Church-State Relations in the Post-Communist World: The Cases of Belarus and Estonia

Abstract

Upon gaining independence, Belarus and Estonia entered the early 1990s in a similar state of affairs regarding church-state relations. Both countries were, however, part of the USSR, and its official policy was aimed at the complete removal of religion from both the public and private sphere since the “ideal” Soviet man had to accept and share the policy of “scientific atheism.” The restrictions were numerous and severe: religious organizations were not allowed to appear in the mass media, educational establishments, medical institutions, etc., and their functioning was perceived by authorities as alien towards the dominant Communist ideology, which actively promoted atheism. Church-state relations were unilateral and oppressive: there was the dominant state, dictating its rules, and the persecuted church, whose voice in...