The article analyzes the research methodology of the problem of religious threats, aiming to identify their specificity in comparison with other threats to state and public security. Methodology is presented by a phenomenological approach, comparative approach, historical approach, comprehensive approach, determination of the study course, which consists not in exposing the threat to the public manifestations of religion, but in the development of the theory of social adaptation of religion. The authors prove that emerging religion by trying to spread its influence in society causes a negative reaction. This reaction compels them to make efforts, on the one hand it aims to protect their rights, on the other – aimed at the transformation of the original own institutional, ideological and strategic installations, that is at the process of adaptation to the society that originally has been rejected by them. As a result of such interaction, religious associations initially persecuted in society form an atmosphere of tolerance around them and become equal participants in social discourse. It is important that this process, which generates new players within the social space, affects traditional religions, which are forced either to squeeze in the market of spirituality, or, like its competitors, to transform their social policy

This article is devoted to an attempt to analyze religious threats, which the authors believe is not sufficiently developed in studies on religious security. The analysis was carried out within the framework of the methodology of the socio-philosophical approach, which rejects the version of the metaphysical religious threat from religious organizations. This analysis was carried out by the authors based on the theoretical principles of the theory of the social evolution of religion M. Weber, T. Parsons, theory of religious conflict K. Marx, R. Darendorf and theory of social adaptation of religion J. Richardson, B. R. Wilson. The results of the analysis showed that in the second half of the twentieth century the comprehension of religious threats took place within the confessional, legal, and psychological discourses based on the metaphysical opposition of “yours” and “aliens” (F. Conway, J. Siglman, R. D. Lifton, M. Singer, T. Patrick, J. MacDowell, W. Martin). The general direction of criticism of these discourses was the indication that the illegal actions of extremist organizations are usually determined by their political and economic goals, and not by the content of religious texts, which led to the requirement to distinguish between violent actions and the content of religious doctrines. Therefore, as the authors show, modern analysts, including E. Barker, J. Melton, J. Richardson, R. stark, and M. Introvigne, prove that the challenge and conflict between religious associations can not only be considered as a reflection of threats caused by religions, but also as a manifestation of competition within the confessional space. At the same time, the fears of threats spread in the course of this struggle are very important for the social practice of religions seeking to improve social policy

The article analyzes the problems of religious threats in the framework of Russian philosophical, theological, sociological, psychological thought. The analysis was carried out based on the provisions of the theory of the social evolution of religion, theory of religious conflict and theory of social adaptation of religion. The results of the analysis showed that the situation of studies of the religious threat within the Russian scientific field is complicated by the active confrontation among authors of publications on this topic. A large group of authors publish works in which they indicate the existence of a threat to national security from all religions that are not considered traditional in Russia. Fulfilling a social order and reflecting their metaphysical beliefs, biased authors classify a wide range of religious groups as dangerous and extremist. On the contrary, another group of researchers publishes materials through which it tries not only to justify the need for scientifically verified research of state-confessional interaction processes, but also to protect the right of believers to exercise the right of religious choice

The research objective is a comparative analysis of the problems of religious threats in modern social security discourse in Western countries and Russia.  The methodological basis of the study is the phenomenological approach used in the process of explaining the meanings arising in the interaction of religion and society and the comparative approach aimed at analyzing the impact on the consciousness of believers in traditional and non-traditional religions. The result of the study is proof of the provision that the content of modern social discourse on the religious threat in the West is under the influence of a concept that separates the activities of religious organizations recognized as a security threat, and the content of religious doctrines not recognized as a threat. Another result is the statement that in Russia, the most socially influential concept reflects the problem of religious threats in the context of the friend-foe dichotomy, according to which non-traditional religious associations are considered to be the source of religious threats to social security.

The report is devoted to an attempt to analyze the religious threat as a phenomenon and as a concept used in modern social discourse in the territory of the Russian Federation. The problem disclosed by the authors is that the social discourse, devoted to assessments of religious threats, does not take into account the point of view suggesting the need to comply with the principles of equality before the law of all participants in the social process, including traditional and non-traditional religious associations. The authors conclude that in studies of threats emanating from religious associations, a distinction must be made between non-religious and religious threats. A non-religious threat should be understood as the consequences of destructive extremist activities that cause real damage to human health and life, to preserve the integrity of the state and society. The meaning of the concept of a religious threat consists in dangerous consequences of the religious doctrine influence, which serves as a cause of offending feelings of believers or unbelievers and doing them moral harm. For the practice of regulating religious interaction, it is important to understand that this type of danger, as a rule, is difficult to determine unambiguously due to subjectivity and the presence of different assessments in relation to the consequences of some of those actions