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Foreign religions in a variety introduced in Russia in the 1990s, it made a strong impression. The population of our country and throughout the lives of three generations of carefully insulated from religion as well as from foreign influence, was not prepared for the meeting with an organic alien religiosity. In the absence of knowledge about a particular phenomenon of a person replaces them with stereotypes, somehow folding in his mind. Thus, from the foreign religions were expected to represent approximately the same as the well-known, and sometimes the only well-known Russian Orthodox religion with a central, inseparable from her concept of holiness, and maybe someone else's religion, in some respects even better than our native Orthodoxy . Therefore, a practical acquaintance with the alien religious surpassed all expectations and has caused a number of issues still remain open. How can speculation on the religious feelings? How to protect against sects? Where are the limits to which we are obliged to respect other people's cultural tradition, and when we have the right to vent your righteous anger? How do religions need to strongly resist? How to distinguish between harmful religious organizations from more or less harmless, from the pseudo-religious organizations, anti-state and destructive? How to identify a particular foreign religious organization, nothing about her not knowing, but the name?

To find the answers to these questions, we need to know first and foremost about American religions, because the vast majority appeared in our country in the 90s religions come from the USA. Even if this or that particular interest to us is not an organization of American origin, as a rule, it is already represented in the religious area of America.

The religious processes going on in Europe today, the Western scholar describes the four main characteristics: "pluralization, Americanization, the revival of Eastern religions and resakralizatsiya" (new religion). At the same time it defines Americanization as "pluralism, which corresponds to the religious consumerism, it is widely spread American samples and has a pulpit in the media. Messengers of Asian religions, almost without exception, came to Europe from the U.S., are often infected with the virus of commercialization."

If you look closely at the definition of Americanization, it is impossible not to notice that it implies that the aforementioned four characteristics of European religiosity are linked by cause-effect relationships. That is, three of these European traits are the result of one of them, Americanization. Thus, according to this definition of Americanization, the first line, pluralism, comes in second - Americanism, and the third - the revival of Eastern religion - comes from the same Americanism ("messengers of Asian religions... came to Europe from the United States"), from there, it is already known to all stretch yarns and a new religion, the fourth European features. Obviously, it would be better to talk primarily about Americanism as the driving force of modern European spiritual and religious processes. "Cum grano salis [with a certain degree of irony] - concludes the researcher - indeed: Europe produces and exports the ideology, and imports and consumes religion, and mainly from the United States."

Europe, unlike Russia, has a long history of religious experience in competition (Catholicism and Protestantism). In contrast to Russia, Europe struggled to legally prevent the American spiritual and cultural expansion. Finally, Europe has not experienced such an attack, as violent ateizatsiya Russia in the twentieth century. And despite its much higher military capability to deal with the Americanization of Europe is extremely difficult. Of course, that we, weaker than in Europe, and to oppose Americanism will be even harder. However, this now few people think.