"Putin regards his spiritual destiny as the rebuilding of Christendom, based in Moscow. When the punk band ***** Riot wanted to demonstrate against the President, they chose to do so in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, a vast white and gold edifice, demolished by the Soviets and rebuilt in the Nineties. It is a synthesis of Russia's national and spiritual aspirations. It's not just Russia, it is "Holy Russia", part religious project, part extension of Russian foreign policy. Speaking of Vladimir's mass baptism, Putin explained: "His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." He wants to do the same again. And to do this he needs Kyev back. . ."

https://unherd.com/2022/02/putins-spiritual-destiny/

Its Texas Aggies, dammit said:

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"Putin regards his spiritual destiny as the rebuilding of Christendom, based in Moscow. When the punk band ***** Riot wanted to demonstrate against the President, they chose to do so in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, a vast white and gold edifice, demolished by the Soviets and rebuilt in the Nineties. It is a synthesis of Russia's national and spiritual aspirations. It's not just Russia, it is "Holy Russia", part religious project, part extension of Russian foreign policy. Speaking of Vladimir's mass baptism, Putin explained: "His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." He wants to do the same again. And to do this he needs Kyev back. . ."

https://unherd.com/2022/02/putins-spiritual-destiny/

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So an ex-KGB guy is a devoted Christian using force to reunite the Eastern Orthodox church ????

I'll call total BS on this one. Putin is a Russian Nationalist. Its that simple

Putin propaganda threads

Cue the "I don't believe you" gif

ttu_85 said:

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Its Texas Aggies, dammit said:

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"Putin regards his spiritual destiny as the rebuilding of Christendom, based in Moscow. When the punk band ***** Riot wanted to demonstrate against the President, they chose to do so in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, a vast white and gold edifice, demolished by the Soviets and rebuilt in the Nineties. It is a synthesis of Russia's national and spiritual aspirations. It's not just Russia, it is "Holy Russia", part religious project, part extension of Russian foreign policy. Speaking of Vladimir's mass baptism, Putin explained: "His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." He wants to do the same again. And to do this he needs Kyev back. . ."

https://unherd.com/2022/02/putins-spiritual-destiny/

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So an ex-KGB guy is a devoted Christian using force to reunite the Eastern Orthodox church ????

I'll call total BS on this one. Putin is a Russian Nationalist. Its that simple

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You apparently don't keep up much on the topic. Guy has been pretty die hard religiously for a long time.

This isn't new information being tossed around last minute.

Dude has built hundreds of churches in Moscow alone.

Military Academy is one of the most impressive churches in existence today.

If he wins he will be remembered as a great Christian leader and he knows that. If he loses. Not so much.

The best know Christian Emporer of all time Justinian had some pretty questionable days. Die hard Christian and built the Hagia Sophia.

CrackerJackAg said:

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You apparently don't keep up much on the topic. Guy has been pretty die hard religiously for a long time.

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I suppose - in a way - you could describe Putin's lifetime of service to Satan as "religious."

Maybe let's read Revelation.

TriAg2010 said:

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CrackerJackAg said:

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You apparently don't keep up much on the topic. Guy has been pretty die hard religiously for a long time.

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I suppose - in a way - you could describe Putin's lifetime of service to Satan as "religious."

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It seems to be how he sees himself that is relevant to his actions. He seems to believe he has a higher purpose and if harms are done along the way, they were necessary, like many authoritarians.

This is nothing new. Saddam embraced Islam, building many mosques, but he wasn't a devout Muslim. Same with Erdogan. The soviets couldn't tie themselves with Christianity because marxism is inherently atheistic. But nothing in Putin's brand of oligarchy stops him from playing the heart strings of the devoted.

Nothing Putin's done while in power is congruent with biblical principles. Nothing.

milner79 said:

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Maybe let's read Revelation.

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This nugget. The most misunderstood book in the New Testament.

There is no deadlier sin than doing evil in God's Holy Name.

FrankK said:

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Hmmmmmm…
Putin… Ex-KGB, genuinely converted to Orthodox Christian… or charlatan exploiting nationalistic and religious inclinations of good people to turn them into useful pawns?

Answer: "You will know them by their fruits." - or - "Your actions speak so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying."

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What are his fruits as of yet?

I see many Churches and a country unified around Orthodoxy under his tenure.

A lot of really bad things are true of David, Solomon, Constantine, Justinian, the European Kings, Popes, Martin Luther etc….

Have to see how it plays out. I'm not politically invested & don't care who wins either way so I find it a pretty interesting follow.

If America soldiers boots hit the ground then it changes solely because of American lives.

I'm also not stupid enough to think it'sa simple as our government is the good guys and theirs is the bad guy. It varies day to day and minute to minute practically.

If you've got all the answers, bud, I'm all ears.

putin uses the church as a means to expand russian influence and his own power. it has nothing to do with faith.

Wait, are people here actually carrying water for Putin?

He was a KGB goon.
His god was communism, power and repression.
If you think otherwise you have been duped.
I have a bridge for sale, cheap.

I've been doing a lot of reading about the Russian Orthodox Church and how it survived the "atheist" Soviet Union. Pretty interesting stuff.

Soviet leaders, while once church persecutors, ended up realizing the influence of the Orthodox Church in society and used it to their advantage. Church leaders were largely chosen by Soviet leadership but the churches were allowed to grow and worship.

Now, there's very little doubt in my mind that Putin is about as atheist as it gets, but he knows how to manipulate people. As Trump said, he's very skilled. It's not necessarily a complement, you can use your skills for horrible things.

The Ukraine v Russia thing is also rooted in orthodoxy, as the Ukrainian and Russian orthodox churches, if I'm not mistaken, are still in schism.

Quote:

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The third fact: The ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine is underwritten by a false rendition of history, including Christian history. Putin's claim that Ukraine is not a real country is buttressed by another Big Lie: that Russia is the sole heir of the baptism of the eastern Slavs in 988, and thus the sole legitimate guardian of what Putin's ideologues and apologists call the Russkiy mir, the "Russian world." Yet Ukraine, its Orthodox communities, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church have at least as strong a claim to that historical patrimony as Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. The revival of Russian imperialism today is perhaps not all that surprising; old habits die hard. But the role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in supporting Putin's falsifications of history and his new imperial designs is doing grave damage to the cause of Christ in a country recovering from the ravages of state-sponsored atheism. Metropolitan Hilarion, the ROC's chief ecumenical officer, recently received from President Putin the "Order of St. Alexander Nevsky" for his "great contribution to the development of international and inter-confessional relations." The award citation might have more honestly read, "for services to the Russian state and the current Kremlin regime."

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On Ukraine
by George Weigel | First Things

The Nazis had "Got With Us" on their apparel too. You cannot trust anything Putin says or does. It's all psyops. He is KGB.

Exactly!
All these young mofos on here believe him.
They did not ever learn: "How do you know when a commie is lying? His mouth is moving."

I am by no means an expert, but here's my remedial level 099 (not even 101) understanding. There's a couple of orthodox christians on the religion/philosophy board that are happy to answer questions about the church structure if you ask there.

The eastern orthodox church is made up of a council of equal, independent church heads that all agree on theological practices. The 'church heads' preside over their church organization. The orthodox church as a whole has a "first among equals" leader named Bartholomew II. Theological agreement comes from counsels, not dictated by the first among equals leader. Here's a church list (not complete, left out some independent churches). The last two churches of the list, of america and of ukraine have disputed autonomy. Not all of the other churches agree that they are fully autonomous. America was granted autonomy (called autocephalous) standing from their founding church, the Church of Russia, during the overthrow of power into communism. (Church of America was founded by Russian immigrants coming down through alaska). Not all other churches agree that the Church of America is fully independent.

The church of Ukraine was under the church of Russia until 2018. When Bartholomew II agreed to grant Ukraine autocephalous standing out from under Russia. Guess who did and did not agree with that. The Ukrainian and russian churches are in a schism. And its absolutely to do with political power, pressure, and independence. Its not differences about God's nature.

[ol]

Church of Constantinople (ancient)

Church of Alexandria (ancient)

Church of Antioch (ancient)

Church of Jerusalem (ancient)

Church of Russia (established in 1589)

Church of Serbia (1219)

Church of Romania (1925)

Church of Bulgaria (927)

Church of Georgia (466)

Church of Cyprus (434)

Church of Greece (1850)

Church of Poland (1924)

Church of Albania (1937)

Church of Czech and Slovak lands (1951)

The Orthodox Church in America (1970)

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (-2018)

[/ol]
The church of russia is thought to have survived the atheist reign of communism because of its usefulness to the leaders in regards to influencing the population. Take that for what you will.

Pray for the church, and the people it serves. Its ensnared right now in politics and human fights over resources.

Not surprised at Putin's messaging the Orthodox Church is central to Russia's national historic identity. That is why he through some of the communist leaders of the past under the bus earlier this week. He doesn't want to build back the Soviet bloc. He wants to build back the Russian empire with him as a Tsar figure. Orthodox Church plays a big role in that vision. This again is another example of how our government leaders and intelligence agencies are idiots. Biden spouted off the building a Soviet Union back idea as Putin's reasoning. This is not about communism, this is about nationalism and traditionalism in Russia's mind. How to defeat those two ideas are different and we are making another mistake here. Exact same rationale we got wrong in Vietnam…,and guess what a lot of the government low IQ officials were around them too

Yes. I believe he sees himself more as a Peter the Great than a Soviet Premiere.

What would Jesus Christ think of Putin?

torrid said:

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Wait, are people here actually carrying water for Putin?

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you didn't get the memo? authoritarian, nationalist, strong man populism is back in vogue baby! putin loves Jesus just like you so it's okay

Quote:

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It's an article of faith in the Kremlin that the creation of the OCU is an American project designed to destroy world Orthodoxy and harm Russia. It's painful for me to state this but the Russians have good reason to think this. Unlike absurd Kremlin propaganda lines about "Ukrainian Nazis" perpetrating "genocide" against Russians, the idea that Washington wanted the split of Orthodoxy in Ukraine is a reasonable inference upon examination of recent U.S. Government conduct.

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https://topsecretumbra.substack.com/p/putins-attack-on-ukraine-is-a-religious?utm_source=url

Yes, this is a legit issue and a key factor behind the current troubles which is overlooked by the media while covering the background.

He may be a loon, but he also kills a lot of radical Islamist. Stalin killed a lot of nazis. Hitler killed a lot of communists the Lord uses scumbags as He works in mysterious ways!

Nothing like a little religious propaganda to dupe conservatives to your side

https://ukr-prokat.com/en/blog/main-religious-sites-in-kyiv.html

For Russian Orthodox people, Kiev is their Jerusalem. It is the birthplace of their history and people and home of their ancient spiritual sites.

So that is a huge element in this as well.

Yeah, so this is more like Putin's crusade, to get back land that is Holy to the Russian Orthodox church.

That doesn't make him a good guy, at all. He's using the church to legitimize a tyrannical government that murders its own citizens at will.

Do we know much about OP? Are we sure he isn't some Russian propagandist posting from some bunker under the Kremlin?

larry culpepper said:

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Do we know much about OP? Are we sure he isn't some Russian propagandist posting from some bunker under the Kremlin?

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Does that tick you Chinese propagandists off?