The Problem of Religious Identity: the Phenomenon of Choice of Religion in Modern Megapolis

This paper is devoted to the problem of choice of religion in the modern metropolis. The study based on the materials of 20 in-depth interviews, with people who described themselves as having chosen religion at a conscious age, and who currently live in major Russian cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg. Theories of the modern society Georg Simmel and Hermann Lubbe, which regard the individual's conversion to religion as a reaction to the continuous and constantly accelerating the technical, scientific and cultural progress of society, are involved as a theoretical basis for the study. The analysis of the collected material revealed a number of specific elements of the personal experience of individuals leading to the situation of religious choice, as well as the functions performed in this case by religious conversion.