Shoot the messenger - but have you heard Western leaders speak of God, justice and the truth lately?
Man does not live by bread alone.
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.
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.”