Peterburgian Vedism "to know" ("vedat")—a semantic root which is shared in Slavic and Sanskrit languages alike—, and it expresses the difference between sight or knowledge and dogmatic belief ("verit"), the latter being typical of non-Vedic doctrines. According to one of the contemporary leaders of the Peterburgian Vedic movement, Roman Perin, "Rodnovery" defines the practised religion, while "Vedism" defines the philosophy or knowledge at its core. Vedism therefore is not a religion but pure knowledge. According to Bezverkhy, dogmatic religions such as Christianity, but also Brahmanism (the successor of Vedism in India), were created in order to control the masses. Bezverkhy codified his
Religion in Europe membership rolls, mainly among Indian immigrants in Belgium and the United Kingdom, as well as several converts from western and northern Europe. Sikhism has nearly 1 million adherents in Europe. Most of the community live in United Kingdom (750,000) and Italy (70,000). Around 10,000 in Belgium and France. The Netherlands and Germany have a Sikh population of 12,000. All other countries have 5,000 or fewer Sikhs such as Greece. Other religions represented in Europe include: Religion in Europe Religion in Europe has been a major influence on today's society, art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe is