The Savannah morning news., 1904-02-17
QUEER sEcTs IN RUSSIA.
Mystical Creeds That EnjOIn Primi-
tive Rites on Members.
From the Chicago Chronicle.


From the Chicago Chronicle.
Religious fanaticism has been respon-
sible for some of the most revolving
horrors ever written in the pages of
history. 1t is only about six years
ago that twenty-eiEht persons had
buried themselves alive in Tiraspol in
order to avoid being included in the
census that was being taken at that
time. these people being members OF
the sect known as the Khlysty This
sect flourishes in the whole of the
northern half and in the entire east
of the Russian empire, each year
many legal processes being instituted
against the various members of the
body. The Khlysties are scattered
over this immense district in colonies
which vary in the number of persons;
they are considered by, the law to be
particularly dangerous and are saw
agely hunted by the orthodox clergy
and the lawyers of the country and
even by the orthodox members of
Russian society. The adherents of the
sect meet for common worship with
the greatest secrecy carefully sur
rounding themselves with sentinels
and in every way seeking. to avoid the
sharp eyes of both the law and the
chruch. The members of the body lead
an orderly life, eat no meat, use no
alcohol or tobacco. never take part
in village fetes-which generally end
in drunken orgies-do not swear, treat
animals kindly, live in the strictest
union with the other members of their
faith, practice the doctrine of free
love. and in general, are more abun-
dainty blessed with this worlds goods
than the orthodox Russians.
PerniciOuS Sect.
At the same time the sect, in the
eyes of the clercals, is one of the most
pernicious and is dubbed an associa-
tion of hypocrites and enemies of the
state. 1t dates from. the seventeenth
century, and the first prophet who
lived in 1880, was declared to be the
incarnation of God the Father de-
scended upon the earth and appeared
TO men on a hill in the province of
Kostroma. In the religious conception
of the cult the personal God of the
Christians has completely vanished, be-
ing replaced by a vague spirit without
a name and without attributes, but
which is blended with the idea of the
Holy Ghost, although it has no analo-
gy with It. The spirit may be drawn
to the earth by means of appeals, offer
ings, by force and by, violations-the
. disciple of the faith seeing the spirit
and holding him in his possession.
once descended upon earth the spirit
enters the disciples body who in turn
becomes the slave of the spirit, a mere
automat, absolutely ruled by the spirit,
having no will of his own: consequent
ly every action. even the most insane
and the most vicious is the act of the
spirit and as such cannot be criticised
or blamed. There are various cere-
monies by means of which the pres
ence. of the spirit is obtained, the chief
one being to assemble sin the evening
or at night in an open field where,
amid songs and prayers, the religious
frenzy gradually seizes the, people,
after which they are possessed with
the spirit. =
Epidemic of Religious Frenzy.
Air of the mystic sects of Russia are
merely varieties of the Khyisties, RusL
STA being divided sifto two religious
movements besides that of the orthodox
church, namely, the Khlysties or mys-
tics and the Stundists or rationalists
which Is merely German Professionalism
both of these movements REPRESENTING
grave peril for the stability of the
orthodox Greek church. Russia is fire.
quently' convulsed with religious cpl.
oemlcs, Whlch start with "a seizure
of some person. this person then be-
coming god, prophet. In every case
however, the essential tenets are those
OF the Khylsties, fact which proves
that the social stagnation has had its
logical consequence, the people, misera.
BILE. brutalized by alcohol, and buried
IN the densest ignorance for centuries
having made no social or intellectual
progress. The slightest mental disor.
der the iauut nor - a. -s.r
equilibrium suffices to rub Off the tight
yarnlsh Of Christianity POSSESSED 81
me nation, and 70 bring into existence
the Ola mental and moral habitudes