In November 2010, Russia's Sanctity of Motherhood organization kicked off its
first-ever national conference.
The theme, according to its organizers, was urgent: solving "the crisis
of traditional family values" in a modernizing Russia. The day opened
with a sextet leading 1,000 swaying attendees in a prayer. Some made the
sign of the cross, others bowed or raised their arms to the sky before
settling into the plush red and gold seats of the conference hall at
Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral.
On the second morning of the conference, the only American in attendance, a tall, collected man,
stepped up
for his speech. Larry Jacobs, vice president of the Rockford,
Illinois-based World Congress of Families (WCF), an umbrella
organization for the US religious right's heavy hitters,
told the audience
that American evangelicals had a 40-year track record of "defending
life and family" and they hoped to be "true allies" in Russia's
traditional values crusade.
The gathering marked the beginning of the family values fervor that
has swept Russia in recent years. Warning that low birth rates are a
threat to the long-term survival of the Russian people, politicians have
been pushing to restrict abortion and encourage bigger families. Among
the movement's successes is a law that passed last summer and garnered
global outrage
in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics, banning "propaganda of
nontraditional sexual relations to minors," a vague term that has been
seen as effectively criminalizing any public expression of same-sex
relationships.
Read on...
