Tucker and you need a lesson in American history.
Ever heard of the Anglican Church, a faith controlled by the King and the British state?
What do you think happened to it during our Revolution?
Churches were closed by the government. Priests were forced out of the country and their property seized. Finally the church was forced to break all ties to Britain and became the independent Episcopal Church.
In this case Zelensky is doing exactly what Washington did.
Are these churches providing aid and comfort to the invading force?
If so, Zelensky is exercising his only option.
Scratch a Zeeper and find a totalitarian.
No, he’s not. A political figure, the King (or Queen), is actually the head of the Anglican Church, whereas this is not true in Orthodoxy , no matter what branch you belong to.
Our side in the Revolution made Great Britain remove its political representatives, and the Anglican clergy counted among them, leading to the church’s eventually replacement by one that did not have the King as its head (the Episcopal Church, meaning the bishops).
Orthodox churches tend to split on national lines, and some in the Slavic countries are under the Patriarch of Constantinople and some are under the Patriarch of Moscow. However, these are religious heads. Obviously, they will have their political sympathies, and all of their churches do a bit of spying for their own side.
Zelensky had no justification for doing this. It’s sheer persecution, and, of course, the desire to seize their assets and perhaps to provoke Putin a little bit more. Zelensky has already outlawed all political parties but his own , now he’s outlawing all churches except the ones he feels are sufficiently adoring of him.
I was going to say except his own, but he doesn’t even have one. Zelensky is a secular Jew and is not even a member of either of the branches. He’s actually a member of the Cult of Zelensky, as apparently are a lot of FReepers as well.