ON THE DIALECTICS OF RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC RELATIONS: METHODOLOGICAL AND REGIONAL ASPECTS

We are talking about the dialectic of two main vectors of identification of a person and society – ethnic and confessional. The author substantiates the inadmissibility of extremes in their assessment, associated with underestimation or overestimation of one of these factors. It is proved that the influence of religion on ethno-social processes in certain spheres is manifested with varying degrees of intensity. Religious influence is least noticeable in the financial and economic sphere, since it mainly operates universal and national mechanisms. Some ways of optimizing confessional ethnic and social interaction at the present stage are listed. The author studies the complex socio-political and spiritual situation in the recent past and examines some negative consequences of the activities of radical religious and political movement and organizations in the republics of the North Caucasus.