[Mariner]

you appear erudite and therefore must know, the joining of church and state has been the historical norm.

And still is in vast swathes of the world.

In fact, to the best of my knowledge the USA was the very first secular government. Even today there are numerous State Churches in Europe.

Does Ukraine have one?

This one is fairly, though not totally, innocuous by that bigger measure.

And I’m only applying the tape to Christendom. 2when we measure Islam, there is even a closer step toward total theocracy. Each and every one of them imbued with more evil than the ROC.

I think your essential gripe is with the Russian State.

[GoldenState_Rose]

Thank you for the points you make. I hope to share my thoughts on the church/state topic later as it pertains to Russia and Ukraine.

For now I will say that I am not equating the Russian Orthodox Church with an Islamic theocracy. The article challenges the idea that Putin is a standard bearer for Christian values. He is in fact someone of very little moral authority.