VZCZCXRO0359
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2312 2511313
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081313Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4748
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MOSCOW 002312 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI RS
 
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN BAPTISTS SEEKING MAINSTREAM RECOGNITION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The Russian Union of Gospel Christian Baptists 
(RUGCB) focuses on interfaith cooperation and targeted outreach to 
Russian elite to overcome mainstream biases toward non-traditional 
religions.  The main venue for their outreach is an annual National 
Prayer Breakfast, modeled on Washington's.  Their hope for future 
membership growth based upon the unlikely conversion of ruling 
political leaders exemplifies the long odds non-traditional 
religions (i.e., not Russian Orthodox, Islam, Judaism or Buddhism) 
face in changing society's religious views.  End Summary. 
 
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Chipping Away at Religion's Tie to Identity, Politics 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  PolOff met September 3 with the Head of Internal Issues 
for the RUGCB Vitaliy Vlasenko and President of the Russian Center 
for Church Multiplication Dr. Petr Sautov, who claimed that 
religious minorities in Russia have faced increased persecution 
since the late 1990s.  Vlasenko said that Russians often equated 
non-traditional religious believers with non-Russians.  He related 
personal experiences of how strangers had approached him and called 
him a foreign spy and enemy of the Russian government because of his 
minority faith.  Nevertheless, Vlasenko expressed optimism that 
eventually all Russians would realize that Russian believers of 
non-traditional faith love Russia as much as anyone. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Vlasenko and Sautov agreed that the government respects 
the right of minority religions to exist but places limits on their 
ability to grow, particularly outside Moscow.  Vlasenko said that 
officials have obstructed the RUGCB's plans to acquire land to build 
additional churches, and that landlords, instructed by political 
figures, raised the rent on their meeting places in order to make 
them prohibitively expensive. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Sautov was emphatic that what he termed "the Government's 
nationalist ideology and propaganda" influenced the limits placed on 
minority religions.  He said that a level playing field would 
provide credibility to non-traditional religions, resulting in their 
growth. Politicians, Sautov claimed, have been unable to control the 
leaders of minority religions and have responded by limiting their 
growth. Vlasenko temporized that while it was unfortunate that 
ignorance and negative media portrayals have led to incorrect 
assumptions about his beliefs, President Medvedev may improve the 
situation. 
 
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Hoping for Top Down Growth 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Vlasenko and Sautov are coordinating the 10th annual 
Russian National Prayer Breakfast, tentatively scheduled for March, 
¶2010.  They greatly appreciated Ambassador Beyrle's participation in 
the same event last year and have planned to invite a wide array of 
international representatives, including U.S. political, business, 
and religious leaders.  The two men hoped that the Breakfast would 
be conducive to interaction among foreign and Russian leaders such 
that the latter would hear how other countries valued religious 
freedom.  Sautov contended that access to Russian leaders at the 
Breakfast was critical to the RUGCB because religious freedom would 
come to Russia only when a senior Russian leader became a member of 
a non-traditional religion. 
 
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Comment: 
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¶6. (SBU)  While Vlasenko and Sautov's ambitions for the Breakfast 
appear lofty, their desire to use the event as a forum to discuss 
the role of religion in democratic societies may genuinely broaden 
the discussion of religion and government in this spiritually 
conservative society. Their vision of on-the-spot, elite 
conversions, however, probably will remain elusive in a nation where 
administrative resources are routinely used to constrain minority 
church expansion and one's religion can help or hinder career 
aspirations. 
 
BEYRLE