Posted on 03/27/2014 7:54:59 PM PDT by goldstategop
One of the strategically interesting things about Vladimir Putin is that he has been careful not to set himself against religious belief but attempted to align himself with it. He has taken domestic actions that he believes reflect the assumptions of religious conservatives. He has positioned himself so that he can make a claim on a part of the Russian soul, as they used to say, that his forbears could not: He is not anti-God, he is pro-God, pro the old church of the older, great Russia. ...
At the top, religious references. Crimea is "where Prince Vladimir was baptized. His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilization and human values that unite the people of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
He despises their atheism as much as he turns aside from the amoral secularism of the decadent West. His appeal is to the vitality of Christianity and the greatness of Russia.
He has reconnected his country with the well-springs of Slavic civilization. We in the West are in danger of forgetting the foundations of our own heritage.
We are absent more than anything else - from the spiritual battlefield. We do not have answer to Putin on the revived vigor of the Orthodox Christian civilization in the East.
That overshadows even Crimea.
It wasn’t that long ago this bitch was telling us how wonderful Obama was.
Man, the things you guys read into this old KGB guy.
Shoot the messenger - but have you heard Western leaders speak of God, justice and the truth lately?
Man does not live by bread alone.
If that is not true, then Russia is in for a rough time and a return to the struggles of her recent past, just as we are now in our fall from Grace into Satan's embrace.
“....values that unite the people of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.”
.
Meaning: Ukraine and Belarus had better be prepared for internal strife and Russian takeover.
LOL
Putin speak with forked tongue, Kemosabe.
on gays
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130725/182424969/Christianity-Made-Russia-Great-World-Power—Putin.html
on Soros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpO3PArAoUQ
His faith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d_yxJhmjk
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130725/182424969/Christianity-Made-Russia-Great-World-Power—Putin.html
The restoration of the Cathedrals and churches
The Cathedral of Christ The Savior - holds 30,000 (The original was blown up b y the Communists)
calls for world leaders to stop the slaughter/persecution of Christians going on today - heard one peep about this fro OUR Pres_ent?
etc
“...older great Russia...”? WTF, Peg - lay off the bourbon. I don’t know how far back she’s going, but Russia went from a monarchy full of ignorant starving peasants to a series of dictatorships full of ignorant starving peasants to an oligarchy full of ignorant starving peasants. Other than fossil fuels and weapons, their only exports are prostitutes and mobsters.
The Russians have been at this 3rd Rome bit for at least 500 years. The Orthodox church, for better or worse whatever its virtues may be, has been totally co-opted by the State since Peter the Great.
Putin is a Russian imperialist. Just like Peter. He sees Russia as the rightful hegemonic ruler of the world. It serves his purposes to continue to co-opt the church. As for any true desire for Christianity (ie the Gospel of Jesus as opposed to the institutional Church), look for a bit at how the indigenous Protestant denominations are treated. Atheism is far more acceptable to the gov’t than any dissenter.
There’s a lot of fallacy in your statements.
1. The Russian church is co-opted by the state. ? So is the Church of England. Does that make the queen a liar when she says she’s Christian?
‘
2. Putin is an imperialist with worldwide ambitions. Really? You get that from what - invasion of next door neighbor Crimea? What about Obama going half-way around the world to impose regime change on Libya? That’s a lot more “imperial” than anything Putin has done.
who is more of a sincere Christian - Putin or McCain?
Ex KGB Putin and the Russian Orthodox, seem to be in an unholy alliance is my feeling so far, that feeling comes from the seeming militancy and anti-Christian efforts of the Russian Orthodox and the state.
Russia hasn’t changed, nor has it’s church, I don’t see this ending up well.
NYTs “STARY OSKOL, Russia — It was not long after a Methodist church put down roots here that the troubles began.
First came visits from agents of the FSB, the successor to the KGB, who evidently saw a threat in a few dozen searching souls who liked to huddle in cramped apartments to read the Bible and, perhaps, drink a little tea. Local officials then labeled the church a “sect.” Finally, last month, they shut it down.
There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir Putin.
Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.
This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Putin’s tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working “in symphony.”
Thank you for those links! They look like they’ll be very helpful for study...once I’ve had some sleep.
Read a little Russian history. And I didn’t say the COE wasn’t co-opted by the Crown. The English church, at least its heirarchy, hasn’t been a bastion of orthodox (small o) belief in any recent period.
I am not, in any way, shape, manner or form holding anything BO does as a model. That said, only Ron Paul sees a moral equivalency between American intervention in the world and Russian intervention.
The fact is that most Ukrainians have no interest in being Russian, the recent Crimean election (BO and EH just wish they could stuff ballot boxes like Putin does) notwithstanding. Ask the Pole, the Balts, the Czech, how interested they are in being Russian.
Putin has intervened with Syria and Iran. Not to mention his current moves to turn the Caribbean into a Russian lake.
Where has Putin attempted regime change. Name the country. Meanwhile, we’ve done so in Iraq, Aghanistan, Libya - and Obama wants to do so in Syria. Yet you call Putin an imperialist. You’ve got a major double standard going, buddy. No credibility.
You equate Putin with Obama in terms of Christianity? Sorry, doesn’t wash. Putin speaks out against homosex, and gay preying on kids. Obama is trying to push homosex on the world. That difference right there is all I need to know.
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