Modern religiousness: determinanty, personal touches, progress trends

SUMMARY

The article investigates religiosity in the post­socialist Ukraine identifying the determinants and major characteristics of the contemporary situation in the field. There are identified determinants at the mega­, macro and micro levels. The determinants of the world scale (macro­level) and the determinants at the  macro (national) level create environment for the contemporary religiosity de jure.   The combination of these and the determinants at the personal  (micro) level allows religiosity to exist de facto.The article separates two different types of religious beliefs including general and church­centered. The first one could be characterized by lower level of religious beliefs, less active religious behaviour and focus on standard «external» practices. The other group has more consistent rounded religious beliefs, more proactive and consistent behaviour as well as  involvement in education volunteering activities on behalf of the church. The existing empirical data show the contemporary religiosity an inhomogeneous, constantly developing polyfunctional and multi­confessional (Christian tradition dominates) phenomenon. There is a certain contradiction between its rapid development in quantitative terms and the stagnation in qualitative terms. The major characteristic is contradictory dualism between its open and non­dogmatic character, tolerance, syncretism, loyalty, privatisation, etc. and spiritual entropy, eclecticism, populism, conformity, fragmented character, the focus on the ritual part, prgmatisation, etc. The evolution of religiosity was marked by «abstractisation» of the idea of supernatural  as well as the development  of ethical norms and the religious etiquette, active development of religiosity out of confession or church, de­centralisation of  religious postulates and religious «time­serving».