Patriarch Alexy II: Aphorisms. Only love can be above the law, only mercy can be above truth, and only forgiveness can be above justice! Leonov the highest law can be love

Yevgeny Leonov can be called, without exaggeration, a popularly beloved actor. Behind a rather ordinary appearance lies a huge talent, incredible charm, and most importantly, warmth and humanity. Looking at his characters on the screen, you understand that he does not just play a role - he lives it! And this is the whole Evgeny Leonov. A person who is incredibly dedicated to his work, and is ready to give his all to the rest to achieve the desired result. And not only in the cinema or on the stage of the theater, but also in real life.

Above laws can be love! Above right - mercy! Above justice is forgiveness. This is enough to not fall below the human level.

Is there a person in your life in front of whom you are not afraid to be small, stupid, unarmed, in all the nakedness of your revelation? This person is your protection.

I love silence. Silence is a special state of the world and soul. Without silence, beauty cannot be understood. All great things happened in silence.

Sometimes just one kind word is enough to make you feel inspired. And it is very important that this word be said during a person's lifetime.

In my life, it happened that I was offended, as it seems to me, in vain, undeservedly. And I have such a will that if a person offended me, I will exclude him from my life. I can greet him and talk to him, but he no longer exists for me as a person ...

Goodwill can be a property of the soul, or it can be good manners - and you will not immediately understand this, unfortunately.

Chekhov once said that we Russians seek suffering in order to avoid boredom.

I remember how we arrived on the ship, very beautiful. The director and cameraman approached me and said: “Don't worry, we came up with a very funny episode. We'll put you in a cage, let the tigers out and see what happens." I say, “No, I don't agree. I have a family, a little son, I'm against it." Of course, they persuaded me, because I agreed to star in this film. They all hid themselves. The director is brave, brave, but he himself climbed the mast, everything is visible from there - it is easier to direct.

Fear is not weakness. Now, if fear makes you retreat, if you save your strength and as a result decrease yourself, this is weakness.

When I say loneliness, I mean that I am doing something, but they do not understand me, then I am alone.

I noticed it myself, how much more pleasant it is to work when not a frowning look, but a kind one looks at you - something is revealed in you, and you want to give such a person a hundred times more.

There is no high and low art, there are great and small thoughts and authors Poets and dwarfs. And art is just a means for each of us to discover our true growth.

Theater is not cinema, not stage, not television. Theater is not a story about love, it is love itself. And that means there are two of you: you and the viewer.

For some, God is in heaven, and for others, in their own hearts. And this God in the heart does not allow to fall below a certain human level... He will not allow kicking a dog, offending an old man, treating parents badly...

What does it mean to retreat? This is when a person does not use his powers to the last.

These quotes once again prove that Yevgeny Leonov was not only an outstanding actor, but also a wonderful person: wise, kind, ironic and incredibly charming. Introduce your friends to the thoughtful sayings of Yevgeny Leonov, let them discover a new facet of this great man.

"The road to God is not open to everyone, but the path to Pushkin's ingenious simplicity is not ordered to anyone." Songs based on his poems were performed by Lyudmila Zykina, Iosif Kobzon and many other celebrities. Today our guest is Konstantin Vasilyevich Skvortsov, a Russian writer, poet, co-chairman of the Board of the Writers' Union of Russia.

- Konstantin Vasilievich, can you slightly open the anthology of your spiritual lyrics?

Everything begins with childhood and ends with childhood. Old people fall into it, probably because in childhood life seems serene and endless. But this is by the way ... My childhood and youth were spent in the Urals in the city of Zlatoust. The more emotional and hedonistic addition to the name of the city is so great that only one sound spelling of this word is already capable of making a person receptive to language a Creator.

I was two and a half years old when my family was evacuated to the South Urals from front-line Tula. The evacuation was militarily hasty. No icons, no things ... Mom said: - "The pot in which potatoes were boiled (if you're lucky) is all our wealth." I think that there were no icons in our Tula apartment. It could have cost my father his career. If there was an icon, then my mother would take the icon on the road, not the bowler hat. But, as it was, so it was.

We lived in hastily put together barracks, which arose unrealistically quickly. There was no church. Early in the morning, on a signal - a lingering whistle, from which for some reason the heart turned cold, the parents went to the factory and returned in the evening on the same whistle, sounding like the end of an air raid alarm.

In the "old" Chrysostom, unlike the "new" one, there was an active church, but we, the children, bypassed it. At school, we were so scared of “opium for the people” that going to church was considered not only forbidden, but also dangerous ...

Chrysostom, Chrysostom... We have not heard of any Universal Teacher. Not at home, not at school. "Golden Mouth" was perceived as the "Golden Mouth" - a centuries-old dam covered with gray moss, which turned the miraculous river Ai into a picturesque pond. Manil, a plant that seemed almost antique from the time of Demidov, flickering with mysterious lights between the spurs of Urenga and Kosatur. Here, two centuries ago, the metallurgist scientist Pavel Anosov discovered the secret of damask steel, lost in millennia. The artist Ivan Bushuev and his associates decorated white bladed weapons for the entire Russian army. The first steel cannon in Russia was cast. Not far away, in the Miass Valley, the largest gold nugget was found! I'm not talking about the virgin forests and mountains covered with autumn gilding ...

We learned about John Chrysostom later, although his patronage was unconsciously felt every day of God. It was impossible to survive in those years without his nourishment and protection. These are the origins of my terms, and you do me honor by calling them spiritual. Much later, the works of John Chrysostom shocked me with their cosmic depth. I tried to comprehend them already in adulthood. Had this happened before, I would have been a completely different person. In the sermons of the Ecumenical Teacher, in his letters to the Olympias, there are answers to all burning questions. Wisdom is stronger than time.

There is an opinion that poets are true theomachists and this metaphysical struggle is reflected in their activities. How can you comment on this?

Every poet has his own philosophy of life. Where are the origins of the origins of theomachism? Obviously, everyone has their own. If there had been no revolution, would Mayakovsky have become a theomachist? I doubt. Writers and rhymers at all times were a great many. Everyone understands that his talent is given by God. And he cannot but believe in Him. But in order to be noticed in literature, you often have to enter “on your hands”.

Theomachism, like modernism, is a disease of spiritual growth. In troubled waters, not only fish are caught, but also glory. There is poetry as art (from the word temptation) and there is poetry as destiny. Between them there is an eternal metaphysical struggle. Fight with yourself and your sins. During fasting, you crave meat. Not everyone is able to resist temptation. Over time, "muddy water" settles. The outlines and essence of objects begin to be seen more clearly. There comes an awareness of the original power of the word and its purpose. “Being famous is not nice. It's not what lifts you up." Not everyone opens the road to God, but the path to Pushkin's ingenious simplicity is not ordered to anyone.

- How do you think the life of a poet is a search for the realm of values ​​in the world of givens?

I think that the life of a poet is a process of self-discovery. We try to penetrate into the cosmos, often without thinking that the cosmos is in ourselves. Mysterious and incomprehensible. “Self-knowledge is the only idea that can animate the universe; this is the goal and crown of man,” wrote Dmitry Vladimirovich Venevitinov. Our values ​​are defined in the commandments of Christ. Yes, we know that there is a “realm of values” in which all people are free, kind and blameless, but we are serfs of the “world of givens”.

We hide behind the phrase that "everything is from God." Yes, everything is from God, but the choice remains with the person. The more talented the author, the more responsible (even if intuitively) this choice is made. The vocation of a poet cannot be called up or worked out (this is not in the register of professions). The nation appoints itself a Poet. Self-preserved by his word, his language. Language and people are synonyms. Although today, as always, self-appointed classics are a dime a dozen! They have nothing to do with the realm of values ​​in the world of givens.

- Who and when had the greatest influence on your spiritual consciousness?

I cannot but recall what a strong impression my first meeting with the Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod (future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II) made on me. It was in Novgorod, in the ancient center of Russia in 1988, during the celebration of Slavic writing and culture in the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.

The holiday began with a solemn divine service in the church of St. Philip, on the Trade side of Novgorod. Listening to the metropolitan, I felt for the first time that I was gaining a kindred spirit, that I was no longer so alone and helpless in serving the Russian word, the Slavic brotherhood and long-suffering Russia. God is with us!

If you open a complete Orthodox theological encyclopedic dictionary, published at the very beginning of the last century, you will be surprised at the number of Orthodox writers - my namesakes. Dmitry Ivanovich studied the Jesuit order as a political force. Ivan Mikhailovich worked on the Catechistic Teachings. Konstantin Ivanovich investigated the question of the author of the works known under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite. The full namesake of my father, Vasily Mikhailovich, laid the foundation for the publication of the spiritual newspaper "The Bell". The themes explored by my namesakes (from Byzantium to the Schism) largely coincided with the motives of the dramatic works I wrote: George the Victorious, Constantine the Great, Julian the Apostate, Time of Troubles and others. Perhaps this is an accident, or maybe God's providence, as a generic destiny. Although my relationship with the great namesakes is very doubtful, despite the fact that the name "Skvortsov" appeared in Russia only in the 17th century, which is not so far away.

I have already spoken about the works of John Chrysostom. I will only add that as a result of his unconditional influence on my spiritual consciousness, the drama "John Chrysostom" appeared.

- You were connected by friendship with Archimandrite Peter (Afanasiev), tell us about it, what do you especially remember?

The Zaikonospassky Stauropegial Monastery, which went down in history as a "teacher's" monastery, where Archimandrite Peter served, was founded by Boris Godunov in 1600. Here in the past centuries the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was located - the first higher education institution in Russia educational institution. Mikhail Lomonosov, Antioch Kantemir, Vasily Trediakovsky studied within these walls... Only those clergy who were "known for their labors" could be abbots of the monastery. Among them was Archimandrite Peter - Professor, Honored Art Worker of Russia, an outstanding conductor, founder of the world-famous Blagozvonnitsa chamber choir. Not knowing me personally, Archimandrite Peter read my tetralogy “By this, conquer!”. He wrote an enthusiastic letter to the Patriarchate and invited me and my friend Vladimir Krupin, whom they had known for years, to tea. Maybe because we were the same age, or thanks to his attention and condescension towards us, who write books, the conversation was long, unhurried, filled with a feeling of love and concern for the fate of our language and theatrical art. When he asked us questions, he talked a lot about himself. It was like a mutual confession from heart to heart. Frankly and confidentially. Nothing betrayed his illness (he died a few weeks later). Glowing and smiling, he spoke about the power of prayer, helping him endure all infirmities. A few words from such a wise interlocutor are worth many years of schooling at a university. Everything is determined by the scale of the individual and the depth of faith. It is a pity that our communication was not so long.

- Do you feel the presence of the deceased in your life, in your work?

It is very responsible and intimate. The feeling, if it exists, should be conveyed to the one who gets used to the author's word. He takes it and makes it his own.

- What are your works most significant for you?

The first - "The Gorge of the Winged Horses" and the last of those written - the tetralogy "Sim win!"

This is the path from a dramatic legend to the acquisition of faith - this is how I designated the genres of these works. In drama, as in life, there are laws. But the main engine of Creativity is Love. And she is above every law. The higher the Love, the more significant the work is not only for the author, but for his readers and viewers.

You are a laureate of the AI ​​Fatyanov Prize, M. Yu. Lermontov, E. F. Volodin, M. N. Alekseev, A. T. Tvardovsky, S. T. Aksakov, "Golden Knight", and "Golden Delvig", which award is most memorable for you?

No talent bonuses add, and often do not define it. I have seen a lot of things in my half century of professional life in literature. Often decisions are made behind the scenes, in their own way, on the principle of "friend or foe."

However, there are prizes that are not established by any commission or committee. After all, it’s already a reward if you helped at least one person with your word.

In the nineties, I happened to perform in one of the villages forgotten by the authorities. Young people have long moved to the city to earn money. In the dilapidated club sat the same dilapidated old women. What do they, the poor, care about poetry?! But being, according to the old memory, disciplined, they carefully looked at the stage, not really understanding why they were gathered. There were several poets. When they gave me the floor, I remembered a poem in which there were such lines:

Holy Rus', who knew no rest,
Washed by tears like rain
Where else could I have heard this:
What we don’t finish, we finish!

When I finished reading this poem, one of the old women, sneaking out so as not to disturb anyone, slipped out the door. I continued to read. And about ten minutes later the old woman returned and directly went up to the stage. She handed me some hot potatoes wrapped in a rag.

- Take it, honey! I don't have anything else!

What do you think I experienced at that moment? This is the main award for me, which I was awarded. This award is not for everyone.

I recently discovered in the Patriarchal Orthodox calendar(2017) two tear-off pages of my autobiographical prose. The circulation of the publication is 130,000 copies. How they got there is still a mystery to me. But such a publication is sometimes more expensive than a multi-volume collected works, which can go unnoticed.

You have been a member of the jury of the International Literary Forum "Golden Knight" for several years now, tell us about your activities?

For a quarter of a century of its activity, the international forum "Golden Knight", headed by the People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Petrovich Burlyaev, has turned into a public movement for the preservation of the spiritual values ​​of the Slavic peoples. These are: theater, cinema, painting, music, and, of course, literature, because "In the beginning was the Word ..." The jury of the literary forum considers works in the categories: prose, poetry, journalism, literary criticism, history of Slavic peoples, literature for children and youth.

The competition of the literary forum, which was recently held in Irkutsk, received 432 works of various genres from 40 regions of Russia, as well as from 15 countries of the world - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Denmark, Italy, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, USA, Ukraine, Czech Republic.

The largest number of contenders for the golden statuette of the "Golden Knight" are people who write poetry. To understand this sea of ​​books, where each author thinks himself worthy of an award (otherwise he would not send books) is a responsible and thankless task. Writers are legion, and Poets are few. Here you can’t apply a ruler to determine the height of a talent. It's easier when you hold the book of a famous poet in Russia and Europe. But our task is to support the young, so that the spiritual thread from the Tale of Igor's Campaign to the Cause of the Igor Regiments of our time is not interrupted. Of course, each jury member relies on his own personal experience. Objectivity is for the elite. But it’s good that there is a tuning fork that does not allow you to be out of tune and go astray from the “melody”. These are the verses of our classics from Pushkin to Rubtsov. The main thing is not to change the hearing.

As you know, the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church established a special prize. Who is the owner this year?

- "Golden Knight" has been cooperating with the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church for many years. In Irkutsk, along with a statuette of the Bronze Knight, the researcher of the apparatus of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Priest Nikolai Balan, presented the poet Alexander Orlov with a special prize of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church for his book of poems "Different Winters".

- Which of the modern poets do you read, whom would you like to single out?

Unfortunately, the circulation of poetry books in recent decades is scanty and many "arrows" fly by unnoticed, without hurting the heart of the most (alas, in the past) reading country in the world with a poetic line. Many wonderful poets, whom all of Russia until recently loved, began to be forgotten: Vasily Fedorov, Yaroslav Smelyakov, Mikhail Lukonin, Dmitry Kovalev, Anatoly Peredreev...

Judging by the peaks, I read with pleasure from those who are alive now: Gleb Gorbovsky, Vladimir Kostrov, Vadim Terekhin, Viktor Petrov, Alexander Loginov, Gennady Rusakov. Forgive me those whom I did not remember.

TUESDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK OF GREAT LENT About Prayer This kind is driven out only by prayer and fasting. Matt. 17:21 Temperance must have higher aims, which is why it is supported by prayer. But prayer is also supported by the sobriety of the mind, the ease and purity of consciousness that abstinence gives us. “Prayer must always be combined with fasting,” says St. John Chrysostom. They seem to be connected with each other - prayer and fasting. External restrictions, as it were, free the soul, it wants to speak, it seeks spiritual work. During fasting, a prayerful mood, a desire to pray more often and more clearly encourage us to talk with God. Pay attention to the people standing in the service. During periods of fasting, there are noticeably more worshipers in temples. Others go to evening services on their way home, as if in passing. I would like to spend at least a quarter of an hour in the temple. Temptations of Christ in the wilderness. Fresco of the Athos monastery Dionysias Temptation of Christ in the desert. Fresco of the Athos monastery of Dionysias But there is another dependence. Saint Macarius of Egypt says: “He who abstains without prayer, how can he stand without her help?” Indeed, a person who fasts without prayer necessarily falls into irritability. In families where not all members are disposed towards spiritual life, quarrels and discontent happen precisely during fasting. Father Alexander Elchaninov has a note: “Fasting strengthens the spirit in a person. In fasting, a person goes out to meet angels and demons. Fasting thins the line between the visible and the invisible, between the physical and spiritual worlds. The person becomes more accessible to spiritual influence. But the spiritual world is not only angels and the souls of saints. It's also demons. Therefore, frequent confession, Communion, and prayer are so necessary during fasting. The purpose of fasting is to purify the body and purify the heart. And this is possible only when fasting is combined with repentance and prayer. Priest Sergiy Nikolaev, “The Merry Time of Lent” On Prayer Prayer, in its quality, is the sojourn and union of a person with God; in action, she is the affirmation of the world, reconciliation with God, mother and daughter of tears, propitiation for sins, a bridge for crossing temptations, a wall that protects from sorrows, the breaking of battles, the work of Angels, the food of all incorporeal, future joy, endless work, source of virtues, culprit of gifts, invisible prosperity, food of the soul, enlightenment of the mind, ax to despair, indication of hope, destruction of sorrow, wealth of monks, treasure of the silent, taming of anger, mirror of spiritual growth, knowledge of prosperity, discovery of spiritual dispensation, harbinger of future retribution, sign of glory . Prayer to the one who truly prays is the court, the judgment seat and the throne of the Judge before the Last Judgment. Let us rise up and hear that this sacred queen of virtues calls out to us with a high voice and says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you, and you will find rest for your souls and healing for your sores; for my yoke is good, and heals great sins” (Matthew 11:28). We, who are coming to present ourselves to the King and God, to converse with Him, not unprepared, should go on this path, so that He, seeing us from afar, who do not have weapons and robes that those who come to the king should have, does not order His servants and servants to bind us, and far to reject from His presence, and tear our petitions, and throw them in our face. When you go to stand before the Lord, may the whole robe of your soul be woven from threads, or rather, from a pledge of unmemorable malice. If not, then you will not get any benefit from prayer. Let the whole fabric of your prayer be uncomplicated; for the publican and the prodigal son appeased God with one word. Saint John of the Ladder “How to bow down to the mercy of the Lord? - asks St. John Chrysostom and answers. – That's how! Let us raise prayer in our hearts, and add humility and meekness to it.” Prayer that comes from a pure heart is especially valuable to God. God wants our heart. "My son! Give back your heart Me,” He calls out to the man (Prov. 23:26). “Prayer that is quickly heard is the one,” writes St. John Chrysostom, “that comes from a good heart.” On Prayer The head of the virtues is prayer, their basis is fasting. If we sow the seeds of prayer without thinning the flesh, then instead of truth we will bear the fruit of sin... If the body is thinned by fasting, and the soul is not cultivated by prayer, reading, humility, then fasting becomes the parent of numerous weeds - spiritual passions: arrogance, vanity, contempt. Being busy with public duties, and if you are a monk, then with obedience, and not being able to devote as much time to prayer as you would like, do not be embarrassed by this ... Nothing contributes to success in prayer more than a conscience satisfied with God-pleasing activity. Mercy towards neighbors and humility before them, together with purity of heart... constitute the foundation and strength of prayer. Who wants to engage in the feat of prayer! Before embarking on this feat, try to forgive everyone ... who has done you any harm. The first preparation (for prayer) consists in rejecting the remembrance of malice and condemnation of one's neighbors. Intending to bring prayer to God, reject all thoughts and cares of the earth. Prayer must be performed with faith, it must be based on gentleness. Before prayer, put incense in your heart of the fear of God and holy reverence... try to propitiate the Judge with humility. The enemy... is trying to shake the very foundation of the prayerful feat - gentleness and meekness. Preparation for prayer are: an insatiable womb, cutting off cares with the sword of faith, forgiveness from the sincerity of the heart of all offenses, thanksgiving to God for all mournful occasions of life, removal from oneself of distraction and daydreaming, reverent fear. External reverent standing at prayer is very necessary and very useful for everyone who strives for the feat of prayer, especially for a beginner, in whom the disposition of the soul is most in line with the position of the body. Nothing is more conducive to prayer than obedience, which mortifies us to the world and to ourselves. Consciousness of one's sinfulness, consciousness of one's weakness, one's insignificance is a necessary condition for prayer to be graciously accepted and heard by God. For the correctness of prayer, it is necessary that it be pronounced from a heart filled with poverty of spirit, from a contrite and humble heart. Stand on your prayer, as if you were standing before God Himself. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) Books of Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov in the Sretenie online store

They say that the mother of a soldier who was condemned to death came to Emperor Napoleon and asked for mercy.
"He's justly condemned!" the emperor said sternly.
“But I didn’t come to ask for justice, but for mercy…”
“Your son does not deserve mercy!”
“Sir,” said the mother quietly, “mercy is not deserved, it is granted ... Therefore, I ask for pardon.

These words touched Napoleon, and the soldier was pardoned. Mercy is higher than justice - this was the principle used by Russian juries before 1917...

All this came to my mind in connection with a heated discussion about the introduction of juvenile justice in our country. And how many people in Russia have an idea of ​​what juvenile (from Latin Juvenalis - young) justice is, that is, the juvenile justice system?

Today there is a significant increase in juvenile delinquency. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, cases of unlawful behavior of minors are detected twice as often as in adults, especially serious crimes against a person. Over the past five years, juvenile delinquency has increased one and a half times, the number of juveniles detained for offenses has almost doubled - there are more than a million of them.

It seems that no one really fights against child and juvenile delinquency in the Russian Federation, state bodies for working with juvenile delinquents are absolutely ineffective. So we decided to introduce juvenile justice, they say, we work, we try ...

What is the purpose of juvenile justice? Allocate offenses committed by children and adolescents into a separate category, which is dealt with by judges, psychologists and lawyers who specialize exclusively in the "children's issue". There will also be juvenile courts.

Adherents of this justice are sure that it will help to understand the reasons that prompted a teenager to commit an offense and answer the question: is a teenager dangerous to society or not?

There is another important direction in juvenile justice: the protection of the rights of children from the cruelty of adults. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is becoming more and more widespread. Juvenile justice offers children to report the cruelty of their parents to special agencies, whose representatives will have the right to interfere in the life of the family, and if they see fit, then take the children away from families. This can also hit good parents hard.

Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, President of the Novosibirsk Charitable Foundation “In Defense of the Life of Unborn Children”, Rector of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral writes: “Thanks to the destructive activities of corrupters hiding under the mask of virtues, chastity is now perceived as a major drawback, as a result of an inferiority complex, developmental delay . And early sexual relations, that is, in other words, sexual debauchery, are regarded as a completely normal, modern phenomenon.

Of course, parents try to intervene, but often without success. But even with a decent upbringing, there is still a danger emanating from the environment of the child. "Bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Cor. 15:33). And in such a situation, if respectable parents persist, children will begin to complain about them to juvenile services specially created for this in schools, they say, parents do not allow us to live as we want, they infringe on our rights. Do you think they won't start? Let's start! And if the children themselves do not think of this, adults will tell them. There are already entire enterprises that are funded by foreign organizations and are actively promoting juvenile justice in Russia and, of course, are interested in having all its mechanisms involved.

Such a case happened in independent Latvia. A boy of twelve stole a salary from a single mother and squandered it in a computer club. Mother, not yet armed with European juvenile experience, armed herself with a belt. There was a bruise on the teenager's hand, which the teacher noticed. The boy said that they beat him for the cause, but no one cared about his opinion. Representatives of the competent authorities sent the boy from school to a boarding school and initiated a case to deprive the mother of parental rights. The unfortunate woman went to the boarding school every day and begged in vain to be allowed to see her son.”

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Moscow Church of the All-Merciful Savior, believes that the main danger of introducing juvenile justice is that it is initially based on the provocation of a crime. The child knows that his conflict with his own parents will find support from the law, the state, and does what he wants.

Is this not the destruction of the family, the alienation of children from their parents, and alienation by the state?

Currently, in Russian law there is no such term as "juvenile justice", "juvenile court". But Russian advocates of juvenile justice believe that we need to transfer the Western “highly effective and humane” experience to our soil. Practice shows that much of what we have adopted from the “civilized countries” over the past decades has not only not taken root in Russia, but has brought us a lot of harm.

Now, when there are heated debates in society about the introduction of juvenile justice, I would like to ask: on what principles will it be built? Liberal-democratic, where everything is bought and sold, or on evangelical values?

The principle of Christian justice is not so much to punish the criminal as to help him repent and reform.

About those who are in power and write laws, the Savior said: “They bind burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on the shoulders of people, but they themselves do not want to move them with a finger” (Matt. 23:4).

How to judge fathers and mothers, if often they got into trouble through no fault of their own? A society that aims to make a profit at any cost has no future. Plants and factories are closing, hundreds of thousands of healthy people are out of work, villages are dying out, small towns are emptying. Children who are left without proper care cannot live without committing offenses.

A person brought up on the values ​​of such a system paves the way to hell with his good intentions. Living without God, he loses his life orientation... Think about it! Is it necessary to create a “child protection system” that is not based on Christian moral standards?