RELIGIOSITY OF ULYANOVSK CITY RUSSIANS IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

The paper analyses the religiosity ofUlyanovskcity Russians, the general trends in the attitude to the Orthodox religion are revealed. The basis of research was formed by questioning, interview, publications on the subject of religion. The author considers that the majority of the Russian population ofUlyanovskare believers and Orthodox Christians, the considerable share of respondents believes in the existence of human soul. Besides, it is supposed that the main channel for getting religious information, as well as initiation to religion for the respondents is the family. In general the author identifies several groups of respondents who have different attitude to Orthodoxy and religion: 1. “Nominal” or “ethnic” Orthodox Christians who identify themselves with Orthodoxy, but do not observe all Christian rites. 2. The second group is the "real", or practicing Orthodox Christians for whom religion and religiousness are associated with direct sources of the Orthodox religion 3. The third group has “transitional” attitude to Orthodoxy: the people follow most Orthodox norms, but show smaller interest in deeper knowledge of orthodox Christianity. 4. The fourth is the "extra confessional" group 5. The fifth is the "non-orthodox group".