THE MANIFESTATION OF ANTI-TOTALITARIAN TENDENCIES IN THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF MODERN UKRAINE (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE NEO-RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT FALUN GONG)

Abstract

The current phase of putin's russia's war against Ukraine is fundamentally changing world geopolitics today. Ukraine turned out to be a battlefield of civilizations based on the principles of freedom and democracy (on the one hand), totalitarianism and total disregard for human rights (on the other). Taking into account the existing and future challenges faced by warring Ukraine, it is necessary to take a close look at the neo-religious movements that are spreading on the territory of the country. In part icular, take a closer look from the point of view of totalitarian/anti-totalitarian foundations of their functioning. Such research is of unique importance due to the fact that the process of development of religious culture is directly related to the emergence of new symbolic systems, which, in turn, not only reflect changes in the field of religiosity, but also influence the formation of new contents of social existence and the state of society. And this process is especially irritating for the country, which has been in a state of ideological, and not only military, aggression by the totalitarian Putin regime for eight years. A significant number of neo-religious movements that arise and spread in the modern world testify to the development of processes of transformation of the established religious culture. Such neo-religious movements include the Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) movement, which is quite popular in today's Ukraine. This neo-religious movement attracts special attention due to the need to understand how a democratic state should build its relations with neo-religious entities, what it can afford in the process of establishing communication with believers, and what it should refrain from. The article concludes that on the way to victory over a dangerous aggressor, the anti-totalitarian social attitudes of the citizens of the warring country in all spheres of social life, in particular, in the religious sphere, are o f particular importance. In addition to traditional religiosity, neo-religious movements and organizations have become widely spread in Ukraine, to which a clear attitude has not been developed both by the authorities and the public, and by modern Ukrainian socio-humanitarian studies. Among such movements is the Falun Gong movement that came from China. Both this neo-religious movement, which is evaluated by the civilized world as anti -totalitarian and opposed to the repressive practices of the Chinese government, and other similar neo-religious movements spreading on the territory of Ukraine, require special attention, study and response from the Ukrainian general public and power structures.