Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Is Russia more Christian than the United States? Medvedev might just say Yes!
Ministry Values ^ | 1/15/10 | Stephen K. Ryan

Posted on 01/15/2010 8:11:50 AM PST by marshmallow

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last
I'm not sure that Russia is currently more Christian than the US but like quite a few things in life, the important issue is not so much where you are right now but rather the direction in which you are heading. In that respect, Russia and the US are heading in opposite directions. One is in the process of rediscovering its Christian heritage while the other is in the process of abandoning its own.
1 posted on 01/15/2010 8:11:51 AM PST by marshmallow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

Even Joe Stalin was smart enough to reopen the churches when the Nazis were breathing down their necks.


2 posted on 01/15/2010 8:15:08 AM PST by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

“One of the great strengths of the United States,” the President said, “is ... we have a very large Christian population — we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”


3 posted on 01/15/2010 8:15:57 AM PST by jessduntno ("The miners lock and load like the redblooded redneck NRA supporters they are." - Avatar script)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

“One of the great strengths of the United States,” the President said, “is ... we have a very large Christian population — we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.” - B. Hussein Obama


4 posted on 01/15/2010 8:17:13 AM PST by jessduntno ("The miners lock and load like the redblooded redneck NRA supporters they are." - Avatar script)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

I’ve been there four times.

I have close ties with the Slavic Baptist community here in the states.

Russia is definitely more Christian than the U.S.

Consider.

The Communists made abortion freely available, funded by the State. But when I asked an orphanage worker where all the babies came from, he told me that many of them come from prostitution. I asked why the prostitutes didn’t take advantage of the state-funded abortions.

He bristled at me and answered gruffly, “There are some things even a WHORE would not do.”

At that point I was able to deduce that the average American politician has a lower moral standard than the average Russian street whore.

I shared this story with a “liberal” co-worker some years ago. He has not spoken to me since.


5 posted on 01/15/2010 8:28:59 AM PST by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

The Russians realize that their Christian religion is still the basis of their culture. Destroy a country’s culture and you have destroyed the country. If they can stop the decline of their culture, they will gone a long way to stopping the decline of their country.


6 posted on 01/15/2010 8:30:39 AM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

sadly well said!


7 posted on 01/15/2010 8:35:06 AM PST by righteousindignation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

Even Joe Stalin was smart enough to reopen the churches when the Nazis were breathing down their necks.

That was much akin to my reaction. Putin is smart enough to remember the histrionic movies made by Stalin during WWII that depicted Russian knights and Orthodox Church priests beating back invaders from the West.


8 posted on 01/15/2010 8:43:01 AM PST by Pecos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow

I have seen many on here in the past make less than nice remarks about Vladimir Putin, but I do know he did have a traditional wooden Russian Orthodox chapel built on the property at his country home.

Zero won’t go to church much less have a freestanding chapel built on his own property.


9 posted on 01/15/2010 8:47:55 AM PST by flash2368
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook
The Communists made abortion freely available, funded by the State. But when I asked an orphanage worker where all the babies came from, he told me that many of them come from prostitution. I asked why the prostitutes didn’t take advantage of the state-funded abortions.

He bristled at me and answered gruffly, “There are some things even a WHORE would not do.”


What a crock! Someone was receiving the abortions! Which is part of the reason Russia is heading for less than 100 million ethnic Russians by 2050.

The idea that Russian prostitutes are more moral than prostitutes in other countries is touching, but laughable. What do the prostitutes live on during the months they're "hors de combat"? Hmm?

Definition of "Hors de combat": Hors de Combat, literally meaning "outside the fight," is a French term used in diplomacy and international law to refer to soldiers who are incapable of performing their military function. i.e. out of action.

10 posted on 01/15/2010 9:52:55 AM PST by Cheburashka (It's a _happy_ Russian novel. Everybody still dies, but everybody dies happy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Cheburashka

> What a crock! Someone was receiving the abortions!

I’m just repeating what was told to me. And the orphanages, of which there are many (there are at least 6 in St. Petersburg alone), ARE full. I was there and saw it myself.

Among the reasons for the decline in Russia’s population are the following.

. The famine of 1921-22, whereby 5 million Russians died. The famine was caused mostly by the Bolshevik disruption of agriculture.

. WWII, which reduced the Russian population by at least 10 million. Almost 3 million died as a result of the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). At least another million Russians died in the battle for Stalingrad (Volgograd).

. Stalin’s purges during the 30s and 40s, whereby over 20 million Russians were murdered en masse.

. Emigration: millions of Jews and millions more of persecuted Christians over the last 50 years.

. Birth Control

. Abortion

I don’t know where abortion ranks as a reducer of Russia’s population, but given the other statistics, I don’t think it’s a first order, or even a second order, cause.

> The idea that Russian prostitutes are more moral than
> prostitutes in other countries is touching, but
> laughable.

I was not comparing the morality of Russian prostitutes to prostitues in other countries. I was comparing the morality of Russian prostitutes to that of American politicians.


11 posted on 01/15/2010 10:19:14 AM PST by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook
I’m just repeating what was told to me.

Fair enough. But sometimes you should think about what you're being told and realize you're not being told the truth.

The ethnic Russians aren't declining because of the Battle of Stalingrad, or Stalin's purges, or because of Communism, which has been gone almost 20 years now. They're dying off because - by the Russian government's own figures - in the time it takes three Russians to be born, four die. That's happening right now, not back in the early-middle 20th Century.

Medvedev and Putin wish to pretend that Russia is still a great power while Russia dies. Whatever they build short term will be swept away by the self-extinction of their own people, and they're doing nothing to stop that.

I take no joy in the Russian people's destruction, because I don't hate them, unlike some people on Free Republic. If it were in my power to stop it I certainly would, but I won't deny the facts.

12 posted on 01/15/2010 10:53:49 AM PST by Cheburashka (It's a _happy_ Russian novel. Everybody still dies, but everybody dies happy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Cheburashka

> They’re dying off because - by the Russian government’s own
> figures - in the time it takes three Russians to be born,
> four die

Is this a function of birth control among the general population, or is it due to abortion among the prostitutes?

While abortion plays a part in reducing new live births, I submit that it has, at best, a second order effect.

The Russians I’ve met, there and here, secular as well as religious, have a strong aversion to abortion.

The Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the Apostolic Lutheran and Slavic Baptists all vigorously oppose abortion.

The Apostolic Lutherans oppose birth control of any kind and have very large families.

Problem for Russia is that millions of them have emigrated to the U.S, Canada, Australia, Finland, etc.


13 posted on 01/15/2010 11:00:48 AM PST by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook
Is this a function of birth control among the general population, or is it due to abortion among the prostitutes?

I don't see that it matters. Whatever the cause it points towards demographic doom.
14 posted on 01/15/2010 11:26:10 AM PST by Cheburashka (It's a _happy_ Russian novel. Everybody still dies, but everybody dies happy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Cheburashka

> I don’t see that it matters. Whatever the cause it points
> towards demographic doom.

Indeed.

If it weren’t for our “immigration”, our population would be declining, too.

Europe, and even Russia, will be dominated by the hateful barbaric death cult of the pirate polygamist pedophile Mohammed before the end of this century.

Russia’s Mohammedan population has doubled in the last 20 years.


15 posted on 01/15/2010 11:37:35 AM PST by Westbrook (Having more children does not divide your love, it multiplies it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook; Cheburashka

You are both right.

Russia is trying to rebuild its Christian culture. But it might be to late.


16 posted on 01/15/2010 2:56:11 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook
I shared this story with a “liberal” co-worker some years ago. He has not spoken to me since.

I'll have to try that! ;-)

17 posted on 01/15/2010 4:10:22 PM PST by FormerLib (Sacrificing our land and our blood cannot buy protection from jihad.-Bishop Artemije of Kosovo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Cheburashka

Actually, Russia is experiencing population growth for the first time since 1995!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091230/wl_afp/russiapoliticspopulationputin

Putin is doing good work in Russia, economically, demographically, and culturally speaking.
And yes, Russia is more Christian than the United States today, I have been saying that for years now. It saddens me to see so many people still trapped in the cold war mindset, unable to see the thruth.


18 posted on 01/16/2010 5:16:08 AM PST by RolandOfGilead
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: marshmallow
This year, the Russia Justice Ministry will present plans to ....severely restrict the activities of certain religious communities, like Evangelical Christians.

How Christian of the Russians to severely restrict the activities of Christians.

19 posted on 01/16/2010 12:58:49 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Westbrook

>. The famine of 1921-22, whereby 5 million Russians died. The famine was caused mostly by the Bolshevik disruption of agriculture.<
Famine of 1921-1922 was caused mostly by total destruction of economy in Russia due to Civil War and occupation and robbing by Western countries.
>. WWII, which reduced the Russian population by at least 10 million. Almost 3 million died as a result of the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). At least another million Russians died in the battle for Stalingrad (Volgograd).<
Military losses of USSR in WWII were 8,5 millions, 20 millions civilians were killed under German occupation.

>. Stalin’s purges during the 30s and 40s, whereby over 20 million Russians were murdered en masse.<
This theory is not supported by reliable sources. Population would not support so bloody regime in WWII. Before WWI population in Russia was about 150 millions, in 1940 it was 180 millions. USSR’s population in 1987 was 270 millions. AFAIK, population’s dynamic in Russia/USSR in XX century is quite comparable to that in European countries
>. Emigration: millions of Jews and millions more of persecuted Christians over the last 50 years.<
Jews emigrated mostly for economic reasons, for life in Russia was not all sugar and honey, while Jews enjoyed opportunity of emigration to USA. Persecution of Christians would be too strong expression, for many Communists were believers. Persecution of Orthodox Church and priests - yes, it has place during 2 decades after Bolshevik’s revolution, for they considered them as ideological rivals. Orthodox Church was destroyed by revolutionary Bolsheviks-internationalists, who were immigrants and not Russians by ethnicity. They were purged in 1930th by Stalin as trotskistes and agents of foreign conspiracy. During WWII attitude of Soviet government to Russian Orthodox Church became sufficiently more positive. Stalin in 1942 helped to organize gathering of Church hierarchs for election of patriarch. He considered Bolshevik’s atheistic books as trash. My grandma and her sister believed in God, my parents were baptized, sough Soviet people in general were not believers. Many of those who are atheists in Russia have dislike to sexual perverts so much revered in Western countries, and consider most commandments of Christ as best suited for people.


20 posted on 01/16/2010 8:32:37 PM PST by Cossak
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson