Through all the new manifestations of Russian imperialism, a defiant idea has been forming in the minds of many Estonians: this time, we will fight back. The Russian empire may still be stronger than us, and war is never pretty. But we have nothing to lose and we will fight back no matter what. The removal of the [Narva] tank is only a small part of that same preparedness, Ilmar Raag writes.
Church attendances and a desire for a greater role to be played by the church within society has fallen over the past five years, according to a recent survey.
Society has also become increasingly polarized on the churches role on social, ethical and political matters, the survey found, with few people sitting on the fence on this.
At the same time, general religiosity in Estonia has not seen any significant change in the five years since the last survey on the topic was conducted.
Whereas in 2015, 20 percent of people aged 15-74 said they would describe themselves as religious, this figure stood at 19 percent in the recent survey, conducted by the Estonian Research Center (Eesti Uuringukeskus) on behalf of the Estonian Council of Churches (Eesti Kirikute Nõukogu).