The road from the temple to the Maidan: Made in Yekaterinburg

Anniversary of protests in Yekaterinburg against the construction of the Church of St. Catherine. Then, let me remind you, those gathered protested against his appearance in one of the city squares.

Here it is necessary to remember the whole background. St. Catherine's Cathedral was built in 1723, but was destroyed in 1930. Initially, the temple was going to be restored on a historical site - on Labor Square. But the idea was ostracized. Afterwards, they decided to build the temple in the water area of ​​the city pond - and again some of the public opposed it. And finally, it was decided to build a cathedral in the park. At first, no one objected, they even agreed on the project - but then there was a groan of indignation again, and later protesters appeared.

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Why is backstory so important here? It shows that the problem is not that the temple will destroy the park, and this, in turn, will harm the environment. No, the point is different.

Some of the townspeople, in principle, initially did not like the revival of the Church of St. Catherine. Wherever it was proposed to be built, the very fact of this caused rejection, turning into active hatred.

And the problem here is not so much in a specific temple, but in the fact that in it - as in a symbol - all the negative chimeras, fears and memes that one part of society has in relation to another are concentrated. These phobias are well known: a totalitarian state, the merging of church and state, corrupt priests and officials - and so on in the same spirit.

I am far from the opinion that the voiced problems in one form or another do not exist in Russia, but it is obvious that they do not have such an exaggerated manifestation, as some protesters portray to us. This is an exaggeration of the same nature as the development of their liberal ideas into fascist neoliberalism.

Again, I am far from thinking that on the part of those who decided to build the temple, everything happened smoothly and gently. However, it was the initial concentration of hatred that led to confrontation.

Who was the temple bothering? Does his appearance really lead to the destruction of the latter? Certainly not. However, the principle itself was important - to prevent the construction of a church building. And then use the situation around this as a reason to incite a civil conflict.

No, the spark did not result in a flame - those days are gone. Now a rally is more often a performance than an instrument. But it’s a fact: in addition to decent and ideological people, complete outcasts and anti-state activists gathered for the protest against the temple. And many of them didn’t care about the idea of ​​freedom, or freedom of expression, or the public garden, or the environment. It was important for them to show hatred born of their own madness.

Yes, it was Maidan in miniature. After all, Maidan is a methodology in which everything that is fair and constructive is cut off, and only destructive remains, which is no longer possible to stop. And here Ukraine is an exemplary (though in a negative context) example. Because someone once did not find the strength and will to say “stop”.

And yes, the Church of St. Catherine is being built, but in a different place. However, the fact remains: the authorities agreed to the protesters’ conditions – albeit not to the fullest extent. And compromise, it would seem, is always right, but sometimes - in special cases modified by evil - it becomes a reason for the retreat of some and the advance of others. A year later, the battle is still going on - albeit not in blazing form.