Putin revives antisemitic trope, accusing Jews of tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church

Times of Israel ^ | 12/19/2024 | Zen Stub

[marcusmaximus]

Russian President Vladimir Putin uses antisemitic rhetoric during his lengthy end-of-year press conference, accusing people including “ethnic Jews” of tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church.

“These people that are attacking the church, they are not atheists,” Putin says, addressing a question posed at the press conference. “They are absolutely faithless people, Godless people. Well, ethnically, many of them are Jews, but you haven’t seen them visit any synagogue.”

-snip-

The Russian Orthodox Church is widely criticized by international watchdogs for its close relationship with the Russian government. The Council of Europe recently labeled the church a propaganda tool of the Kremlin, and several European countries have expelled church officials due to security concerns.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

The purported quote from Putin specifies godless Jews who have no faith.

I’ve met people like this. They identify as Jews, but do not practice,

[marcusmaximus]

Putin’s antisemitism is not a good look for your side.

[rightwingcrazy]

“These people that are attacking the church, they are not atheists,” Putin says, addressing a question posed at the press conference. “They are absolutely faithless people, Godless people. Well, ethnically, many of them are Jews, but you haven’t seen them visit any synagogue.”

What was the question that was asked, exactly? If it was “are Jews and atheists attacking the church?”, then Putin’s response would not be particularly antisemitic.

[marcusmaximus]

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> Putin’s antisemitism is not a good look for your side.

I don’t have a side, since I am not wanting either side to win…

But his statement seems correct.

[TheThirdRuffian]

Wait, I thought the Ukrainians were the Nazis, lol.

A pox on both their houses.

[Uncle Miltie]

Putin’s a piker.

He should read some FR threads to brush up.

[faithhopecharity]

Nobody is tearing apart the Russian church. It is quite strongly connected with the Russian state power levers anyway. And no ex-Jew(s) could do any serious harm to such a large institution even if they wished to.
Putin is having a bad dream or has decided to re-start Russian government antisemitism, or both.

But he’s right about his characterization of some people with Jewish-sounding names who have abandoned faith. There are a significant number of them who will answer “yes, I am Jewish” but have no idea what that means or requires (just as there are a significant number of folks who will answer “I am Christian” or “I am Catholic” or whatever but have no faith, either).

We are living in a time of strong secularization. Many have called this the “Post-Christian Age.” At least in USA and many European countries. Putin has apparently noticed a similar trend in his Russian church. From my perspective, it is a problem AND it is a problem that Putin seeks to blame some secularized Jews or ex-Jewish people for whatever is going wrong in his Church. Unfair to the Jewish people, obviously. Plus, by reverting to such ridiculous old rhetoric, Putin entirely misses out on anything he might possibly be able to do to help restore his wandering flock back to faith in God. Attacking or murdering some more Jews won’t help the Church or any Russians re-discover their church, faith tradition.

[Who is John Galt?]

Maybe the Ghost of Kiev can sneak in, and fly all of the Russian
Jews to safety!

[marcusmaximus]

Hitler blamed the “Godless Jews” for everything, too.

[marcusmaximus]

Tell Putin to stop it with the crude antisemitism.

[Who is John Galt?]

You tell him - I don't speak Russian, and the call's probably cheaper from your office in Kiev!

;^)

[mac_truck]

Meanwhile, Natanyahu cancells a trip to attend an event honoring the liberation of Auschwitz because he fears getting arrested.

Perhaps Bibi should fly to Moscow for the anniversary instead, where he can wag his finger in the Russians face for being...antisemetic.

[marcusmaximus]

Is Putin attending the Auschwitz liberation commemorations?

[EQAndyBuzz]

“I’ve met people like this. They identify as Jews, but do not practice,”

All Jews are Jewish but not all Jewish people are Jews. These are liberal Jewish people who are basically godless, but pretend to be a Jew. I am saying this as a Jew.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Thank you. This is what I was referring to.

I was pretty surprised when I took an executive course on the Great Books, Sponsored by St John’s University.

During the first small group meeting (15 or 16 students), we introduced ourselves and many participants said something like, “I’m Jewish, but I’m really a Buddhist.

[mac_truck]

The Russians whose forces liberated Auschwitz weren’t invited...go figure.

[IDFbunny]

Zelensky banned the Orthodox Church even though it is the majority religion in that region.

[jimjohn]

Ever heard of the phrase “jumping the shark”?

Look it up. Looks as though you’ve had one of those moments.

And now Putin’s comment:

“...“These people that are attacking the church, they are not atheists,” Putin says, addressing a question posed at the press conference. “They are absolutely faithless people, Godless people. Well, ethnically, many of them are Jews, but you haven’t seen them visit any synagogue...”

I do not see any antisemitism in that statement. Perhaps to those who see ANY even questionable about the Jews or Israel as antisemitic (lot of that going around these days). In fact, I’ve heard similar statements directly from Jews (especially when talking about the left-wing variety).

In fact, Putin literally paraphrased a statement from Jewish comedian Jackie Mason long ago.

I’m going to make a safe and educated guess that Putin is responding to a question that probably had the word Jew or Jews in it. And you took the bait.

So Marky Max, with all my years in media, here’s a little advice:

A little objectivity can go a long way to gain credibility.

just my $0.02

jimjohn - Out.