[Mariner]

"That is not the case in Russia, where the government actually exerts control over the church leadership and uses the church as an unofficial wing of the government to further the state’s goals."

Those are not facts in evidence.

You are making unsubstantiated claims.

[Boogieman]

Lol, “facts in evidence”, this is not a court.

The claims are not unsubstantiated though:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulcoyer/2015/05/21/unholy-alliance-vladimir-putin-and-the-russian-orthodox-church/

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/20/putin-solzhenitsyn-kirill-russia-opinions-contributors_orthodox_church.html

http://www.fpri.org/articles/2012/06/russias-state-church

http://sobor2006.livejournal.com/313944.html