FEATURES OF RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOR AND DOCTRINAL ATTITUDES OF TURKIC-SPEAKING PROTESTANTS (GENDER ASPECT)

In this work, the author reveals some aspects of the religiosity of Tatar and Bashkir men and women, who are members of the Protestant communities of the Southern, Middle and Polar Urals. The article compares such characteristics of believers as the regularity of reading the Holy Scriptures and religious literature, the opinions of believers about the role of success and life difficulties in the life of a Christian, as well as the definition of the process of Christian salvation. The data are presented in comparison with similar indicators for men and women from the general sample in the Urals. The research results show that men and women – speakers of the Tatar and Bashkir languages – demonstrate almost the same values for a number of indicators. More women from the Tatar sample and women from the general sample read the Bible. Slightly more women from the sample of Tatars, Bashkirs and the general group read religious literature. Supporters of the “Theology of Prosperity,” according to which success in life is an indispensable attribute of Christian life, are less than half of both men and women from the general sample, from the sample of Protestant Tatars and Bashkir respondents; supporters of this doctrine are more than half of the male Protestants from the sample of Bashkirs. Also, more than half of the Bashkir men regard life’s difficulties as factors that do not correspond to the will of God for a Christian, while the majority of both men and women from the “Tatar” groups, the general group and Bashkir women consider negative factors in the life of a believer to be God’s instrument that promotes salvation of the soul. The results of the study demonstrate that the majority of men and women from the Tatar group and the general group of Protestants in the studied regions of the Urals share the biblical doctrines, according to which the earthly path of a believer is associated with various negative factors, and believe that achieving success in life should not be the meaning of a Christian’s life. However, religious men from the “Bashkir” group fall out of the general ranks – they are actually supporters of the “Theology of Prosperity”, while they are more diligent in studying the Bible than Bashkir women.