Posted on 12/06/2017 6:18:14 PM PST by marshmallow
ROME - As the leadership role of the United States in the Middle East falters, Russia has reiterated its commitment to bringing peace and stability to the region - and safeguarding its Christian communities and heritage.
At the third Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) summit in Rome on Dec. 1-2, policy makers and experts from all over the world met to discuss the leading issues in the Mediterranean: Mainly migration, terrorism and development.
Speaking at the conference, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of the Russian Federation, presented the Kremlin’s plan for the Middle East and its special focus on protecting religious minorities.
“It’s peace. It’s stability. It’s conditions for development. It’s openness to the outside world,” the veteran Russian diplomat said about his country’s goals for the region. “It’s also keeping the centuries-long tradition of ethnic and confessional groups of different natures living together.
“The future of Christians in the Middle East is very important.”
Lavrov pointed to the Christian minorities in the area as “the group that’s suffered the most,” because of the violent and destructive attacks by terrorist militias and the diaspora that followed, which risks completely eliminating the Christian presence in the region.
The current administration in the U.S. has been struggling with marrying its ‘America First’ economic nationalism with its intention of aiding religious minorities and stabilizing the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, which includes considerable cuts to foreign aid, was met with concern by those who would like to see stronger American support for the Christian population in Syria and Iraq.
Most of U.S. humanitarian aid in the region, about $1 billion, is currently funneled through the United Nations, but on-the-ground organizations have voiced ‘frustration’ over the reconstruction process in the Nineveh Valley, the ‘cradle of Christianity’ in Iraq that was largely torn down.....
(Excerpt) Read more at cruxnow.com ...
Over 10,000 dead Christians in Eastern Ukraine since Russians from Moscow arrived and started their murder. I see how much Putinist Russia cares about Christians.
I have spent considerable time in Russia and the Russian Federation/CIS, and can say with absolute certainty, non-Russian Orthodox Christians and non-Muslims in Russia have been persecuted all along, even from the early 1990’s, (when most religious freedom was experienced), to the present, (where there is significantly increasing persecution).
As stated, real persecution even happened on occasion while Yeltsin was in place. However, in 1997 there was a serious crack down and reiteration of anti-religious law (which reflected the “FORMAL” soviet period), and called for stiff enforcement of the same law. There was a difference however, as Moscow exempted the Russian Orthodox Church, and Islam. Keep in mind, the Russian Orthodox Church has been and is largely a political organization for ceremonial and appearance purposes, in the power center of Moscow, Russia.
I am reflecting on Russia itself. Although, members of the Russian Federation and CIS do largely practice reciprocal law with Russia.
As such, while I have no doubt there are both life saving as well as appearance points to be gained by Moscow on the world stage, this can only truly be the extent of it.
Russia, has really been clamping down on non-state sanctioned religion and speech. Some missionary’s can and do get away with being there, but in many cases, this will be rooted out by Russian authorities at some point. The trick is to kick them out without creating too much international noise.
While maybe helpful to those persecuted on the ground in Syria, Russia is trying to win points and gain support on the world stage.
Despite what I have stated, God can use Russia to save people on the ground regardless of the motive!
Simply duplicitous and deceptive., If Putin was really in favor of religious freedom he would protect it for those outside the LBG Russian Orthodox church.
Russia's Newest Law: No Evangelizing Outside of Church | News ...
Christians are Severely Persecuted in Putin's Russia – But That Could ...
Christian Persecution Increasing in Russia - Christian News Headlines
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Moscow church destroyed in sign of new Russian repression Posted on Sep 26, 2012 | by Jill Nelson
MOSCOW (BP) -- It was in the early hours of the morning on Sept. 6 when Pastor Vasili Romanyuk's phone rang. A group of men backed by local police were demolishing his Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church, housed in a three-story building nestled in a Moscow suburb. As word spread, congregants arrived at the scene hoping to save the building, but their efforts were futile. By dawn the church was in ruins and some of its most valuable contents were missing.
An isolated incident? A misunderstanding? Analysts watching the current climate in the former Cold War country don't think so: "This destruction of the church is about as concrete of evidence as you can get that something very bad and very troubling is taking place," said Katrina Lantos Swett, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. "This could not have happened without the backing, support, and implicit blessing of the police."
The incident is just one sign of deteriorating freedoms in Russia, and behind the scenes a cozy relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church has raised more than a few eyebrows. As President Vladimir Putin digs into his third term, a number of Kremlin crackdowns involving vague interpretations of the country's extremism law and other human-rights abuses are troubling signs that the country has slipped into a familiar, repressive era.
"When you have unknown people backed by the police coming out at midnight to begin tearing down a church, you know something doesn't smell right," Lantos Swett said.
Officials evicted Holy Trinity Church from its original building in 1995 and relocated the church to the eastern Moscow suburb. The congregation used its own funds to construct a new building and repeatedly battled officials over permits. The church demolition and its history reflect an emerging pattern: Authorities confiscate land from non-favored religious communities and force the congregation to relocate to a remote suburb, the religious leaders apply for permits that are subsequently denied, and officials confiscate (once again) or demolish the relocated congregation, citing lack of proper documentation.
Pastor Romanyuk and a small group of the church's 550 congregants arrived on site around 3:30 a.m. as about 45 men claiming to be civil volunteers blocked them from the building and threw stones. "When I arrived, I just burst into tears," 25-year-old Natalya Cherevichinik told The Moscow Times as she surveyed the destruction. "I couldn't believe that something that had been built over several years could be destroyed in a few hours."
Russian Evangelicals Leery of Orthodox Church, Friday, December 30, 2011:
class="adjusted">MOSCOW, Russia -- For decades, the Russian Orthodox Church was persecuted under the Soviet Union's Communist Party.
Since the early 1990s, the church has grown in size and influence as its relationship with the Russian government has improved significantly.
However, that cozy relationship worries the country's evangelicals.
Threats Against Evangelicals
For eight years, Yuri Sipko ran one of the largest Baptist organizations in Russia. Now, 20 years after the fall of Communism, he worries about the growing threats against the country's evangelical movement.
"The collapse of Communism was supposed to usher in an era of greater religious freedom, but I'm concerned we are moving in the wrong direction," Sipko said.
What makes the Russian evangelicals very concerned is an emerging relationship between the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church.
"For example, the government recently introduced religious classes based on the principals of the Orthodox Church in public schools," Sipko said.
"Then late last year, the Russian president announced an initiative to appoint Orthodox chaplains to all army units," he said. "Our constitution clearly states no religion can be the state religion."
Russia Church-State Relations
Russia watchers credit two men, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, for elevating the church's prominence. The state media has also played a key role, often showing the leaders attending church services.
Sergey Ryakhovski knows both men well. As head of Russia's Pentecostal Union, he meets regularly with top government and Orthodox Church leaders.
Ryakhovski worries that the Orthodox Church's influence is coming at the expense of religious freedom, especially for minority groups such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists.
"There are so many laws and by-laws that regulate religious life in Russia," Ryakhovski said. "For example, evangelical Christians just can't go out and buy a church building or buy a piece of land to build a church."
"Plus, criticizing or challenging the Orthodox Church is not a task for all," he added.
Orthodox Church Revival
The Russian Orthodox Church on the other hand has had it easy in recent times after decades of state persecution.
Church buildings that were destroyed during the Soviet era have been rebuilt with Russian taxpayer money. In the past 20 years, the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars restoring some 23,000 churches.
Most Russians say they belong to the Orthodox Church. Yet CBN News found mixed reactions on the streets of Moscow to the growing bond between church and state
At Expense of All Others, Putin Picks a Church
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Published: April 24, 2008
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 F.S.B., a successor to the K.G.B., 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 V. 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.
Russia's De-Facto State Religion : Persecution : http://www ... www.persecution.org/?p=9350&upm... International Christian Co... Putin frequently appears with the Orthodox head, Patriarch Aleksei II, ... Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ's robes like bandits, ...
Government Returning Land to Religious Organizations to Favor Orthodox Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009: An ambitious draft law on the transfer of property of religious significance to religious organisations may reignite a process begun in 1993.
Pentecostal Seminary Targeted for Liquidation
Pentecostal Church Forced to Meet Outside in Moscow Winter
Russia: Governor Orders Church Land Grab
Council of Religious Experts threatens religious freedom
Russia “You have the law, we have orders ”
In contrast,
the early days of the American experiment the famous French Catholic political thinker and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) best known for his two volume, "Democracy in America") attested,
Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. <
The sects that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator; but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man. Each sect adores the Deity in its own peculiar manner, but all sects preach the same moral law in the name of God...Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same...
n the United States the sovereign authority is religious, and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth...
The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other; and with them this conviction does not spring from that barren traditionary faith which seems to vegetate in the soul rather than to live... Thus religious zeal is perpetually warmed in the United States by the fires of patriotism. These men do not act exclusively from a consideration of a future life; eternity is only one motive of their devotion to the cause. If you converse with these missionaries of Christian civilization, you will be surprised to hear them speak so often of the goods of this world, and to meet a politician where you expected to find a priest. (Democracy in America, [New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), pp. 331, 332, 335, 336-7, 337; http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/religion/ch1_17.htm)
And Benjamin Franklin also advertised,
And the Divine Being seems to have manifested His approbation of the mutual forbearance and kindness by which the different sects treat each other, and by the remarkable prosperity with which He has been please to favor the whole country. (Benjamin Franklin, "Information to those who would Remove to America" In Franklin, Benjamin. The Bagatelles from Passy. Ed. Lopez, Claude A. New York: Eakins Press. 1967; http://mith.umd.edu//eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle4.xml. Also, John Gould Curtis, American history told by contemporaries .... Volume 3, p. 26)
We cannot doubt that the Russian Orthodox Church is an arm of the government. It's infiltration and control by the KGB is quite well known, and its corruption is just as extreme as any other sector of the "post"-Communist society of Russia. For example: "Kirill, who was the Metropolitan of Smolensk, succeeds Alexei II who died in December after 18 years as head of the Russian Church. According to material from the Soviet archives, Kirill was a KGB agent (as was Alexei). This means he was more than just an informer, of whom there were millions in the Soviet Union. He was an active officer of the organization. Neither Kirill nor Alexei ever acknowledged or apologized for their ties with the security agencies. As head of the church’s department of foreign church relations, Kirill gained the reputation of a relatively enlightened church leader. He met with Pope Benedict, and he has been attacked by church conservatives for “ecumenism.”Snip... http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/20/putin-solzhenitsyn-kirill-russia-opinions-contributors_orthodox_church.html
>Over 10,000 dead Christians in Eastern Ukraine since Russians from Moscow arrived and started their murder. I see how much Putinist Russia cares about Christians.
They died from invading the eastern part the country to subjugate Russian speakers. If you want to blame someone, blame Obama, he’s the one who funded the Ukrainian government and urged them to keep attacking.
Before Trump the US government had zero commitment to protecting Christians in the middle east. In fact, GWB and Obama regularly armed and trained those would turn Christain villages into mass graves. It’s hard dealing with the fact that our leaders hate Christians and love Muslims. But before Trump that was the case.
Obama, Soros, The EU made a play to separate Crimea from Russia and limit Russian access to the Black Sea, at a time when they thought Putin and Russia were weak. Having been in Russia’s possession for at least the last 400 years, it was a poor gamble that did not work very well. Obama is a spineless boob anyway, who I doubt was even consulted when the plan was launched.
You win some, you lose some.
They died from invading the eastern part the country to subjugate Russian speakers. If you want to blame someone, blame Obama, he’s the one who funded the Ukrainian government and urged them to keep attacking.
Sorry, your facts are wrong. You airbrush history like a good little Stalinist. There was no violence in EASTERN Ukraine until Putinist thugs like Igor Girkin arrived from Moscow and started their terror there.
>Sorry, your facts are wrong. You airbrush history like a good little Stalinist. There was no violence in EASTERN Ukraine until Putinist thugs like Igor Girkin arrived from Moscow and started their terror there.
I followed the news while it happened. The Ukrainian coup government sent troops east and they were disarmed and sent home without their weapons. Next, the government sent private armies and neo-nazi groups who murdered civilians. That’s when the revolt really got started.
Thank you daniel1212 for posting the truth. As a former expat living in Russia I want to reiterate that the Body of Christ is alive and well there: genuine Orthodox, Catholics, Evangelicals alike.
But this in spite of, not because of Putin. And Evangelical missionaries in particular are lumped together with cult leaders and terrorists as “extremists” under the new Yarovaya Law.
The enactment of this law forced Franklin Graham to scrub the 2016 Christian World Summit, which was due to be held in Moscow:
http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2016/august/franklin-graham-cancels-christian-world-summit-in-moscow
I do not doubt that God can use evildoers like Putin + Assad to accomplish His ends...but make no mistake: Putin’s interests are in destabilizing and undermining the West, undermining former Soviet countries seeking independence, from his grip from Ukraine to the Baltic states...
And above all, seeking to disrupt and undermine America’s geopolitical interests.
This means allying with rogue nations like Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea to do his bidding. In his own country, Putin has propped up Islamic despots like Kadyrov in the republic of Chechnya.
Also worth noting that as Putin expends his military and resources in Syria, freedoms and living standards are on the decline for average people within Russia - whose livelihoods are sacrificed at the altar of boosting his image as a power player, and fattening the pockets of his crony oligarchs.
This is a man who lends lip service to the evils of the Soviet Union and yet has fostered nostalgia for its godless glory and rehabilitated the image of Josef Stalin for a whole new generation of Russians. This is a man who refuses to order the burial of Lenin’s body in Red Square.
And in the meantime, the Russian government bullies and threatens countries like Poland and Ukraine for daring to tear down their Lenin statues ane communist idols.
Please do not be deceived.
I followed the news while it happened. The Ukrainian coup government sent troops east and they were disarmed and sent home without their weapons. Next, the government sent private armies and neo-nazi groups who murdered civilians. That’s when the revolt really got started.
If you followed it closely you would recall the protestations from Putin Russia that this was a local revolt in Crimea. Then later Putin handed out the medals to the Russians involved in the op. Funny how all those “farmers and miners revolt” Putnist lies from 4 years ago have gone down the memory hole, isn’t it?
Let me spell out the time line for you since it seems to be difficult in regards to Eastern Ukraine:
1)Russians from Mosocw like “former” FSB officer Igor Girkin arrived and started a murder and kidnapping spree in EASTERN Ukraine.
2)Ukrainian Army deploys to Eastern Ukraine in response to this “rebel” invasion from Russia.
3)Russian Army destroys the border, invades with tanks and defeats the Ukrainian Army in Donbas.
Really, this shouldn’t be difficult since you “followed the news”.
lodi, you are correct.
>If you followed it closely you would recall the protestations from Putin Russia that this was a local revolt in Crimea. Then later Putin handed out the medals to the Russians involved in the op. Funny how all those “farmers and miners revolt” Putnist lies from 4 years ago have gone down the memory hole, isn’t it?
Are we talking about eastern Ukraine or the Crimea? Because there was never any chance Russia was going to let their only warm weather port go just because the US overthrew the Ukrainian government.
>1)Russians from Mosocw like “former” FSB officer Igor Girkin arrived and started a murder and kidnapping spree in EASTERN Ukraine.
Never heard of him. Nor was there any terrorist actions going on before the neo-nazis moved in. No doubt you can link me a Soros back publication that will tell me all about it.
>2)Ukrainian Army deploys to Eastern Ukraine in response to this “rebel” invasion from Russia.
Nope. They rolled east to secure the area since every time the maiden folks try to start something in the locals beat the crap out of them and sent them back to Kiev. The east voted overwhelmingly for the deposed president and viewed his removal as the negation of their vote. They had no reason to like the people who had couped their government. But nor did they make any moves against Kiev.
>3)Russian Army destroys the border, invades with tanks and defeats the Ukrainian Army in Donbas.
The eastern part of the Ukrainian army largely defected to the rebels or went west. As far as I know, the Russian army didn’t really get directly involved until 2 or 3 attack west by the Ukrainian army after they’d been bolstered with IMF funds(illegally btw).
>Really, this shouldn’t be difficult since you “followed the news”.
I guess I wasn’t watching the Soros approved news sources.
About 3,300 dead Future Americans DAILY, since Rowe v Wade, in a country whose motto is...
Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and celebrate, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Matthew 10:21-23
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.
{cue Archie & Edith's theme song.}
...girls were girls and men were men...
Elsie the Soviet Union was first country in the modern world to legalize abortion in the 1920s with a nrief period of restriction under Stalin.
Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and radical feminist Emma Goldman spent a good deal of time there for inspiration — but even they were appalled by some of the conditions they witnessed. Some of the medical instruments used in the procedure to this day were invented there.
In the 60s and 70s, Soviet Russia had upwards of about 5 abortions for every birth...
Today, measures have been taken by the Orthodox Church and the Russsian govt to tackle Russia’s culture of abortion. The country still has one of the highest abortion rates in Europe. Second to Romania.
And a massive demographic crisis to boot.
The other big threat now is their HIV epidemic.
While we had condoms and pills...
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