Sitnikov, Mikhail Nikolaevich

According to the curriculum vitae presented in the magazine “Dialogos”, “Born in Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad ) in the family of an Orthodox priest. He graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University , worked in Vneshtorg institutions, the judiciary, and the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate ” ^[5] .

Former political columnist for the French weekly newspaper Russkaya Mysl . ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Correspondent of the Internet publication Portal-Credo.ru ^[10] . The founder of the Center for Religious Studies “Religopolis” ANO (director E. S. Elbakyan ) ^{[11] [12]} . Editor - in-chief of the online publication Religiopolis.org ^{[13] [14] [15]} - the information resource of this center created with the active participation of the editors of the Portal-Credo.ru ^[11] .

Member of the Board of Directors of the Russian branch of the International Association of Religious Freedom ^[16] and member of the working group on freedom of conscience of the Action Committee of the All-Russian Civil Congress . ^{[17] [18]}

Expert of the Institute of Freedom of Conscience. ^[one]

On a personal page, RusGlobus notes that in its views it is a staunch opponent of a totalitarian type of government and "Russia's cultural integration into Christian civilization based on political and religious tolerance", and also "considers any orientation toward the ideology of empire - from communist to Orthodox - to be fatal ". Also, in his own words, he is an active participant in human rights actions. ^[nineteen]

At a scientific conference “Actual Problems of Implementing the Principles of Freedom of Conscience in Modern Russia”, held on July 2, 2009, in the conference room of the Scientific Council of the Russian State Humanitarian University (RGGU), Mikhail Sitnikov made a presentation on “the reflection of freedom of conscience in the media”. ^[20]

In an article entitled “Believing Christians Must Know About It,” M. Sitnikov touched on the problem of people with non-traditional sexual orientation who consider themselves Christians in modern Russia. He writes: “Probably only the hardening of the mind and heart, which has become the generally accepted norm today, does not allow us to see ridiculously obvious things. Because we are talking about people - young, law-abiding, students or already having mastered the profession, as a rule, working hard for the benefit of society, who, along with the color of their eyes and hair, innate abilities and nationality, received from birth an unacceptable psychophysiological tendency. Moreover, a tendency, the manifestation of which is possible only in an intimate, personal life, the inviolability of which, in turn, is protected by law. But what should ostracism be called to which these people are exposed for their genetic trait? ” ^[21]

At a meeting of members of the Union of Right Forces (Union of Right Forces), representatives of public organizations and journalists organized by the Liberal Discussion Club "Right Cause" on February 27, 2006 , Mikhail Sitnikov noted that the problem of clericalization of power had been brewing for a long time and was not unexpected. Despite the fact that signs of the union of certain religious structures with government departments have been observed for a long time, few people think about the possible consequences of this kind of alliance. From the point of view of freedom of conscience, without the real implementation of the principles of which a democratic society cannot exist, clericalization can be considered its absolute antipode. According to Sitnikov, in the perception of the majority of Russians between religion and religious organizations, a complete identity is held, while this is far from the case. The largest Russian religious organization - the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, declares its exclusive right to represent Orthodox Christianity in the country and relies on moral religious doctrine. However, at the same time it remains a completely earthly organization, has all the properties inherent in such an organization, one of which is the desire to increase its own influence and increase the material base. Therefore, said Sitnikov, speaking of the clericalization of power, it should be borne in mind that "we are talking about an alliance of completely earthly interests and an alliance of completely earthly structures." ^[ten]

In March 2007, Mikhail Sitnikov took part in the presentation of the specialized informational and analytical report “Freedom of Belief, Conscience and Religion in Modern Russia”, which took place at the Moscow Independent Press Center. The report was prepared by M. Sitnikov, together with the co-chairs of the Council of the Institute for Freedom of Conscience Sergei Buryanov and Sergey Mozgov, human rights activist Andrei Babushkin (Committee for Civil Rights) and the head of the Humanist Scientific and Methodological Center, Vsevolod Lukhovitsky, as part of the program Against Religious Xenophobia , Intolerance and discrimination in the Russian regions ”by the Moscow Helsinki Group . M. Sitnikov drew attention to the fact that you can’t concentrate on respecting the rights of a single narrow group of people, as this makes the whole society powerless. In his opinion, the problem is that the very concept of freedom of conscience is perceived as incomplete. Nobody knows what freedom of conscience is and does not attach any importance to it. Sitnikov noted: “This is not only a right, but also a person’s state, level of culture, literacy, and education. If a person does not have a sense of freedom of conscience, then he does not have his own dignity. And if there is dignity, then society will be legal. Then the state will also be legal . ” ^{[1] The} report was released as a separate book in the form of a monograph devoted to the study of the state of freedom of opinion, conscience and religion in modern Russia, which “examines the constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience and judicial practice, modern legislation and trends in state-religious relations in science and education, politics and lawmaking, which have a direct impact on the realization of human rights and freedoms in this area. " ^[2]

In 2006 , in a forum of the All-Russian Civil Congress, Mikhail Sitnikov declared: “.. The killings of those journalists, thanks to which, although in a noticeably truncated form, but there is still publicity, this is a very characteristic symptom. Because, if we talk about those who might be interested in eliminating them, we should bear in mind primarily the power. If we pay attention to the moments when customers decide on this, then it is almost always the eve of the next power provocation, leading to another disaster. There is no doubt that Anna could not pass by what is happening today between Russia and Georgia. There is no doubt that as an informed and experienced journalist, she had something to say about this as well .. ” ^[22]

Mikhail Sitnikov is criticized by Russian public human rights and Orthodox organizations, as well as by representatives of the anti-sectarian movement , who call his position “ sect-protecting " ^{[23] [24] [25]} .

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin :

... Mikhail Sitnikov, ... repeats fables that the Church allegedly traded vodka or blessed its release. ^[26] .

Priest Leo Semenov:

This journalist was once punished by a court for slandering the same professor Dvorkin , but, apparently, persistent amnesia is also among his symptoms ^[27]

Igor Ponkin, Doctor of Jurisprudence, puts Sitnikov among the "lying immoral journalists" along with other authors of Portal-Credo.Ru - Mikhail Tulsky, Alexander Soldatov , Vladimir Oyvin and Sergey Bychkov ^[28]

The Public Committee for Human Rights believes that Sitnikov’s articles on Credo.ru are an apologetics for pederasty and lamentations about alleged homophobia ^[25] .

Lawyer and journalist Ksenia Kirillova:

Of course, in order to insult the hated author of the ROC MP , to which Sitnikov devotes a good half of his work, it is generally not necessary to be present anywhere. The accusations of “clerics” of totalitarianism and political ambitions typical of such articles from the lips of the son of the venerable Moscow archpriest sound somewhat wild. At the same time, they involuntarily resemble the example of Pavlik Morozov, who had renounced his own father, from the Soviet past, so unloved by Sitnikov ^[29] .

Journalism

• Buryanov, S. A. (2007), Xenophobia, Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief in the Subjects of the Russian Federation: Specialized Information and Analytical Report 2006 - First Half 2007 , Moscow Helsinki Group , < https://books.google .com / books? id = 39cQAQAAIAAJ >
• Buryanov, S. A. (2007), Civil Society Against Xenophobia, Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief , Moscow Helsinki Group , < https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ7XAAAAMAAJ >

• Press portrait on Yandex
• Mikhail Sitnikov on the website of the Skepsis journal
• Publications of M. Sitnikov
• Publications of Mikhail Sitnikov on the CIVITAS website
• Mikhail Nikolaevich Sitnikov
• Interview with M. Sitnikov on Portal-Credo.Ru
• Round table “Islamophobia as a challenge to civil society”

Criticism

• Mikhail Sitnikov on the site of Jacob Krotov
• The spring aggravation of the sectarians took on a menacing character "Russian Line"
• Like in a pan. Igor Ponkin, Director of the Institute for State-Confessional Relations and Law, calls the author of Portal-Credo.Ru a liar, but at the same time does something very similar to forgery
• An employee of "Portal-Credo.Ru" gave an explanation to the prosecutor's office in connection with the allegations by the "Orthodox human rights activist"
• An open letter to the editors of the newspaper "Russian Thought"
• From the editors of the site of the Center for Religious Studies in the name of St. Irenaeus of Lyons