Finally, the scandals...

Well, the Molokan brethren are not without their tabloid fodder. Eighty years ago folks did their best to stay away from mainstream culture, but three or four generations have past since those rural farmers arrived full of religious zeal. In that time, integration has been inevitable, and while many Molokans think of themselves as 'Russian', they can (at best) be described as 'Molokan Americans'. Many own businesses, watch television, pay taxes, own cars, and so on. A few are quite wealthy, their ancestor's attempt at religious purity morphing into another American dream.

With this, inevitably there is the downside -- exposure to less savory elements of America. Two recent stories are linked below: one, of a masseuse who may have gone too far, and the other, of teenage ritual hazing gone awry.

Masseuse
Hazing

Arguments, arguments

One of the best-behaved fora on the web relating to Molokans is Molokan Underground. It's 'underground' for a reason -- previous attempts at an open forum have devolved into hopeless arguments and naysaying. This site restricts access to the religious topics to those that have been vetted by the site administrator(s), who happen to be fairly reasonable people.

Recently, however, there have been a number of posts relating to religious topics that have sparked full-scale flame wars. Ironically, each participant is vying for a crown of thorns while lambasting their fellow debaters. If they were truly faithful, their behavior would certainly be much more civilized.

Before the scandals...

Just found this site -- it's almost entirely in Russian, but there is a lot of discussion, a number of photos, and links to songs. Enjoy!

http://www.sdhm.info/news.php

Some websites about Molokans might be in order, for the curious surfer. Most of these are linked from Google, anyway.

• Andy Conovaloff's site, Molokane.org, has a lot of useful info.
• The decidedly opinionated molokan.net, home to anyone with a grudge, and moderated by someone with little tolerance for others' opinions.
• A Library of Congress entry with some songs of church services
• The ubiquitous Wikipedia has an entry...

Feel free to submit links if you have them.

Next time: scandals, thievery, and jailbirds!

We Begin

This is a blog about Molokans. There is a lot to say, a lot that people don't want other people to know. Like any religious group, there are scandals, backstabbing, and thievery, but there are good things too. This blog is reserved for intelligent commentary, even if opinionated -- and please spell all words correctly!