Vladimir Shkolny
The promotion conference
The promotion conference
According to a report published by Pr.kg on March 12, the Non-Traditional Religious Movements and Their Possible Prospects, the first Central Asia manual on anti-cult, came out in Kyrgyzstan Republic and its promotion conference was held on March 7 in Bishkek, the capital of the country. During the conference, authors of the book explained the harms brought by heretical cults on national security by taking Falun Gong as a typical case.
The book was jointly written by Vladimir Shkolny and another author, and was published by Unification Social Funds Organization. The book elaborated different views on activities of emerging religious organizations, studied the structure, theories and working methods adopted by these religious movements, as well as the existing and possible consequences and effects that heretical cults may bring to society. The book advocated fighting against extremism and separatism in its reference.
Vladimir Shkolny, one of the authors, said, “This long-expected book elaborated new religious movements including Falun Gong, which indeed are heretical cults pretending to be sports societies. Based on a number of field studies, the book described the direct contacts and communications with heads and followers of various religious sects, as well as commercial cult organizations. We cooperated with the State Committee on Religious Affairs, collecting a wide range of information on how other countries dealt with such heretical cults.”
A member of State Committee on Religious Affairs who was responsible for organizing the promotion conference said that this is the first anti-cult manual in Central Asia. This publication would be useful for a wide range of readers including college teachers, students, civil servants, and judicial officers.
Oleg, executive officer of the Unification Social Funds that financing and supporting the publication, said, “The Ministry of Education has approved this textbook and the book will be distributed free of charge by the State Agency on Religious Affairs in colleges and judicial agencies.”
