2007年VOA标准英语-Different Religions Coexist in Modern Kazakhsta

By Valer Gergely
Kazakhstan
22 June 2007
 

Kazakhstan is a modern, secular¹ state promoting ethnic² and religious diversity and tolerance³. VOA's Valer Gergely reports from Kazakhstan that Islam, Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Jewish and other religions peacefully coexist in the republic. VOA's Carol Pearson tells the story for producer Valer Gergely.

Christians4" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070629/1102250.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Kazakhstan is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and more than 40 faiths.  Ethnic Kazakhs are primarily Sunni Muslims. The Slavic people of the country are traditionally Orthodox Christians. There are many other congregations and also a smaller Jewish community.

Communism advocated the suppression and, ultimately, the elimination⁵ of religious beliefs. After the collapse⁶ of the U.S.S.R., however, religious beliefs have revived in the newly independent states. 

The Cathedral of the Temple of Holy Ascension in Almaty is the main Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan, celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year. The church brings together local and Russian architecture as both Kazakh and Russian people participated in its construction.

Father Alexander is a Russian citizen, serving Kazakhstan's large Russian Orthodox community. He says Kazakhstan has overcome the difficulties of Soviet⁷ times when religions barely survived. "Some people are not influenced by religion. They are not believers. They don't go to mosques⁹ or churches. But there is another part of the population that would like to return to spiritual values, religion and culture. They may have fathers or grandfathers influencing them. That is why more and more young people come to the churches. "

Father Alexander says the country's many nationalities and religious groups have excellent relations.

"When we talk about multiple religions, we are talking about two great nations, the Kazakhs and the Russians. These two nations have lived together for 300 years. We've lived together, worked together and we both survived difficult times. Our spiritual values connect us. The relationship now is wonderful. If someone tries to sow discord¹⁰ between us, we join together to protect the spiritual values we have nurtured¹¹ for so many years."

In Kazakhstan, Islam was adopted gradually, with complete conversion¹² in the 19th century. In the early period of the Soviet Union, the government provided some stability for the existence of Islam. Later, however, it considered it conservative and reactionary¹³.

Father Alexander

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union many Muslims have become involved in spiritual life, says Deputy Imam Mukhtar of the Central Mosque⁸ in Almaty. "Seventy-five percent of the population of Kazakhstan is Muslim. I see more and more people involved in religion. About 80 percent of Almaty's population, the largest city in Kazakhstan is made up of young people, who also want to be worshipers. We are happy that religion influences the minds of younger people."

In the last few years, however, various sects¹⁴ or splinter groups have sprung up beside the established creeds¹⁵ and beliefs, causing new security concerns over religious extremism.

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many beliefs and creeds came to life in various parts of its former territory, including Kazakhstan. We cannot say for sure that extremism will not come here. It may. This is the reason we should do our best to prevent that kind of propaganda and anti-religious activities that may come from some small sects or groups" says Deputy Imam Mukhtar.

Father Alexander, adds. "Sects are very dangerous for any country, because they try sow discord among people. Turning people against a religion is very dangerous. I grew up among Muslim people and I know that peace between these two religions is very important."

Rabbi Judas Kubalkin

Kazakhstan has a small Jewish community that is well organized and there have been no recent reports of anti-Semitism. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, these communities openly practice their religion in Kazakhstan, says Judas Kubalkin, Chief Rabbi of Astana. "The government gives us full freedom to practice our religion. We don't have many contacts with other religions. Usually we meet at national events.  But we treat each other respectfully and we have very good human contacts."

Since its independence, Kazakhstan has hosted two international conferences that brought together secular and religious leaders to highlight religious freedom in Kazakhstan. Rabbi Kubalkin says, "The fact that these congresses were held here, and people of different nationalities and religions were able to express their views and dreams,  is exemplary.  It shows that if we have the will, we can live together peacefully."

Many people of the young generation, such as university student Serik Duisenbaev, look at their religion as their culture. "From the bottom of my heart I believe that there is an almighty¹⁶ God who created everything. But I don't pray five times a day because I know what is allowed and what is not. I am not disturbing, not robbing, not killing¹⁷ anyone, I am not trying to lie or cheat."

The 24-year-old Duisenbaev recently worked as an interpreter for an Israeli company in Kazakhstan. His boss invited him to visit Israel where he received a Bible. "On the way back, when I was reading this Bible on the train, I had some problem with one of the old Kazakh ladies. She was totally shocked when she saw me reading the Bible. She said this is a book of Jews, why I am reading it, I should read the Koran. For me the Koran may be the book of Allah and Islam, but all the rest is the same. It's just the history of people. I just want to learn more, so I am reading the Bible and the Koran too."

Kazakhstan has had no religious or ethnic conflicts on its territory since its independence, an exception in the region.

1 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

9 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

10 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

11 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

12 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

13 reactionary   

n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的

参考例句：

• They forced thousands of peasants into their reactionary armies.他们迫使成千上万的农民参加他们的反动军队。
• The reactionary ruling clique was torn by internal strife.反动统治集团内部勾心斗角，四分五裂。

14 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句

15 creeds   

（尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• people of all races, colours and creeds 各种种族、肤色和宗教信仰的人
• Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds. 天主教徒对于新教教义来说，是不可知论者。

16 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

17 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。