Every fifth Russians knows about cases of insulting of religious feelings in Russia. The share of those who support the initiative to toughen the punishment for such actions is 82%.
MOSCOW, September 26, 2012. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey covering the following questions: whether representatives of different confessions faced restrictions on their religious freedom; whether Russians noticed any acts to outrage religious feelings; whether they support the idea to toughen the punishment for such actions or not.
The overwhelming majority of Russians have not noticed any restrictions on religious rights. Those who feel pressure are basically followers of religions other than the Orthodoxy (16%); the reason is that orthodox christians do not accept other religions (6%). The Orthodox Christians mention harassment (8%) or hooliganism in the churches (2%). Atheists are worried about the excessive pressure from the authorities (3%).
Three-quarters of Russians did not hear about acts of religious insults (73%). However 21% of respondents have heard about isolated cases (16%) and 5% of Russians have heard about numerous acts of religious harassment (5%). Most of Russians know about acts of sawing down of crosses (30%), stealing sacred objects (17%), vandalism (13%) and attacks on clergymen (13%).
The idea to toughen punishment for vandalism or church property damage is supported by 82% of Russians, basically adherents of United Russia party (87%), respondents aged above 45 (85%) and Orthodox believers (85%). Twelve percent of Russians perceive the idea negatively: they are mainly 25-34-year-old Russians (16%), supporters of non-parliament parties (19%), non-believers (18%) and followers of religions other than the Orthodoxy (20%).
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on September 7-8, 2012. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
At present do you notice any infringement of religious rights or pressure on representatives of different religions in Russia? If yes, what kind of infringement or pressure have you witnessed? Can you describe it in two or three words, please? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | ||||
| Total respondents | Orthodox believers | Followers of other religions | Non-believers, fluctuating between belief and on-belief |
Rejection of followers of other religions | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
Hooliganism in the church | 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
Desecration of holy sites | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Mass media pressure | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Rights infringement by government | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Yes, but I can hardly remember | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
No pressure or harassment | 86 | 87 | 80 | 87 |
There is a lot of talk about the Pussy Riot action at the Christ the Savior Cathedral. Have you heard about other acts intended to outrage the believers` feelings, attacks on churches, priests or church property damage over the last year, or not? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||
| Total respondents | Orthodox believers | Followers of other religions | Non-believers, fluctuating between belief and on-belief |
Yes, I know many cases like this | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
Yes, I know isolated cases | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
No, I do not know anything | 73 | 72 | 77 | 74 |
Hard to tell | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
Have you heard of other cases of religious insults such as sawing down of crosses, attacks on churches and priests, church property damage that have taken place over the past year, or not?? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who know about such cases) | |
Sawing down of crosses | 30 |
Stealing sacred objects | 17 |
Attacks on clergymen | 13 |
Vandalism, desecration of holy sites | 13 |
Actions in other cities and countries similar to Pussy Riot punk prayer | 9 |
Murder of Imam in Kazan | 8 |
Grave robbery | 3 |
Burning of churches, mosques | 3 |
Sheikh Saeed assassination in Dagestan | 2 |
Other | 5 |
Hard to tell | 9 |
The idea to toughen the punishment for insulting of religious feelings, vandalism and church property damage has been widely discussed. Do you support this initiative, or not? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||
| Total respondents | Orthodox believers | Followers of other religions | Non-believers, fluctuating between belief and on-belief |
Rather support | 82 | 85 | 73 | 76 |
Rather not support | 12 | 9 | 20 | 18 |
Hard to tell | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!