On January 26, 2021, in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, on the territory of the health complex «Zhuravli», a mosque, an Orthodox chapel, and a synagogue were opened simultaneously. And all this was presented as a project of a «spiritual-enlightenment center of three religions» with the characteristic name «Unity». In this case, we will not even consider the question of ecumenism — the unification of three religions under the auspices of a single «spiritual-enlightenment center». By the way, the Russian Orthodox Church has never been known for its efforts towards religious unity with «non-believers», so this syrupy initiative most likely comes from local activists with a group of loyal followers of the «Russian world», or from «Muslims» like Albiyr Krganov, who recently joined the Orthodox Black Hundred movement «Two-Headed Eagle».
Something else is interesting. In principle, it is understandable that Dagestan is part of the Russian Federation, which is supposed to be a secular state with freedom of conscience, blah blah blah. Therefore, it is not forbidden to build churches for the followers of various religions living there, especially the «traditional» ones. But the question arises — why should they be opened at the same time as the mosque? What kind of public message does this send?
Obviously, the mosque in Dagestan is considered equal in status to the church and the synagogue. Again, theoretically one can imagine such a situation. But if the country is one, then it should be the same in all its regions, right?
Meanwhile, there are plans to build 40 new churches in Moscow by 2021. And, of course, they will be Orthodox churches, not a «trinity» of «mosque-church-synagogue» like in Makhachkala. At the same time, the official representatives of Moscow’s millions of Muslims have been asking their leadership for years to allocate them sites for building new mosques, since they no longer fit into the existing ones. But they are always met with the refusal that «Moscow does not need new mosques».
Meanwhile, in the capital of Dagestan, there are no more Orthodox or Jews than Muslims. The number of those who can conditionally be called ethnic Orthodox does not exceed 5%, and there are not even 1% of ethnic Jews. In other words, Makhachkala is a much more mono-religious city than Moscow. And yet, mosques are being opened there along with a church and a synagogue, without taking into account theological and demographic facts.
This is what ecumenism looks like in a gateway, or another manifestation of double standards.