Participation of Neochristian Religious Movements in the Political Life of Ukraine
The involvement of new Christian religious movements (NRM) in the political life and “color revolutions” is considered by the example of Ukraine in this paper. Christian NRM parties and pastors-politicians have become a common phenomenon in Ukraine’s political life. The tendencies toward politicization of NRM from the late 1990s to 2014, as a result of which neoreligions developed their own political doctrines, are traced based on the specific material. New religious communities participated most actively in the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Eurorevolution of 2014. It is shown that Ukrainian parties and politicians were interested to use so-called NRM during the election campaign as a platform for political agitation. Parliamentary elections and elections to various councils have become a site for the political realization of NRM. Due to the absence of resources and support in the population, NRM were not able to create their own political parties and supported the major political blocks to pass in the Ukrainian parliament. It is emphasized that participation in the political life of Ukraine allows NRM to extend their influence on various social and public spheres. Thus, NRM followers rejected their pacifist ideas and played an active role in the demonstrations and coercive protests.