In 1785, Archbishop Ambrosias of the Russian Orthodox Church, in an effort to identify as heretics a group of dissident Russian peasants, referred to them as Dukhobortsi. The term literally means spirit wrestlers---the church official intended it as a derogatory label meaning these people were struggling against the Holy Spirit.

These people, the Doukhobor, adopted the name, but gave their own interpretation to it , saying: "we are Spirit Wrestlers because we wrestle with and for the Spirit of God." By this they meant that in struggling for a better life they would use only the spiritual power of love, rather than any form of violence or coercion.

In this way the Doukhobors acquired the name although they had already existed as a group for some time. Earlier, they had been called Ikono-bortsi (ikon wrestlers) because of their renunciation of the Russian Orthodox Church ritual or worshipping icons. "Why should we bow to a wooden ikon? Let us rather bow to each other, thus recognizing the Spirit of God which dwells in each of us."

The Doukhobors base their religious philosophy on the Law of God which consists of two commandments: "Recognize and love God -- the spiritual Force of Goodness and Creativity with all thy heart, mine and soul"; and secondly, "Love thy neighbour as thyself."

"What is God?" they are asked, to which they respond: "God is a word, God is spirit, God is love." "What is soul?", to which they say: "The soul of a person is the reflection of God's spirit in that person. Where there is love between people, that is where God dwells."

The Doukhobors understand Jesus Christ to have been born as a normal human being and to have lived and died in the flesh. His example exists into eternity. He arose in spirit and continues to arise in those people who follow his teaching, not in word but in deed. The Doukhobors believe that Jesus, both in his teaching and his life, showed that the meaning and purpose of life is to do good (meaning, fulfilling God's law of love). They believed that God's law is manifested through loving attitudes between people. The attainment of such attitudes, in the true sense, would mean renunciation of all violence and wars and the attainment of a life of peace and goodwill, a true heaven on earth.

Doukhobors were always interested in a practical common sense religion which could help people to live a contented, useful, and happy life on earth. Their history is marked by efforts to bring their beliefs in line with their practice in life. In this context, Doukhoborism can more accurately be called a way of life or a social movement rather than a religion. This is especially true because, in living together as a group for several centuries, the Doukhobors left their original sectarian roots behind and chose instead a more wider and viable universe -- the world.

Possibly their highest development and achievement was manifested by the Doukhobors at the end of the 1800s. Inspired by the high ideals and dynamic leadership of Peter Vasilevich Verigin together with some brave individuals who were willing to take a conscientious stand on matters of belief and practice, the Doukhobors made a decisive move against militarism and all forms of violence. On Easter Sunday, Matvey Lebedev and ten of his officers serving in the reserve battalion at Elizavetpol began rejection of war by refusing to go to church parade and dropping their guns and their military insignias. "War", they said, "was incompatible with Christianity, and Christ had commanded them "Resist not him that is evil." The men were arrested, beaten to submission, threatened with death, then seen to Siberian exile.

This brave example was followed in June 29, 1895 with some 7000 Doukhobors burning all their weapons, as a symbolic act marking the total renunciation of the taking of life. Alcohol and tobacco were rejected because they serve to harm the body; it was also an argument of support for the expected persecution that would follow.

The tsarist state and church authorities reacted strongly against the ban on killing; instead, they tortured and exiled these Russian dissidents, and took away their normal freedoms. Many people died, Suffering of such proportions attracted world wide attention, and with the help of humanitarians such as Lev N. Tolstoy and the Society of Friends (Quakers) one third of the persecuted Doukhobors were able to emigrate to Canada as "as a home away from home, a haven, a refuge".

In Canada, the new migrants established a communal life style which once was referred to as their second "Golden Age" (their first was in Russia during the mid-1800s under the leadership of Lukeria Kalmykova). Their agrarian communal society, somewhat similar to the Amish and Hutterites, was a glowing tribute to their slogan "Toil and Peaceful Life". The day-to-day of working together for everyone's benefit was a living embodiment of the humane ethic "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." At the same time, the commune provided general self-sufficiency for their basic needs. Especially, astonishing was their cooperative and entrepreneurial spirit when during the first two decades in Canada they built modern flour mills, brick plants, and jam factories.

The virtual utopian concepts achieved by the Doukhobor community undoubtedly inspired the writers of the Encyclopaedia Britannic, describing the Doukhobors as "industrious and abstemious in their lives and, when living up to the standards of their faith, present one of the nearest approaches to the realization of the Christian ideal which has ever been attained."

The sudden violent death of their leader and the great economic depression made it more difficult for the Doukhobors to maintain the high standards of their faith. A combination of internal and external economic and cultural pressures (caused by a shift from rural life style to one based on industrialization, urbanization, together with change in state political attitudes), eventually contributed to the collapse of the communal life style. The Doukhobors were thrust into a period of transition which continues to this day.

How to adapt to the changing conditions while still retaining the fundamental values and beliefs of the movement has become the challenge of the day. Whereas for centuries Doukhobors were illiterate, in the span of a generation or so they have gained access to higher education and a language and culture totally different from that in which their whole life originated. The stress of this fast paced transitionally period have disrupted their lives. In the case of a small group of zealot extremists within them, this has led at times to bizarre and tragic behaviour completely incompatible with the Doukhobor ideals of non violence and pacifism.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the Doukhobors in Canada were able to avoid these perversions. This was largely because of their stubborn Slavic character, a growing awareness of the value of education, and a common practical sense of positive problem solving. The best of these qualities provide the ingredients for the development or responsible world citizens.

Just before Peter P. Verigin II died in 1939, he had created a new organization, the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (USCC). Also known as the orthodox Doukhobors, this group has actively maintained the thread of Doukhobor cultural activities. Youth projects, in particular, have gained new prominence with the introduction of Sunday prayer meetings, Russian language classes, a publication house, and youth activity groups. Annual Youth Festivals in the spring have been the focal point of activity for nearly 50 years. John J. Verigin, its Honorary Chairman, has led the efforts of the membership to achieve a relationship of mutual understanding, respect, and friendship with the society around them; so as not to assimilate into cultural oblivion, but to integrate and live in harmony as part of Canada's multi cultural mosaic.

The Independent Doukhobor, especially with the aid of their current Canadian Doukhobor Society, have maintained cultural continuity through their own community halls, some Russian language classes, choral groups, activity with outside peace groups, and ties with USCC whenever possible. Planning for the Doukhobor Centennials (1995 and 1999) has been a joint effort of all Doukhobor groups--and this is a tribute to their ability to live with diversity.

It is a fact that the Doukhobors have endured as a cultural and social entity. With new awareness of young people, there are now signs of a healthy and vigorous future for the movement. Instead of abandoning their cultural inheritance, the Doukhobors are striving to live in harmony with modern conditions. In maintaining the language and culture of their origin, they have grown to appreciate the advantages of being multilingual. At the same time, while living with multitude of technological and ecological problems, they have gained a new respect for the simple self-sufficient, and ecologically-sound traditional life style of their fore bearers.

Finally, and most important, in a world constantly threatened with the outbreak of violence, Doukhobor youth support firmly their central heritage of the Law of Love--the guiding principle of all human affairs, thereby affirming their pacifism, and their notion of being citizens of the world. Such slogans as "Toil and peaceful life" and "The welfare of the world is not worth the life of one child "has resonated in every Doukhobor's heart. Like other concerned and responsible peoples of the world, Doukhobors everywhere are striving to build a world without war where love instead of violence is the guiding principle of human relations.