Tolstoyan
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The adjective Tolstoyan (also spelled Tolstoian) refers to the author Leo Tolstoy.
The Tolstoyans (Толстовцы, Tolstovtsy) follow the religious views expressed by Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910), the internationally-famed Russian novelist. Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the Gospel teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly, The Sermon on the Mount. The Tolstoyans' founder was Tolstoy's closest friend and confidant, Vladimir Chertkov (1854-1936).
They are nominally Christians, though in a departure from mainstream Christianity, the Tolstoyans tend to focus more on the teachings of Jesus as a spiritually-guided human being rather than as the Son of God.
They do not participate in, or concern themselves with, governmental and worldly affairs, which, the Tolstoyans considered as immoral and corrupt. Thus, they may be technically described as anarchists, though they do not claim that title. Many now regard them as Christian anarchists because they recognize God as their only authority.
They are considered extreme pacifists and advocate absolute nonresistance in all circumstances rather than self-defense. They base this belief on Christ's commandments to, "resist not evil," "love thy enemy," and, the Great Commandment: "love thy neighbor as thyself." Interestingly enough, this was the same strategy to conflict resolution that the Hindu, Mohandas Gandhi, shared but referred to it as nonviolence or ahimsa. Because of their beliefs, the Tolstoyans adhere to either a vegetarian or a vegan diet.
The early Tolstoyans had problems with the Tsarist regimes, and even more so with the Bolshevik ones. By 1930, many Tolstoyans had to relocate to Siberia to avoid being liquidated as kulaks, but Stalin's police nevertheless arrested them and sent them to labor camps from 1936 to 1939.
