Importance of religion in the Belarusian society based on the believers’ assessments

Abstract

The article provides an analysis of certain results of a study of religiosity among Belarusians. The study is based on a multidimensional model and cross-confessional approach. The study focuses on the religious part of the Belarus population and involved representatives of almost twenty denominations. Of all the indicators of the multidimensional model forming the integral characteristics of the Belarusian religiosity, the authors describe one combined indicator reflecting respondents’ assessments of the importance of religion. Its structure and the data obtained were compared with similar indicators and results of other Belarusian studies. The findings suggest that religion is important for most of respondents; however they point to its regulating and normative role rather than existential and sense-making characteristics. Such perceptions are typical for those societies which undergo value disorientation periods and oral anomia.Thus, the authors conclude that the basic role of religion in the modern Belarusian society is not to articulate the ultimate life strategies but to be a social regulator and an established normative framework.