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?
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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.
Putin is the best ruler Russia has ever had since Tsar Peter and Bork Obunga is the worst ruler any advanced state has ever had since Nero and in fact it’s worse than that. Bork isn’t bright enough to play a fiddle, we’re going to get to listen to rap while America burns.