Doukhobor

The Doukhobors or Doukhabors (Dukhobory, Dukhobortsy) (Духоборы/Духоборцы) are a Christian dissenting sect of Russian origin.

History
The origin of the Doukhobors dates to 17th and 18th century Russia. The term dukhobortsy (in English Doukhobors) means "spirit wrestlers."

The Doukhobors were a Christian sect, later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a 'way of life', which in the 18th century rejected secular government, the Russian Orthodox priests, icons, all church ritual, the Bible as the supreme source of divine revelation and the divinity of Jesus. As pacifists, they also ardently rejected the institutions of militarism and wars. For these reasons, the Doukhobors were harshly repressed in Russia. Both the tsarist state and church authorities were involved in the torture and exile of these dissidents, as well as taking away their normal freedoms. At the end of the nineteenth century two-thirds of the Doukhobors left Russia en masse. They chose Canada for its isolation, peacefulness, and the fact that the Canadian government welcomed them, and migrated there in 1899. The Doukhobors' passage across the Atlantic Ocean was largely paid for by Quakers and Tolstoyans, who sympathized with their plight, and by the writer Leo Tolstoy, who arranged for the royalties from his novel Resurrection, his story Father Sergei, and some others, to go to the migration fund. He also raised money from wealthy friends. In the end, his efforts provided half of the immigration fund, about 30,000. rubles. In Canada, the Doukhobors established a communal life style, similar to the Hutterites.

Perhaps the most well-known leader of the Doukhobors was Peter Vasilevich Verigin (1859-1924). Verigin was killed in a still-unsolved Canadian Pacific Railway train explosion on October 29, 1924 near Farron, between Castlegar and Grand Forks, British Columbia. As of now, it is unknown who is responsible. The government initially (during investigation) had stated it was done by people within the Doukhobors, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvments, as while they were initially welcomed, the Canadian government soon ran into conflict with the Doukhobors.

The other two factions of Doukhobors are the independents, who rejected hereditary leadership and communal living as being not essential to true Doukhoborism and took up homesteads in Saskatchewan, and the community Doukhobors, who, loyal to their spiritual leader Peter Vasilevich Verigin, moved to British Columbia to continue communal living. Many of the independent and community Doukhobors believed that the Freedomites violated the central Doukhobor principle of nonviolence (with arson and bombing) and therefore do not deserve to be called Doukhobors.

Controversies
In 1903, a radical faction of the Doukhobours, the Freedomites (also called the "Svobodniki" or "Sons of Freedom") embraced Verigin's writings in a zealous manner. A small Freedomite group participated in mass nudity and arson as means of protesting against materialism, the land seizure by the government, compulsory education in government schools and Verigin's assassination. This led to many confrontations with the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that continued into the 1960s and later, including sending its children to residential school.

Abuse of the interned children was later alleged, and a formal apology demanded. The BC government made an official Statement of Regret that satisfied some, but not others. The Canadian Federal government still has not apologized for its role in the removal, saying that it is not responsible for actions taken by the government in place 50 years ago.

Current status
Today an estimated 30,000 Doukhobors live in Canada, and perhaps another 30,000 live in Russia. The Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ, also known as Orthodox Doukhobors or Community Doukhobors, was formed by Peter P. Verigin (son of Peter V. Verigin) in 1938. It is the largest and most active Doukhobor organization, and is headquartered in British Columbia, Canada.

The Doukhobors no longer live communally. Their prayer meetings and gatherings are dominated by the singing of a cappella psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in Russian. Doukhobors do not practice baptism. They reject several items considered orthodox among Christian churches, including church organization & liturgy, the inspiration of the scriptures, the literal interpretation of resurrection, the literal interpretation of the Trinity, and the literal interpretation of heaven and hell. Some avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco, and animal products for food, and involvement in partisan politics. Doukhobors believe in the goodness of man and reject the idea of original sin.

The religious philosophy of the Doukhobors is based on the ten commandments including "Love God with all thy heart, mind and soul" and "Love thy neighbour as thyself." The Doukhobors have several important slogans. One of the most popular, "Toil and Peaceful Life," was coined by Peter V. Verigin.