( Sociological approach)
Let ask a question to an Armenian ”Who you are?”
Research indicates that people answer “I’m Armenian, I’m Christian”.
In the immensity of time the centuries have come and gone, and every century has left its stamp on the history of nations. However, over the centuries religion has been the engine of Armenian society, the instrumental part of literature and culture, the axis of national identity. The social life has been subtly knitted by the religious tenets, conceptions and multi-colored traditions transferred from generation to generation. Almost all national festivals have had religious connotations. Even more, the public education had been organized by the national church almost until the beginning of the past century.
The status of religion in the institutional system of society was significantly high. Therefore, the Armenian church has had a great influence on the process of maintaining and transmitting the ethnic, spiritual, tangible and intangible values.
The Armenian great poet Avetik Isahakyan writes about Armenians; “ If you try to take out the Armenians’ skin, you will find there Etchmiadzin”.
The Armenian church at Etchmiadzin is the cultural and emotional heart of the Armenian nation. With the church as the principal vessel of Armenian language, culture and national cohesion , Armenians maintained a strong sense of national identity, even in the darkest years of Communist rule.
In the recent unprecedented transition years, which took enough long period the institutions of Armenian society have changed significantly because of economic turmoil, and changes in the social, cultural and religious life.
Since the atheism has been the ideological fundament of Communism and now the Armenian society has transferred to Past-Communism period, to the capitalism, the religious consciousness of population dramatically has changed.
The church survived for the past seventy-five years by accommodating to Communist rule and working out a live-let-live arrangement. There were decades of pressure on nationality, national identity and religious outlook.
Communists tried to set up an ideal social system with no religion, a society where people would need neither God nor transcendent substances, where people would rely on themselves and Social Order. The main source of Communist’s ideology stems from Philosophy of Marxism. “Religion is an opium for people” Karl Marx indicates. According to his approach, religion is created by people to justify inequality among people and exploitation of the lower-class.
The 1700th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Christianity as a State religion in the Armenia has become a turning point in this matter. Today Armenia has opened new portals of interest behind the world reinforcing its national identity.
