Friday, May 20, 2022

A Modern Day Constantine? Or...

Putin and the Church Across Ukraine and Russia



   Cossacks Erect Bust Of Putin As A Roman Emperor... 
From (Radio Free Europe) see article at:

With the 2014 un-negotiated and mostly ignored-by-the-West annexation of Crimea from Ukraine that took 15,000 Ukrainian and countless Russian Separatists lives... The cloak and dagger victory was fully celebrated and according to these Cossacks, an Emperor figure arose. 


But is Putin truly an emperor molded in the likeness of Emperor Constantine, who broke tradition to establish Christian teaching and culture across his domain?

Has there been a, "Fundamental Change," in Russia, even greater than the, "Fundamental Changes, "that President Obama brought to America?

Has Russian Governmental control and intrusion into individual private life drastically decreased as is described by the Russian Religious Television broadcaster in the second video below?

Do Putin's values truly match those held by the members of the Orthodox Russian Church which represents roughly 70% of the Russian population, and if so why... 

Here is a little recent history


Here's why the Russian Orthodox Church is deeply connected to  Putin (due to protecting Holy sites) in the Syrian War  Apr 21, 2019  (length 4min)

And finally, Could the assumption of being destined to win due to presumed allegiance to, "Orthodox Truth and Righteousness,"  have caused their military to wrongly assume an easy victory in their attempts at, "Reuniting the Russian Empire?" 

How is their act of, "being on the right side of Russian history," going?

consider...




War in Ukraine: The Battle for the Church
Book Of James 467 views 2.05K subscribers
Mar 26, 2022 (length 10min)

According to the video, even after Ukrainian Orthodox leadership became divided, the Priests of both Ukrainian branches including 300 Russian Orthodox Priests united in offering support, shelter, assistance and even returning of the bodies of invading soldiers along with their condemnation of the Russian invasion. Orthodoxy also remains consistent in promoting, Traditional Christian family and cultural values, and although most are less militaristic than the Cossacks in the video below. Those pushing for military action report doing so to resist a return to godless Secular  Humanism. 

Today, both branches of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and Orthodoxy as a whole resist these, "Progressive Changes," that Secular  Humanism has brought to the west. They see it as cultural decline. 
  


Russia's rise in conservative family values | Unreported World
1,143,122 views Oct 4, 2017 (length 25min)

These fears were recently 
 escalated by Joe and Nancy in Joe's,
 "Battle for the very soul of America."


See full PBS Original Video at: 

and Nancy's Prayer 

Speaker Pelosi Appears on Episode 5 of RuPaul’s
Drag Race All Stars Season 7 # Nancy Pelosi shorts 
(and the original, from the show at link below)
(Stating, "That's what America is all about")

These are the very kind of careless acts that prove useful for Anti-Western propaganda. They intensify the perceived crisis by validating the very cultural fears which strengthen Putin's hold. 

But these occurrences are not new, they have been promoted on a global scale with little regard for consequence even during times of uprising and terrorism. Again, when we look back to 2014 we see top US officials speaking out about inciting backlashes and terror through our careless and provocative advancement of "Progressive," Policies"...


State Ambassador warned of backlashes over what
Islamic populations described as, "cultural terrorism."


Senior State Department Deputy Ambassador Richard Hoagland warned his audience at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 2014 about the cost of aggressively pushing the LGBT agenda.

“There are times and places where I believe we need to temper our idealism with at least a certain degree of realpolitik.”



Hoagland, a homosexual, and then the number two diplomat 
at the mission, co-hosted a USAID, and GILFAA 
(Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) 
event in June of 2011 at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, 
Pakistan. This was their first LGBT, "Pride Celebration.

“...We should never forget the terribly important maxim, ‘First do no harm."... “There are countries in the world, whether religiously or culturally deeply conservative, that will react to our goals with backlash against their own LGBT citizens.”

“We should maintain enough humility to remember that we are terribly new at promoting LGBT human rights as U.S. foreign policy...."

Access full article through link below:

But what about Religious Freedom in Russia? 


Secret Protestant Churches in Donetsk: 
Ukraine's Religious War   VICE News 
Mar 19, 2015 (length 6min)

 
One thing is certain. Today, there seems to be no neutral ground. So how did the division get here? The following presents some of the, how it happened details.


Some demographics.



What most people miss about the war in Ukraine

1,352,995 views Vox 10.7M subscribers
Mar 25, 2015 (length 3min)




And now finally... 
Before you ask the question below... 
Consider yourself. Are you? And how do you know?




Is Vladimir Putin a Christian: 
God, Power, and Russia's War in Ukraine
Book Of James 2.05K subscribers
1,010 views Mar 18, 2022 (length 17min)



Today there are many ways to be misled. Some are more traditional and some are less. 

History shows that we are especially vulnerable to being misled, when we justify our own misdeeds as a form of moral advancement or benevolence. This was true when the west, "Christianized," peoples through conquest, colonialism and expanded the abuses of slavery prior to emancipation. Or conversely when the Soviets reorganized Ukrainian agriculture and created mass starvation in the name of advancing Communism. Sadly, all of these acts were initiated for their perceived long term goodness toward their cause of establishing the, "correct kind." of power.

When we consider the fruit of our, "Progressive," experiment here in the west; with our rejection of the, "traditional family, " and traditional family roles, we see the social prevalence of serial monogamy, intermittent or often total fatherlessness and an increasing confusion in our young often leading to role and gender confusion. We see a tolerance of illegal profit and access to addictive drugs and even the promotion of drug abuse in our youth along with the associated fear, crime, gang affiliation, violence, incarceration, homelessness, suicide, and intergenerational patterns of chronic unemployment. With our recent progressive BLM and CRT activism we also see a crippling of leadership in our black communities and a breakdown of the traditional alliances that once brought strength and stability to our intercity communities.

The fear that Putin exploits; That the west seeks to once again replace Russian historical biblical values with corrupting Humanist Doctrine and dogma is very valid. And this alone has motivated a strong social pushing back against western influence. This fear was certainly exacerbated by the lawlessness and destruction of the global BLM uprisings. 

In comparison to the drastic decline of Christian influence in much of the west, the Orthodox Church has risen in splendor and beauty! She has been the keeper of many of the oldest Christian religious sites in the world and has a long history of steadfastness to the historical teachings of the Church. She has displayed strength and resilience for millennia and has overcome the persecution and oppression of the communist era to blossom in size and wealth and social influence and bring "Fundamental Change," through the goodness of her intentions. 


Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

 
(Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in the center of Kiev Ukraine. It is one of the first monasteries founded in Kievan Rus and remains under the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate Kirill. This monastery was founded in 1051.)

But has this goodness and beauty been hijacked by a political opportunist? 

Consider Putin's Political History in the the video below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvfLe7pDaKU

The Realities of Putin's Russia: 

From Spy to President  

 The Sword and the Shield 3



Have Russian Christians been manipulated to become tools of state manipulation much like the Humanistic teachings she claims to oppose? Not familiar with the term, "Humanism," Consider this discussion contrasting Humanistic and Christian teachings during our last election here in America at:  https://www.thesubwaywalls.com/2019/11/christian-and-humanist-tradition.html)

The recent decision by Archbishop Bartholomew calling for the separation in Orthodoxy of Ukraine from Russian Orthodox leadership appears to say yes.

Could avoiding this tendency, "Of inflicting harm on others, in our zeal for what we believe is good," or even see as righteousness, be why Jesus said...

"My Kingdom is not of this world."

In contrast, He said, "My kingdom is within you."

For more on this theme, see "The Narrow Way," at:

To understand why,  "Transition Therapy," was  rejected by some in the church and forcefully punished by Biden as well as stories of many living out their lives as Christian believers who experiences same sex attraction consider... 

"Whose choice and what change? Family, faith & activism"

or, even, "Choosing to Love Either Light or Darkness," at: 


see it at:

In this context of, "Choice," even choosing to become an instrument of divine judgement is not unfounded. Will Putin use nukes? Will our leaders in the West? Only God knows? For according to scripture, all of mankind is deserving of the judgement. Are you ready? 
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)