UKRAINE UPDATE: SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2022, 2PM
“Russian World: The heresy driving Putin’s war.” Article Euromaidan Press.
• The doctrine of Russian World is “an ideology that is theological at its core.” It pits “Holy Russia” against the “godless West.”
• World-renowned theologians have condemned the Russia World as heresy.
• Cyril Hovorum, Stockhold School of Theology, interviewed by Euromaidan Press.
• The doctrine was developed under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• This doctrine frames the war in Ukraine.
• Putin has supplied the guns and the church has supplied the ideas.
• The “core of the aggression is ideological: it’s a distorted theology..”
• The idea was developed by the Church and taken over by the Kremlin.
• Putin referenced ideas from this doctrine in the speech on the eve of the war.
• “It is a form of exceptionalism, nationalism.” “a form of exceptionalism that means that belonging to a tribe makes you different and exceptional.”
• Russia is believed to have a special mission from God to save the world from itself.
• “That’s why it’s important to take into consideration religion when we try to understand this war.”
• The Russian belief is that the West has been corrupted by liberal ideas and values which are dangerous. The “traditional values” they support are conservative and anti-liberal.
- “that’s why we see these strange alliances like between the Kremlin and some white evangelicals in the USA.”
- Many radical Muslims, especially supporters of Daesh in the Middle East, see Russia as fighting their common enemy, this global demon/shaitan of the West.”
- Unfortunately the average Russian believes this ideology.
- “Putin has the support of the majority of the population regardless of his actions.”
- The main part “in forming this ideology was played by the Church…:
- “Patriarch Kiril (the leader of the Russian Orthodox church) is the author of this ideology.”
- The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) wanted to attract people and fill a void that was left with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- “The disappointment in the Communist ideology became complete…”
- The Church saw this as an opportunity.
- “Instead of Christianizing the deideologized Russian population it led to ideologizing the Christian Church…””The Church has been ideologized ad putinized…”
- “I believe the Russian World is a sort of idolatry.”