Posted on 02/26/2022 4:31:01 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
"The reality is that Russia is not the most religious nation in the world as far as…American evangelicals would recognize," ... "I think it's much more a 'the enemy of an enemy is my friend.'
Putin's opposition to some of the international forces that some folks on the right in the United States despise the most creates a dynamic where there's a strange new respect for Putin, or sort of perceived understanding of Putin, or a perception that Putin can represent a welcome rebuke to an international order that they dislike." The things they take issue with may range from the United Nations to pronouns in bio.
"Putin is seeking to tighten his grip on Ukraine and Belarus, as well as expand Russian influence further into Eastern and Central Europe," wrote Alexis Mrachek and Shane McCrum in 2019. That feels a bit prophetic now: "He will undoubtedly continue to promote Orthodoxy in the process. This is simply an attempt to seduce former Soviet republics back under the sway of Russia." The Soviet Union of Putin's younger days was staunchly atheistic and used secularism as a tool to secure state worship. That ultimately failed. In some sense, Putin has subverted the approach to religion—to arrive at the same end goal: state worship.
The restrictions also likely impact the Orthodox community, as the government requires that anyone sharing a faith have a permit to do so and constrain those efforts to religious sites. In 2017, a year after the law's passage, Russia earned an unenviable distinction on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's list of countries most hostile to the expression of faith. As of last year, it still sits atop that list, along with Syria, India, and Vietnam—places that perpetuate "systematic, ongoing, and egregious" violations of religious liberty.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
It’s bizarre that people think this.
Patriarch Kirill is.
We’d probably have more flexibility to choose our friends if the West chose to uphold the social values of Christians, and most other religions, for that matter. As of now Russia is about the only major country other than Communist or Islamic countries doing so.
It’s bizarre how fast globalist trash from both sides came together.
There is ample evidence that Putin is a believer. The Russian state protection and sponsorship of Orthodoxy are undeniable. This does not mean that Putin is a good man. He isn’t. But notwithstanding his impure motives, he is God’s instrument. He had made Russia a nuclear-armed lifeboat for Christianity, in a world that hates it — and that is why globalists and other Christ-haters hate him and Russia.
Neither is Biden.
Do you always go to militant secularists for the straight story on Christianity?
Think of the invasion of Ukraine as a Crusade. Nothing says “Christian” like poisoning your political enemies.
Putin is a not a Good Guy.
But Ukraine is not the Good Guy either.
We need to stop trying to support one of the sides. This just isn’t our fight. This is Stalin fighting Hitler. I don’t need to support either of them.
“Putin is a not a Good Guy.
But Ukraine is not the Good Guy either.”
What about Biden, maybe he is the good guy ?
Its bizarre that people think Washington DC is a defender of Christian values.
Putin has accumulated over 70 billion and lives in a billion dollar mansion. He has accomplished this on an annual salary of about $290,000-
George Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton all said they were able to look into Putin's soul. I don't know where they got this power, but I wish I had it.
“Russia earned an unenviable distinction on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s list of countries most hostile to the expression of faith.”
1. I’m guessing Russia is hostile to nutty cult religions.
2. Where does the U.S. rank on this list?
It’s bizarre that people think this
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The United States or Russia?
Which one would you say more closely resembles Sodom that was incinerated by God?
“There is ample evidence that Putin is a believer. “
Provide it.
I was in Moscow about 5 years ago. While walking down the street I got handed a gospel tract. My understanding is that churches are growing and doing well in Russia.
This all seems like an argument over who would be the best president — Biden or Harris.
There is no good choice.
And all the information people might use to make an assessment of the situation is just a pack of lies. I believe nothing.
“Do you always go to militant secularists for the straight story on Christianity?”
That was my initial thought.
But I don’t think he’s making the argument from that perspective.
Anyone except a total Putin worshipper knows he is not a defender of “Christian values” per se.
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