[FearGodNotMen]

I am starting to realize why the "Putin for Dictator" crowd is so passionate. Most of them are linked to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). According to ROC doctrine, the Czar is supposed to head the Church. As such, all true ROC members, both inside and outside Russia, long for a return of the Czar. Then it should come as no surprise that these same people want to imput Czar-like qualities to Putin. Putin, for his part, is playing these unsuspecting ROC believers like a finely tuned fiddle. End Result?...Putin can do no wrong.

Message to ROC members...Putin is not the Czar.

[GSlob]

The Orthodox Christian tradition has always been distinguished for brown-nosing to the secular authority (frequently on nationalistic lines) and excessive insistence on secular obedience. Historically, the West was lucky that Western Roman Empire collapsed into a welter of tribal dukedoms leaving the church in the West more or less autonomous of the secular authority and occasionally as secular authority on feudal lines. It gave it the time to develop.
The Eastern tradition was not so lucky: the Eastern Empire did not collapse until 15 century, the emperors remained rather active and frequently interfered with and tried to control church functioning (e.g. iconoclast movement) and governance (e.g. John Chrysostomos). Orthodox tradition stems directly from there.
Huntington said it best: in the West God and Caesar are equals; in Islam God is Caesar; in the East (China, Japan) Caesar is God; in Orthodoxy God is Caesar's junior partner.
Quite a few Russian thinkers (starting with Chaadaev) were able to figure the conclusion that the Orthodoxy is a millstone on Russia's neck and called for a wholesale abandonment of it. Regrettably they have not been successful. Cultures are resilient on time scale of centuries, almost like genetics (on 10000 yrs time scale). So what else to expect?