Actuality of this article is conditioned by the special place of social subjects in the Ukrainian Christian periodicals. On the one hand, the Ukrainian Constitution affirms separation between the church and the state; on the other hand, the society waits for the concrete steps of the church in solving social problems, even accusing it through the lips of secular media of ignoring the urgent questions of the present time. Social work, and first of all good deeds, is one of the main directions of social activity in the ministry of those Protestant churches that proclaim their nonpolitical position.
The aim of this work is to learn the mechanisms of social problems forming and the methods of social problems solving, suggested by the Protestant press. The task of exploring is to analyze functions of social subjects in the Ukrainian SDA Church periodicals, using the material of one of the most well-known regional edition of the confession – Podilsky digest “Tviy Shliach” (Your Way).
Degree of topic exploration. From the known studios of Protestant and Adventist periodicals in particular (periodicals of Yaroslav Klachkov, Oleksiy Oparin and the author of these lines[1–4, 6, 7]) and media of other Ukrainian churches, we can say that the social subjects are not anywhere outlined as a separate topic. For example, Olga Zakrevska regards family planning not in the social aspect but in ethical one.
For the analysis, we use regional press as the best demonstration of risomatical character of a Protestant parishioner`s initiative. After their appearance at the beginning of 1990s, Ukrainian Adventist local periodicals were more interesting and actual than the official press. Content analysis of such of such editions as “Moya Nadia” -My Hope (Lviv, has being issued from 1990), “Most Nadyezhdy” – Bridge of Hope (Zaporizhzhya, from 2002), “Put” – Way (Kharkiv, from 2002), “Vichny Skarb” – Everlasting Treasure (Kyiv, from 2003), “Svobodnaya Zhyzn” – Free Life (Kharkiv, from 2005) and “Tviy Shlyach” – Your Way (Kamyanets-Podilsky, from 2005), showed steady growth of social subjects` weight.
It is the most expressively present at the bilingual digest “Tviy Shlyach”. The initiative group has formed the editorial board of the magazine free of charge, so, from the beginning, this periodical was put-up as a charitable educational project. The editor-in-chief Vitaliy Safonov is a businessman who covers the lion’s share of expenses of the edition with his personal money. 1 000 copies of the magazine are being spreading free of charge. “Tviy Shlyach” is issued monthly having 22 pages of tabloid demy enamel-paper. The edition is illustrated with full-color cover.
For two years of publishing, 333 materials had social subjects. We singled out 22 direction of social subjects that formed the rating of frequency of their appearance in the magazine columns (We put the same-rate positions in one row through a slanting hyphen): 81material – about healthy way of life; 39 – parents and children; 36 – family; 29 – healing; 18 – abortion opposition; 17 – interpersonal relations/ psychological disorders/ society; 13 – rescue in an extraordinary situation as an answer to a prayer; 10 – state of orphans/ altruism; 10 – finantial questions; 9 – professional career success; 7 – state of prisoners; 4 – state of homeless/ danger of occultism; 3 – category of honesty/ famine; 2 – deviant behavior; euthanasia; 1 – causes of contemporary catastrophism/ environmental protection. According to the subject-heading list (36 the most frequently used headings), health and family are the basic values of “the social concept” of the analyzed periodical.
Digest draws an integral picture of family life: preparation to it, the main difficulties and dangers, ways of solving them, and also criticism of the “alternatives” to the traditional family life. The potential “compatibility” of a dating couple is determined by the measure of their comprehensive responsibility. The editorial staff promotes the patriarchal model of family relations. They call a divorce to be the biggest thread to the family harmony and give examples of how the consecutive search for understanding at least by one of the sides brought positive result. As we should expect, the criticism of “the progressive alternatives” of family tradition, such as homosexuality, lesbianism, masturbation, polygamy, premarital sexual contacts will not be less uncompromising, looking at the dangers of telegony, AIDS, loneliness, selfishness, cynically consumer attitude toward a partner and irresponsibility for (possible) children.
Digest gives great weight to family upbringing. They motivate a reader to it, using a wide picture of children`s moral decline and breaking their rights, first of all by their parents. Between the “objective” sources of danger, they call computer games and uncontrolled watching television. However, the journalists’ attention is focused at the irresponsibility of parents themselves. In authors` opinion, the guilt of the older generation is decisive in youth`s immorality. Yet, they warn against another extreme point – turning a child into a home idol and the sense of life of the family members. We can generalize the given pedagogical principles as demands for a personal positive example of mature behavior, interested communication with a child, deepening the friendly relation with him/her, developing his/her responsibility for his/her life, succession in upbringing.
A noticeable difference of “Tviy Shlyach” from the other Adventist publications, and the more so Ukrainian ones, is the constant criticism of the abortion practice. This is the only topic thet is put to the first place (Tviy Shlyach.-2007.-№8.). The abortion opposition in the digest has four directions: contradicting the evolutional stages of embryo formation, statistics about the number of abortions, analysis of social and medical factors of this practice and psychological consequences of this step for a woman.
Publications that show the Christian journalists` view on the norms of interpersonal relations have a clear connection with the family topic. Love to a neighbor is considered from the practical point of view. Altruism is considered to be an ideal of interpersonal relations, and charity as a life principle is its most natural manifestation. To the periodical authors` opinion, the real good is done secretly and for the sake of others weal. The main motivating method for that is an example of concrete benefactors.
Social risk groups come from the family crisis. The periodical depicts the problem of orphans in the already designated coordinate system. As the reasons of this condition they call irresponsibility of parents, their asocial position, drug addiction of different forms. But the authors place the main emphasis on the ways of improvement the situation with the inmates of a Children’s Home through the social work of Christian volunteers and adopting by them the children left by their own children.
Materials about homeless are more restrained, obviously, because of the authors` understand that homeless people are partially guilty in their situation. The people that consciously choose the way of crime are paid more attention. Change of their behavior under the influence of Christianity becomes an important testimony, an argument in favour of religious way of life. The magazine publish the letters of prisoners to the editorial office telling how conversion of the prisoner made him free both inwardly and physically, telling about the retention of prisoners, confined for term of life.
The talk about psychological problems that do not consider any social or geographical borders begins in the periodical with depicting the advantages of religious life. The examples demonstrate how the usage of the bible pieces of advice let the personages of the publications to overcome hopelessness, depression and fear. The editors tries to persuade the readers that God is more powerful than the greatest stress-causing life factors such as catastrophes, diseases, instability in the professional and financial spheres. Ways of rescue are a prayer, active efforts to improve one`s situation, sympathy for someone`s misfortune, hope that God is responsible for the circumstances of believers` lives. And God`s methods are any circumstances up to the angels` participation.
Healing from a serious illness is the main evidence of the answer to the prayer. The healed people operate with medical conclusions, personal photographs before and after the illness. We find the testimonies about the healing from the inherited diseases, acquired diseases and injuries.
However, Adventists pay the main attention to the preventive medicine. Their church concept is called “The health reform”, consists of a healthy diet, physical activity, usage of water, sunshine and pure air, temperance in habits, and need for rest and trusting God. This subject group takes distinctly the first place in the periodical. Certainly, the system of evidences is being built here at the verified medical researches, conducted by non-church scientists, and not at the faith dogmata. Here we find principles of a rational diet. The edition often publishes recipes of cheap and healthy dishes.
Agitating for physical activity, the authors of publications prefer positive arguments – health benefits of such activity. The topic of intemperance in habits is mostly focused on the problem of addictions – chemical, physiological and psychological ones. The purpose of these materials is to warn the young generation from getting dangerous inclinations. The journalists consider shopping, Internet and gambling addictions, hysteria around the mobile communication and worshiping famous people, the illusion of “time absence” and the overestimation of the place of carrier in one`s life. Still such work finds the energetic praises in the edition.
The secrets of financial success lie in the awareness of the ambivalent essence of wealth, bribe rejection, attitude to a business project as to a religious ministry. The real meaning of the expression “Financial freedom” is freedom from finances, ability to use them for serving the needs of others.
Evaluating the condition of the contemporary society, the periodical accents the spiritual reasons of social instability. The authors of the edition are convinced, that the most widely spread crimes are the signs of the last times in history of the Earth.
The conclusions. The periodical “Tviy Shlyach” suggests improving the social climate at the society through the family relations reform, beneficent life position and a responsible attitude to one`s physical, mental and spiritual health. The correspondents try to show the spiritual roots of the social crisis.
In the digest, they suggest ways of solvation of social problems on the Bible principles basis. Through the specifics of their articles, actuality of upraised subjects, the magazine “Tviy Shlyach” can be recommended for spreading in the social rehabilitation centers.
References
- Балаклицький М. Адвентистська преса України як комунікаційна система // Вісник КНУ ім. Т. Шевченка. – Серія Журналістика. – Вип. 16. – 2008. – С. 36–41.
- Балаклицький М. Протестантський річник «Моя надія»: жанрово-тематична палітра // Наукові праці Кам’янець-Подільського національного університету імені Івана Огієнка. – Філологічні науки. – Вип. 17. – Кам’янець-Подільський: ПП Буйницький, 2008. – С. 138–140.
- Балаклицький М. Історія адвентистської преси в Україні // Творчі та організаційні особливості функціонування сучасного медійного простору: Збірник наукових праць / Національний університет «Києво-Могилянська академія», Галицький інститут імені В’ячеслава Чорновола. – Т. 2. – Тернопіль-Львів: ЛА «Піраміда», 2008. – С. 160–163.
- Балаклицький М. Роль редактора у формуванні та розвитку адвентистської преси в Україні // Наукові записки ХНПУ ім. Г.С. Сковороди. – Серія Літературознавство. – 2008. – Вип. 3 (55). – Частина перша. – С. 80–85.
- Закревська О. Етичні аспекти в сучасній церковній пресі: проблеми планування сім’ї // Українська періодика: історія та сучасність: Доп. і повідомл. дев’ятої Всеукр. наук.-теор. конф. / За ред. М. Романюка. – Львів, 2005. – С. 446–448.
- Клачков Я. Протестантська преса для українців у Польщі (1918–1939) // Збірник праць науково-дослідного центру періодики. – Львів, 2004. – Вип. 12. – С. 62–82.
- Опарин А., Балаклицкий М. Адвентистская журналистика и кризис современной религиозной прессы // Вісник Харківського національного університету імені В.Н. Каразіна. – № 745. – Серія Філологія. – Вип. 49. – Харків, 2006. – С. 204–206.