Christianity Made Russia Great World Power – Putin

RIA Novosti ^ | 07/25/2013 | RIA Novosti

[TexGrill]

MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the role of Orthodox Christianity in the country’s history and congratulated the heads of the world’s Orthodox churches on the 1025th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, a medieval state comprising parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

“The adoption of Christianity became a turning point in the fate of our fatherland, made it an inseparable part of the Christian civilization and helped it turn into one of the largest world powers,” Putin said in a message addressed to participants of a commemorative celebration on Red Square, the Kremlin reported.

“It is Orthodoxy that gave Russia a powerful impetus for the development and rise of culture and education,” the message says.

Putin also praised the Russian Orthodox Church’s role in developing a constructive dialogue with other Orthodox churches as well as international collaboration.

[EricT.]

Thanks for your willingness to serve. Because of the immense amount of work involved scheduling many individual volunteers, we are only accepting teams of 4 or more. You can take a look at our website for more info and click on the "Get Involved" tab, then "Bring a Team" if you decide to form a team. Again, thank you for your willingness. Have a blessed day.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[ClearCase_guy]

We sort of do that in this country. But maybe not the radioactive part. We like exploding cars and sudden heart attacks.

[EricT.]

Aw crap. Finish your coffee, Eric.

[daniel1212]

Any church invoked as helping Russia become a great power should voice objections for as a great power Russia persecuted all Christians, and then used the Orthodox church to persecute other churches.

And now,

Russia’s Orthodox Church, despite decades of brutal repression under Soviet rule, is putting its trust in the KGB to ensure that a remarkable religious revival does not fade with the departure of President Vladimir Putin.

In an unusual move, Alexei II, the Church’s patriarch, has endorsed deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev ahead of next week’s presidential election.

The influence of his support on Russia’s estimated 100 million Orthodox worshippers is immense.

It also illustrates the unholy alliance the Church has forged with the Kremlin since Mr Putin came to power eight years ago....

Although he has never confirmed it, the patriarch, like the president, is a former KGB agent codenamed Drozdov, according to Soviet archives opened to experts in the 1990s.

Many in the Orthodox hierarchy are also accused of working as KGB informers, a fact that critics say the Church has never fully acknowledged.

“Essentially, the Orthodox Church is one of the only Soviet institutions that has never been reformed,” said one priest, who declined to be identified for fear that he could be defrocked. That fate already befell another colleague, Gleb Yakunin, in the 1990s when he called on Church leaders with KGB links to repent.

Yet it is not just the KGB that binds the Church and the Kremlin. In the Tsarist era, the Church was a committed supporter of the imperial rallying cry “orthodoxy, autocracy and nationhood.”...

Priests are regularly seen on television sprinkling holy water on bombers and even nuclear missiles, a blessing that reinforces Mr Putin’s own militaristic philosophy.

The Church has even supported Mr Putin’s repression of democracy, with a senior bishop last year comparing human rights activists to traitors.

When a prison chaplain suggested that the jailed oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a personal enemy of the president, was a political prisoner, he was promptly defrocked.

Late last year, Sergei Taratukhin - who served five years in a Soviet gulag for defying the authorities - recanted, falling to his knees in front of television cameras and won a partial reprieve. He is now employed as a rubbish collector at the cathedral in the far-eastern city of Chita, near where Khodorkovsky is jailed.-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1579638/Orthodox-Church-unholy-alliance-with-Putin.html

[listenhillary]

What thread did you mean to post that on?

[flaglady47]

Actually, Putin has been a believer in the Russian Orthodox Church for quite a while, all during the Bush Admin, and who knows how far back in his own personal history. I think it is part of his deep nationalism and love of his own country and its history, unlike our own leader who is a globalist at best, who has a chip on his shoulder and a faint distaste for his own country.

[Future Snake Eater]

unlike our own leader who is a globalist at best, who has a chip on his shoulder and a faint distaste for his own country.

"Faint"? You're far more generous than I!

[EricT.]

LOL. It was something my wife wrote for an unrelated project, still stuck in the clipboard.

I guess my CTRL+C didn’t work, and I was in a hurry to post so I could take care of something else.

[Campion]

The Russian Orthodox Church has always been an arm of the state, since long before communism. Under the tsars, the church was controlled by a state ministry called the "Holy Synod" which was led by a layman, appointed by the Tsar, of course.

Religious non-conformists were viewed as dangerous to the state and treated as such. The closer they were to Orthodoxy theologically, (often) the worse the treatment. Read up on the treatment of the "Old Believers" and the Byzantine Catholics under tsarism.

[SampleMan]

The Irony Curtain.

I'm going to steal that.

[EricT.]

You mean Michael Hastings?

Hackers Reveal Nasty New Car Attacks--With Me Behind The Wheel (Video)

Three Weeks Later: The Latest Details, Theories Surrounding Reporter Michael Hastings’ Mysterious Death in Fiery Car Crash

[Gritty]

Meanwhile, our President is busy celebrating the accomplishments of Islam...

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, I believe he would be challenging this Kenyan pretender to a duel.

[QQQQ]

Zionist in the White House? LOL.

There is similarity between P and O. One is dictator and the second one getting there.

[capt B]

Putin- “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” State of nation speech - 2005

[cunning_fish]

>>>>Putin- “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” State of nation speech - 2005<<<<

Please, read this speech. There is not a word of regret regarding collapse of communism.

It is often misinterpreted, perverted, parts are picked out of context.

[vortec94]

A good thought but another choice would be Andrew Jackson. A proven duelist. (aside from a few faults)

[NurdlyPeon]

I still think it's all about Putin realizing that a strong Christian presence in his own country is their best defense against the slow Muslim invasion he sees happening in other countries. The man plays chess, and he is not stupid. He is taking a longer term view, and looking out for the best intrests of his people.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Who won the Cold War? .....both sides!

How much is an acre outside of Moscow?

[TexGrill]

I was a teen in the 80s too and yes you’re right the world is upside down. When I was a kid I met a so-called fortune teller, who claimed I would spend most of my adult life in the Eastern Hemisphere helping the Chinese and Russians better understand Christianity and free market capitalism. I told the fortune teller, I support Reagan and the GOP and you’re prediction sounds outrageous. But because I graduated from Thomas More College in Merrimack N.N with a BA degree in Political Science and Bill Clinton was president at the time of my graduation. I soon realized that going to live and work in the Asia-Pacific region might not be such a bad idea after all, considering my job prospects in the USA.

[dfwgator]

This is the same Putin who called the fall of communism the worst event of the 20th Century.

Context is everything, he was commenting more on the way the aftermath was handled, and yes, it was a botch. He's not sad that Communism is gone, he said many times it was a terrible system.