Would you ever have imagined the President of Russia would proclaim his Christian faith and Christian values, not the President of the United States?
It was common to hear American conservatives refer to the Soviet Union as a “godless nation” at the pinnacle of the Cold War.
Interesting how the circle closes. Now the Kremlin and Russian Orthodox Church peg the west with the same allegations.
In a recent keynote speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values. Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.”
Putin positioned Russia as a strong defender of “traditional values” compared to the west he described as morally bankrupt and slipping into chaotic darkness.
Russia has adopted laws banning “homosexual propaganda” and making it a criminal offense to “insult” the religious sensibilities of believers.
Putin’s opinions were echoed by the leader of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow, who said western countries are engaging in the “spiritual disarmament” of their people.
“The general political direction of the [western political] elite bears, without doubt, an anti-Christian and anti-religious character,” he said on state controlled television.
“We have been through an epoch of atheism, and we know that it is to live without God. We want to shout to the whole world, ‘Stop!’”
Orthodox Church spokesman, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin accentuated the remarks with, “The separation of the secular and the religious is a fatal mistake by the West. It is a monstrous phenomenon that has occurred only in Western civilization and will kill the West, both politically and morally.”
Putin has never been overt or secretive about his faith and has made literally no references to it during his first terms in power.
Since his third presidential inauguration, however, he has reached out more for support to the conservative, xenophobic heartland of Russian, and it has paid off richly.
Putin’s shift to ultra-conservatism and increased anti-west rhetoric is connected to massive protests in 2011 and 2012, which were demonstrations of discontent by urban Moscovites with pro-west leanings.
Maria Lipman, an analyst with the Moscow-based Carnegie Center, said, “This is the government’s response to modernized Russians becoming more defiant and independent. The government is pitting the conservative majority against the liberal minority. As a result, raging anti-western idology has now turned into something that is almost a state ideology.”
Lipman says that Putin has been cautious to not go all in. “Because of Putin’s shift to conservatism, the church may feel more emboldened. So Putin does not overemphasize the church in speeches, preferring to concentrate on talk of traditional values. He is wary of boosting its support even higher.”
http://www.tpnn.com/2015/07/08/video-whos-godless-now-putin-says-obama-has-turned-usa-into-godless-sewer/
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/what_europe_has_become.html
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