Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Putin, the Orthodox church and nationalism in Russia and elsewhere

               You can also view the video and read the article at www.aljazeera.com

My comment:

As President of Russia and former KGB-agent in communist times, you would expect Vladimir Putin to be an atheist. This video from Aljazeera shows a different picture. It examines the relationship between the Russian Orthodox church and the Russian government, and takes a close look at a very nationalistic movement that aims to revive the Russian empire to former glory. Sounds familiar? Right - it sounds like "Make America great again", just under a different flag. It might just explain the disturbing Trump-Putin connection. It certainly does illustrate what happens if the church embraces the use of weapons and force for whatever reason: It can no longer be distinguished from any other secular stream in societies, and ultimately even leads to one part of the "church" fighting wars against another. It is a church without any spiritual power, striving for the things of this world, not compelling any onlooker to repent and turn to Christ, because Jesus is not in it whatsoever. All that´s left is a sense of moral superiority and a wrong sense of being the cure to the problems of the world, while nothing could be further from the truth!