Paper short abstract:

This paper studies narratives and practices of ethical self-making in one of the biggest Russian new religious movements, the Last Testament Church. Based on ethnography among the LTC members, the paper shows how ethical selves are informed by emotions and cultivated by emotion manage-ment.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines post-conversion narratives and practices of self-transformation among members of the Last Testament Church (Tserkov´ poslednego zaveta), one of the biggest new religious movements born in Russia in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Building on the experience of societal-wide moral breakdown and visions of earthly paradise, created by morally self-perfected humans, the LTC suggests its adherents to see themselves as active and responsible moral agents creating their own realities amidst different possibilities of experiencing their existence. In order to reach more meaningfulness, happiness, and beauty in life, a believer is called to “completely transform oneself”. The “work on oneself” aims at replacing one´s egoistic and individualistic tendencies with godly altruism and desire for “dissolving into the collective stream”. In other words, Vissarionites aim at breaking free from their physical boundedness and creating collective consciousness.

This paper discusses the role emotions play in Vissarionites´ self-transformation narratives and practices. The paper suggests that, by attaching their emotions with moral value, Vissarionites become able to experience, interpret, channel, and perform their self-transformation processes in a meaningful and coherent way. However, the moral weight given to emotions also gives rise to heightened ethical sensibilities and confusion among believers as people are not always sure what to make of their emotional experi-ences. The so-called “moral and ethical discussions”, triggered by emotional insecurities, are constant among Vissarionites.

Observations and findings presented in this paper are based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the LTC Siberian community in years 2015-2018.