ukraine, the attempts of Ukrainian society to define themselves in new terms, find themselves on the world map of geopolitical and social processes.

Presenting main material. After the year 2017, when Ukrainian Protestantism appeared on the wave of celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, according to religious scholars, «in broad horizontal ties,» the 2018th for the Protestants was the beginning of «deepening their presence» in society [3]. One of the most important and most prominent directions in which this deepening has turned out is the question of protecting the family from the advent of the LGBT-lobby and what the Protestants themselves call the « gender» or neo-Marxist ideology, which, in their belief, is opposed to family values. Although after the Year of the Reformation the next year was proclaimed by the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) the Year of the Word of God in Ukraine, the most notable and most expressive manifestations of the activity of late Protestantism

in 2018 can be called « war for the family» without exaggeration. It is « given the challenges faced by the institution of family and marriage as a union between men and women» and prompted the AUCCRO to proclaim 2019 as the Year of the Family [4]. Even before this proclamation, in an expert opinion poll in September 2018, experts from religious scholars or church ministers emphasized the growing importance of protecting family values for Protestants (L. Filipovich, O. Podkopayev, V. Yarosh, O. Yarosh, M. Krupsky, S. Sharayevsky) [5].

If you list the main challenges that the Protestants met in 2018, then this is: removal at the end of March from the site of the Presidential Administration petition for the protection of family and family values, which collected almost 24 thousand signatures; conducting gay parades in Kiev, Kryvy Rih, Odesa, as well as the first in Ukraine's beating of the police in Kiev by those who protested against these events; the gender expertise of school textbooks, which, according to Christians, threatened to exclude from the educational process such basic concepts as « father and mother,» and also prepared a springboard for the subsequent introduction of gender ideology into education. Ukrainian Christians reacted to these events with active street protests and appeals to the authorities. At the same time there were large-scale confirmatory actions in various cities of Ukraine, street family holidays, which in quantitative indicators exceeded similar events of previous years.

In 2003, the street family movement was launched, «in 2015, more than 10 cities held street family holidays, in 2016 - 23 cities, in 2017 - 36 cities». «This year ... there were 57 cities and 210 thousand participants», Ruslan Kukharchuk says [6]. It shows the growth of dynamics, and this statistic is constantly updated.

Since January 2017, the human rights, advocacy and awareness campaign «Do not Cut Your Family in Ukraine» is being implemented, and during its 2018 year it has been significantly enlarged. For two years, the activists have distributed 40,000 copies of the book « Do not Cut Your Family in Ukraine», including on such events as: All-Ukrainian Movement for the Protection of Families and Children, the Festival «All Together - For Family!» In Kyiv and on throughout the country, the Feast of Thanksgiving at Khreshchatyk, the Christian Civic Forum «Together!» (Kiev, Niko-laev, Poltava, Kryvy Rih), family forums in 15 cities, Holy Spirit Night - a multi-thousandth youth conference at the Palais des Sports, on various church and public conferences. Campaign activists have been communicating with students from several higher educational institutions on the protection of the family's natural model and countering gender ideology.

A petition was sent to the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Ministers, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and people's deputies of Ukraine. In 2018, more than 2000 people signed the paper version through the central office of the NGO « All together!» (The signing process is ongoing, it is impossible to establish the exact total number of signatures). The advocacy direction was marked by advancement

among local councils Decision on Addressing the President, the Supreme Council, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Security and Defense Council with the requirement to protect the Institute of Family in Ukraine. According to the results of 2018, at least 66 local councils of different levels voted for the decision of the family. During the year, 130 letters were sent to the central and local authorities.

Representatives of the «All Together» movement in January 2018 participated in the working group on the development of the Concept for the Development of Civic Education and Education in Ukraine under the Ministry of Education and Science. It should be noted that the Protestants are the driving force behind the civic organization «All Together», as well as the Alliance «Ukraine for the Family». «All together» specializes in street traffic, at the same time, many local community associations are involved in family actions in different cities, which formally are not part of the «All Together» movement. The actions, the goal of which is precisely the confrontation with negative phenomena, are carried out by the All-Ukrainian public organization «Public movement of people with the future», «Love against homosexuality».

The last month of 2018 was marked by a public discussion of the confrontation between defenders of « gender ideology» and its opponents at the level of civil servants. President Petro Poroshenko called on Parliament to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence [7]. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations reacted to the President's address, recalling «the inappropriateness and risks» of ratifying this Convention [8], some of which, according to the Council, threaten family values. The Government Policy Officer Kateryna Levchenko called on the SBU to consider some actions on family protection as « threatening national security» [9]. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexander Turchi-nov answered this article « Neo-Marxism or a trip to the abyss», in which he publicly supported the position of the defenders of the family, and convinced that opponents of Levchenko, on the contrary, act in the interests of national security [10]. Public organizations have declared support for the family and anti-Soviet position of the NSDC secretary [11].

As the leaders of the family-centered movement emphasize, the basis for the actions of Christians is, first of all, the affirmation and promotion of family values as an integral part of the prosperity of society: « We build the idea that the existence of a country depends heavily on the existence of a family. This is not only God's plan, although it is basic, but rational and beneficial to any state for various reasons [12]. One can see that the street family movement is aware of its relatively young tradition (15 years of existence in Ukraine) and feels its own self-sufficiency without a significant linkage to the celebration of the R500 in 2017, which gave impetus to Ukrainian Protestant churches to more actively enter the public space [13].

At the same time, even according to the leaders of the familial Christian movement, as well as representatives of the intellectual elite of Protestantism, in the

question of family protection and responses to the challenges of Christian time, and in particular, Protestant activity at the moment can be assessed both positively and negatively. If we talk about the quantitative side, we have already highlighted the increase in the participation of Ukrainians in the street family movement, which shows that 12-15 cities are added to this movement every year. According to Igor Plokhoy, a social activist and one of the leaders of the family farm movement, such growth is explained by the fact that « many people begin to appreciate family values not when everything is calm and normal, and when there is a corresponding threat ... every year, the threat is getting bigger and more serious» [14].

In this view, according to the activist, there is a parallel with the growing patriotic sentiment in Ukraine due to external military aggression. On the other hand, the growth of pro-family activism does not yet indicate the all-encompassing nature of this process in the Protestant environment. It all depends on what to compare: «How much is covered in this dynamics of people? Most Protestants are still passive. Activity is increasing, but it was, for example, 1%, now it is 5-7%, and 90% - they do not care these problems» [15]. It should be noted that this is a polemical statement using hyperbole, since most Protestants are aware of the value of the family, they are more expensive, but they do not take part in public actions. At the same time, these actions gain their credibility in the sociological environment of conservative and supposedly socially passive Christians, who devote their families to evidentiary material and create a sociological background for street actions.

And, finally, the qualitative aspect of the pro-family activism of Protestants - first and foremost from the representatives of the intellectual elite of the gospel environment - is criticized or disclaimed. Oleksii Gorde-yev, a graduate of theology, author of the « Church on the Maidan» [16], specialist in social communications, believes that the project of confronting the LGBT community in 2018 «failed, because active efforts to prove the Christianity of the country face resistance lawyers, journalists and more advanced theologically and in terms of education of Christians, who argued that in principle, it is better for Ukraine not to be positioned as a Christian country, but as a secular, equidistant from all denominations, [and, therefore] can behave properly with each of them [17].

Not everyone is so pessimistic in assessing the quality of the efforts of the family-centered movement. Sergey Sharaevsky - director of production studio Pravda PRO, pastor of the Lutsk Biblical Church: an attempt to « introduce the false values into education, to the state - meet resistance and Protestants. The result is that somewhere these results are slowed down [18]. Oleg Podkopayev, Pastor of the Bread House-West (Kryvyi Rih) church, a deputy of the central-city district council, founder of the NGO «Kryvy Rih for the family»: «More and more, with the participation of church people, more than 50 local councils voted to appeal to the state authority on the inadmissibility of the development of LGBT propaganda, on violations of family

values, changes in the Constitution. And I say that almost all of these decisions were made by believers, Protestants, who raised the public, united the deputies... For only the church exacerbated this issue, raised its voice, and most people did not even realize that there was such a problem» [19].

Lyudmila Filippovich, a religious scholar, recalling the protection of the family as Protestants as one of the most important areas of their activity, draws a positive portrait of the Ukrainian Protestant as a whole: « It becomes more modern, well educated, adapted to new economic and social conditions, gets rid of isolation from society, more and more perceives Ukraine not only as its temporal residence, but also as a homeland» [20]. Since the process of confrontation is only gaining momentum, assessments of the pro-family Protestant and generally Christian activity can be evaluated differently - for someone speaking the language of the famous statement, the glass will be half empty, and for someone half full. Everything is determined by a coordinate system.

Consequently, we counted the main challenges and saw different estimates of the dynamics of Protestant pro-family activism in Ukraine over the past year. Let us now consider in more detail the qualitative side of the phenomenon: those contradictions and tensions that exist in the gospel environment in relation to the pro-family activism.

Polemic space in the gospel environment. Let us list the main theses and appeals that sounded in 2018 both by the activists of the street movement and by their opponents among the Protestants themselves. Pro-family activists pointed to: 1. The illegality of the actions of Ukrainian officials (from the site of the Presidential Administration in late March removed a petition for the protection of family and family values, which collected almost 24 thousand signatures from the required 25 thousand). 2. Christians became martyrs (for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, the police beat peaceful protesters against the gay parade in Kyiv on June 17). 3. The concept of «paternity and mater-nity» may disappear from education (the Ministry of Education conducted an anti-discriminatory examination of school textbooks, which was perceived by society ambiguously, the information boom around this examination came in June); under threat - the entire institution of the family (the activists drew attention to the name of the screaming brochure «In Ukraine, we cut the family! Already raised the knife») [21]. What to do? Leaders and activists of the family movement propose: unite in the protection of the family values of all people of goodwill (not only Christians of different churches, and even those who are outside the churches). Mobilize as many citizens as possible and thus show the will of the people.

In turn, some theologians and representatives of the educational sphere of Protestants have taken a different position that can be considered critical or cautious about the actions of the family activists. According to Alexei Gordeyev, «internal opposition inside Protestants is two groups: either those who have achieved higher education or theologians who prefer

systematic work, and not bright actions» [22]. Opponents pointed to: 1. lack of critical thinking among activists; naive attitude towards politicians who seem to be easily manipulated by Christians (using promising promises or slogans); 2. the lack of formation of domestic political theology, the priority of rapid action on the analysis of the situation, reflexion (we first do, then think); 3. Fundamentalist intolerance, which can be viewed in the peninsular movement; 4. even Chris-tophasism (evangelical Christians suspected of creating an unnatural union with right-wing political forces -Ukrainian radical nationalists). What to do with this? Using the well-known phraseologism, the opponents of the street prophylactic movement advise activists: «One must not fight the darkness, but multiply the light - in his life, in his family, in his church, in his community» [23]. «A conversation with the Biblical language with society will not prove to anything. The secular society does not accept the Bible - it is a logical fact [23]. We have counted only the main promises made by Protestants who have different positions in responding to the LGBT-lobby offensive in Ukraine. It is interesting to consider in a more detailed form some arguments, again, of both sides, since each of them has its own apologetics, or protests against misunderstanding or distortion of their true motives or actions.

Fundamentalist intolerance or Christian love.

In general, pro-family protestant activists reject allegations of intolerance against representatives of the LGBT community. While opponents point to the fact that « in times of intensifying conflicts with LGBT supporters, as it was recently, Christians, especially social networks, were far from gospel slogans» [Solovii]. The leaders of the family movement do not deny these facts, but they are asked not to identify individual inadequate people whose slogans are not gospel with their movement. They emphasize that protest actions organized by evangelical Christians do not allow any individuals inclined to violent actions.

Activists like to consider themselves fundamentalists, but not in the sense of intolerance of others, but in the sense of protecting the fundamental rights of citizens [25], such as the right of children to safe public space.

At the same time, it can be assumed that the special accentuation of some activists on the repression of the LGBT-lobby may not allow people with an unconventional orientation to perceive the Christian-proclaimed people as coming to them with open arms or those that are generally able to see in them a human dignity. Obviously, not seeing in the mainstream of the feminine street movement something else but condemning homosexuals as the worst sinners, Taras Dy-atlik expresses emotionally: «Did you look into the eyes of a mother whose son was hanged from the fact that he was not offered help in solving his homosexual desire, but have forbidden the Christian community so that they have committed suicide, having taken in him the hope of healing the identity of Christ and of his future life? [26]. Speaking about the search for methods of church influence on the LGBT community, Roman Solovii said: «It is not least necessary to work with members of the gospel churches in order to be prepared

to accept LGBT representatives with love, as well as any other crippled the sin of men [27].

Igor Plokhoy agrees that Christians should carry out work on the rehabilitation of people who suffered from sexual identity disorder. While recruiting some organizations or projects that work in this direction (the « Land of Liability» peninsula movement under the Emmanuel Association), the activist admits that the church «in its entirety does not have too much experience working with such a population ... Therefore, to say that any gospel community, even in the most remote village, is ready to accept people with LGBT-orientation, and, most importantly, to effectively serve them professionally, it would be a lie. «In his view, churches need to make further efforts in this direction and « to master the necessary areas of knowledge for the successful and effective assistance to people with specific problems» [28]. What exactly are the churches aware of this challenge and try to develop a similar kind of ministry, and what else is not a problem is already a matter for each individual community.

Taras Dyatlik offers Christians one of the methods of solving the problem of LGBT, which does not even provide professional knowledge, but only requires correct motivation: «Find several LGBT representatives, get acquainted with them and share their lives and the gospel with them. Find a homosexual and tell him everything you think about him, but looking into his eyes, listening to his story, telling him about Christ ... It must be remembered that the salvific change of the sinful nature of man is not made by man, not by the evangelist, but Holy Spirit [28].

For the first time, the content of the diametrical-conceptual realities of pro-family activists about LGBT communities has been researched due to the critical review of scientific philosophical and theological recipes of the symbolic expression of public positions within the framework of European integration measures of Ukrainian political consolidations. For the first time, it has been established that there are three evangelical positions in the LGBT community in Ukraine: ultimatum rejection, preventive reconstruction, and merciful perception of the otherness of anthropomorphic manifestations of the lost creation.

Conclusions. Thus, in the course of the study, we can draw the following conclusions:

1. Protestant Christianity is one of the most prominent and most massive manifestations of civil society in Ukraine. Being a fruit of the egalitarian ethnic group, which in the nineteenth century began to wake up from the public disorder and re-discover the signs of national life, Ukrainian Protestantism relies on the two most important social formations of the people with a discontinued history of statehood - the family and the church. For persecution of Soviet times, Protestants in the first place sought to instill faith in their children. During the time of Ukrainian independence, these believers encountered two innovations:

- the possibility of its participation in socio-political processes;

- the transformations of the family institute, including obviously negative ones: the demographic cri-

sis, abandoned children, the wave of divorces and abortions, the popularity of « civil marriages», sexually transmitted diseases, chemical dependencies and mass migration. Maidan-2004 created a precedent for the « direct action» of churches, and EuroMaidan-2013, and especially the military conflict in the Donbass, prompted Protestant activists to demonstrate the mobilization and philanthropic potential of their communities.

2. On the post-wave wave of Europeanization, both Protestants and LGBT communities are trying to expand their influence on the state and society. Both trends have their own set of arguments, being both products of a liberal-open society.

3. Ukrainian Protestantism is quite similar to the views of social morals of the other practitioners of Ukraine. This similarity makes possible the long-term cooperation of Protestants with other denominations within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. The belief in the value of the institution of the family, its wisdom, the need to cultivate family values shares the absolute majority of Protestants. And they see their role in this at the grassroots, personal level - as the need for themselves to be exemplary spouses and parents. At this point in the churches a complete unanimity prevails. The differences are cosmetic: should family fertility be regulated and if so, in which ways, whether a husband and wife have the same power in the family, and whether a person should dominate, or there may be extraordinary circumstances that would allow for the excuse of individual cases divorces and abortions.

4. In the Protestant environment, there is no single view of whether believers should insist (if not more) on the observance of other people's social norms, as understood by conservative Protestants. Ukrainian Protestants have a generic memory of Slavic Orthodoxy, which sees the Christian feat not in social change, but in the monastic separation from society.

5. Protestants in the Ukrainian lands have almost always been persecuted and disenfranchised minority. They are well acquainted with the sad manifestations of state and social intolerance and alienation. Their family and compact church community have been the main « laboratories» of their social experiments for the past 150 years. They have no experience of being exposed to anything close to their families and communities. Belonging to the late Protestant currents, the bulk of the Evangelical Christians of Ukraine (Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists) consider the separation of the church (religion) from the state and the protection of freedom of conscience as integral components of biblical Christianity. Ukrainian Protestants not only do not seek to make their denominations state churches, but often proclaim political activity as « dirty», «sinful» and «unworthy of the Christian». This complex of factors predetermines different, sometimes even opposing views of Ukrainian Protestants on whether the religious community has to try to influence public opinion and state policy in the family. Some suggest further limiting the influence of Christians on a grassroots individual level. Others express their support for the already existing state and public sectoral trends without pressure and

criticism of the opponents. Still others promoting a proactive strategy for the LGBT community: a rigid ideological or even direct opposition to the impediment to gay parades or the initiative to dialogue with homosexuals to influence the thinking and way of life of the latter.

6. Pro-family activists are looking for support for their actions. The adherents of « soft power» and intellectual work tend to be cabinet-based (development of documents and public discussion), and the practice of therapy for homosexuals is at an initial stage. For activists, such circumstances are not optimal. They try to attract the attention of the general public, integrate as much as possible the whole society into the protection of family values, to use the state's resources for such a super-task. The logic in this is: capable of cabinet work and controversy with the LGBT community, there is always and will be much less than willing to enter a vibrant and dynamic street action or sign a short and understandable internet petition. And it turns out that most Protestants look socially passive, but the thesis of protecting the Ukrainian family draws the attention of Ukrainian nationalist circles, that is, those who are oriented towards state values. In attempts to protect their more restrained position, supporters of individual influence or intellectual work say that supposedly taking part in joint family-centered events, together with nationalist figures, means to support Nazism.

Thus, in our opinion, it seems unlikely that in the near future the opposition of Ukrainian Protestants to the LGBT community could exhaust itself. Attempts by developed countries to recognize alternative forms of family and sexual relations are ongoing, and the current (ultra) popularity of the right-wing parties in Europe is unlikely to change the situation radically. Young Ukrainian Protestants do not like martyrdom as the only way to react to the evangelical Christian's attempts to assimilate disobedient churches. Post-Maidan Protestantism dreams of other forms of church presence in society, sending its members into the army as chaplains, into higher education as researchers and teachers, into the media as publicists and experts, into the public sector as founders and activists of civic organizations, trying to get support from government officials' different levels. There is hardly any reason to expect the establishment of liberal Protestantism in Ukraine, which will cease to see dissonance between biblical precepts and alternative forms of family. The main prospect of weakening this tension is that young Protestants will associate themselves not with the local identities of the family and the community, but with the political body of the Ukrainian state, where aggression in the east and the fight against corruption seem to be more urgent than the (unsuccessful) obstruction of the next gay parade.

REFERENCES:

1. Adventisty sed'mogo dnya ne odobryayut ni LGBT-kvest, ni napadenie na nego. Nacional'nij LGBT-portal Ukrai'ni [Elektronnyi resurs] 2016. Rezhim dostupu

https://www.lgbt.org.ua/ru/news/show 4060/. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

2. Balaklickij Maksim, Para slov o gomoseksualistah. Pisanie i politika, «Duhovnoe vozrozhdenie», Korosten', 2016. [in Ukrainian]

3. Balaklic'kij Maksim, Ekspertne opituvannya «2017 ta 2018 rik ukrains'kogo protestantizmu: ak-tivnist', masshtab, zavdannya, opoziciya, rezul'tati». Ukrains'ka unionna konferenciya. [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu https://uuc. adventist.ua/ekspertne-opytuvannya-2017-ta-2018-rik-ukrayinskogo-protestantyzmu-aktyvnist-masshtab-zavdannya-opozytsiya-rezultaty/. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

4. V Ukrai'ni virizayut' sim'yu. Sajt gromadyans'kogo ruhu «Vsi razom» [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu http://www.vsirazom.ua/dontcut/Nazva z ekranu. Data dostupu: (Data dostupu: 26 grudnya 2018). [in Ukrainian]

5. Vseukrains'ka Rada Cerkov ogolosila novij 2019 rik Rokom sim'i. Vseukrains'ka rada cerkov i religijnih organizacij [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu http://vrciro.org.ua/ua/events/560-uccro-proclaimed-2019-as-year-of-family. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

6. Holovyn Serhei, Homoseksualyzm, tserkov y obshchestvo. Bybleiskyi podkhod. [Elektronnyi resurs] 2014. Rezhym dostupu http://scienceandapologetics.com/stati/968-golovin-sl-gomoseksualizm-cerkov-i-obschestvo-bibleyskiy-podhod.html. [in Russian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

7. Holovyn Serhei, Po obrazu y podobyiu. Proyskhozhdenye, sushchnost y prednaznachenye cheloveka, « Knyhonosha» , Kyiv, 2017. [in Russian]

8. Golovin Sergej, Bibliya i politika: osnovi spravedlivogo suspil'stva, «Knigonosha» , Kiiv, 2017. [in Russian]

9. Gordeev Aleksej, Cerkov' na Majdane, «Knigonosha» , Kiiv, 2015. [in Russian]

10. Gromads'ki organizacii pidtrimuyut' prosimejnu i antigendernu poziciyu sekretarya RNBO. Gromadyans'kij ruh «Vsi razom». [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu http://vsirazom.ua/poziciya/gromadski-organizaci%D1%97-pidtrimuyut-prosimejnu-i-antigendernu-poziciyu-sekretarya-rnbo. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

11. Dyatlik Taras, Mrak i svet, LGBT i hristianstvo. [Elektronnyi resurs] 2016. Rezhym dostupu http://taras.dyatlik.net/mrak-i-svet-lgbt-i-hristianstvo/. [in Russian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

12. Eryomenko Vladimer, Viden'e reformacii Ukrainy, «IntroligaTOR», Cherkassy, 2016. [in Ukrainian]

13. Zvernennya VRCiRO do Prezidenta Ukrai'ni pro nedocil'nist' i riziki ratifikacii Stambul's'koi Kon-vencii. Vseukrains'ka rada cerkov i religijnih organizacij [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu http://vrciro. org. ua/ua/statements/553-uccro-appeal-to-president-against-istanbul-convention. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

14. Merenkov Gnat, «Nam ne varto rozrahovuvati na politichni vazheli dlya poshirennya Gvangeliya» -Roman Solovij [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu

https://risu. org. ua/ua/index/expert thought/interview/ 72869/. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

15. Merenkov Gnat, Igor Plohoj: Sformuvati social'nu doktrinu dlya cerkvi povinni bogoslovi. Aktivisti dopomozhut' [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu: http://prochurch. info/index.php/news/more/535 70. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

16. Merenkov Gnat, Ruslan Kuharchuk: «Mi fun-damentalisti u tomu sensi, shcho zahishchaemo fundament demokratiï - prava lyudej i simej». «Religiya v Ukraïni». [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu: https://www. religion. in. ua/main/interview/41116-ruslan-kuxarchuk-mi-fundamentalisti-u-tomu-sensi-shho-zaxishhayemo-fundament-demokratiyi-prava-lyudej-i-simej.html. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

17. Nikolozi Dzhozef, Styd i utrata privyazannosti. Primenenie reparativnoj terapii na praktike, «Dyatlik», Kiïv, 2018. [in Ukrainian]

18. Ombudsmen KMU po gendernym voprosam Levchenko obratitsya v SBU otnositel'no prizyvov «zapretit' propagandu gomoseksualizma», [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu https://m.censor.net.ua/news/3101354/ombudsmen k mu_po_gendernym_voprosam_levchenko_obratitsya_ v sbu otnositelno_prizyvov_zapretit_propagandu. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

19. Popov Vladimer, Shagi very. Ot Reformacii do nashih dnej, «Mission Eurasia», Kiïv, 2016. [in Ukrainian]

20. Prezident zaklikav Parlament ratifikuvati Konvenciyu Radi Gvropi shchodo zapobigannya na-sil'stvu shchodo zhinok ta domashn'omu nasil'stvo.

iНе можете найти то, что вам нужно? Попробуйте сервис подбора литературы.

Prezident Ukraïni Petro Poroshenko [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu:

https://www.president.gov.ua/news/prezident-zaklikav-parlament-ratifikuvati-konvenciyu-radi-ye-51866. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

21. Sheremeti Roman, Reformaciya: uspih Gvropi i shans dlya Ukraïni, Sammit-Kniga, Kiïv, 2017. [in Ukrainian]

22. Reshetinskij Valerij, Potok iz-pod poroga Hrama. Ocherk po teologii Majdana, «Knigonosha», Kiïv, 2016. [in Russian]

23. Klimonchuk Oksana, Hto zahishchae geïv v ukraïns'kij politici? [Elektronnyi resurs] 2007. Rezhym dostupu https://www.uman. ua/politics/563 79-hto-zahischae-gejiv-v-ukrajinskiy-polititsi.html. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

24. Turchinov Aleksandr, Neomarksizm abo podorozh u bezodnyu [Elektronnyi resurs] 2018. Rezhym dostupu http://turchynov.com/news/details/neomarksizm-abo-podorozh-u-bezodnyu?fbclid=IwAR1gUL5yF13-0qLnkIoNuQ_YJ0RPh WEu 72oZEljJXzr UvKlHxz5PAR efr8k. [in Ukrainian]. (Last accessed June 18, 2021).

25. Shul'ga Aleksandr, Reformaciya i Ukraina, «Mission Eurasia», Kiïv, 2016. [in Russian]

26. Wanner Catherine, Communities of the converted. Ukrainians and global Evangelism. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 2007. [in Ukrainian]

27. Kuryliak, V., Goncharova, O. Two positions of ukrainian protestants on the question about the LGBT community. «Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe». Vol. XLI, No.4. 2021. P. 231-242. [in English]

28. Mierienkov H. Diametralnist protektsiinykh zakhodiv prosimeinykh aktyvistiv vid LHBT-spilnoty v Ukrainy. Visnyk Lvivskoho universytetu. 2019. Se-riia: filosofsko-politolohichni studii. Vypusk 26. S. 4755. [in Ukrainian].

i Надоели баннеры? Вы всегда можете отключить рекламу.