Posted on 01/08/2018 12:15:21 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
Despite the opening of more churches and official and media support for Christianity in Russia in recent years, the share of Russians attending Christmas services was less than two percent of the Russian population – a decline by more than half over the last eight years.
Russian officials and hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church routinely claim that 80 percent of more of the Russian people identify as Orthodox Christians, and polls show that almost that many acknowledge that they do, although they indicate that they only attend church and follow its rituals from time to time.
This year, the [interior] ministry said that there were approximately 11,000 religious services in 5700 cities and villages across the country for Christmas and that “more than 2.5 million people” attended them.
The figure of 2.5 million is less than two percent of the population of the country, and strikingly is down from four percent only eight years ago when nearly six million Orthodox Christians in Russia attended services.
(Excerpt) Read more at windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com ...
* The stats do not account for the numbers of people in different Christian denominations (Protestant, Catholic et al.) who attend church regularly and celebrate western Christmas on the 25th of December as opposed to the 7th of January.
* As a whole, the country emphasizes "New Years Day" more than Christmas. This is a holdover of the Soviet legacy, which reappropriated Christian traditions and replaced them with secular auspices and holidays.
But wait! I just read they are doubling the number of Russian Orthodox churches.
Does everyone get their own church?
In some ways this is no different than the US. Many people identify as Christian but don’t go to church and have ideas and beliefs that conflict with Christian teachings. Secular society is killing religion, or at least Christianity. After another generation or two, the people who identify as Christian but don’t actually practice will stop pretending and switch to “non-believer” like they have in many European countries.
“Russian officials and hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church routinely claim that 80 percent of more of the Russian people identify as Orthodox Christians”
And in other news, the Chocolate ration is being raised from 45 to 28 grams per week!?
2+2= Maybe Col. Putin isn’t the savior of Christendom the propagandists would like to pretend he is.
That doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends though.
Apollo-Soyuz!
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Matthew 24: 12-13
Lord Have Mercy
Fastest growing religion in Russia is Islam.
Yup! Though Evangelicals have been making headway in the Caucauses and Central Asia thank God. And the extent to which Putin maintains his grip on the country will be dependent on the changing spiritual landscape. At the moment the political “opposition” has no meaningful Christian voices.
Here’s wishing a blessed and faith-filled Orthodox Christmas to those who are celebrating.
I’m not sure how many people attended Christmas services yesterday. But I will say that a rabidly anti-Russian and anti-Orthodox blog is not a reliable source for that. And for the record I have no illusions about V.V. Putin. He’s a thug and very likely a murderer. But he is also one of the most adept political leaders of the modern era and a man who relentlessly pursues the interests of his country. He’s no saint, but neither is he the anti-Christ. I’d put him more as a cross between a Mafia Don and Otto von Bismark. Realpolitik and national interest are his guiding light. A lot of people think the Orthodox Church kowtows to him. But I think it’s the other way around. The Church is consistently ranked as the most trusted institution in Russia, it’s various faults notwithstanding. Putin needs the Church much more than the Church needs him.
Do they marry fags and have female priests?
The Islamic parts of Russia to their credit, do not suffer from four of Russia’s biggest social struggles:
1) low birthrate - Muslims are outbirthing ethnic Russians and have big families.
2) high mortality among men. 1/4 of Russian men die before the age of 55-60, while Muslim men do not drink.
3) abortion culture (Russia traditionally has highest abortion rate in Europe) It’s a holdover from Soviet times.
4) HIV - Russia is currently facing its biggest health crisis in decades. Its HIV epidemic is outpacing rates of infection even in sub-saharan Africa.
It is estimated that 1% of the Russian population is now infected.
Thanks to the work of American Christians in conjunction with Orthodox and other organizations: Russian activists have been making headway by learning the ways of:
1) Western style pro-life activism and crisis pregnancy counseling for women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies.
2) Western style drug and alcohol rehabilitation with a Christian focus.
3) Putin is trying to offer subsidies for Russian mothers to encourage them to have children, but the economy is suffering.
4) The HIV crisis remains untackled for the most part to the worry of numerous health officials. Russian government is against methadone therapy for drug addicts and secular emphasis on contraceptives, sex-ed...Orthodox church has made very little headway, so it will be interesting to see how other Christian groups tackle the issue.
2) The assumption that the Russian/post-Soviet Muslims don't drink is greatly exaggarated. Chechnya is an exception, but it's 1% of the total population.
3)The abortion in Russia has considerably decreased from what it used to be. The main reason is the availability of contraceptives in the high street. That's what the USSR lacked. So we should credit business and magazines like Cosmopolitan for this, not a mythical evangelic mission.
4)The problem of unwanted pregnancy is of financial nature, so Putin with his benefits is doing far more.
5)The methadone treatment does only one thing: it switches the drag the addict is doing.
6) The Russian sex-ed is opposed by the Russian Christians not by the government.
7) The HIV epidemy is a fact, though that may be just because the public hasn't taken it seriously before and I know what liberals suggest to do (e. g. distributing free syringes and condoms) but I'd like to learn what's the Cristian approach apart from praying and abstinence.
8) The Russian Orthodox Church actually does charity work at least relatively well-off urban parishes.
I know Freelance, I lived there. I am Catholic, but love the Russian Orthodox community in the USA as well.
In terms of social causes, next time I want to stay in Ekaterinburg (which has interesting anti-Putin mayor, Evgeny Roizman who is trying to stop drug use in his city) and Irkutsk (which is beautiful center of Siberia but also faces high rates of HIV and other social problems.)
About Caucasian region: Russia took the land from the Persian Empire and Russians want tsarist/Soviet levels of territory and power - yet they despise and badmouth Chechens, Ukrainians, Kazahks, Tajiks, etc...
Some of the racism and ugly language I heard Russians use to describe their former Soviet brothers makes even 1950s America look tame.
I’ve heard that Russians are probably the most racist people on the planet, especially towards blacks.
Despite all the Soviet Propaganda, that they were “Down With The Struggle”.
What exactly do you know? We've exchanged our opinions on a quite a bunch of topics.
anti-Putin mayor, Evgeny Roizman
Is he?
and Irkutsk
You might want to visit Novosibirsk as well since it's an important Russian Roman Catholic centre.
Russia took the land from the Persian Empire
That's not quite accurate. Rather the Ottoman Empire.
yet they despise and badmouth Chechens, Ukrainians, Kazahks, Tajiks
The Russian Empire was the only one having Muslim generals commanding Orthodox Russian soldiers. That was unthinkable for any other, the British India is an example. At this time we have a lot of non-Russian ethnicity people at power: Mr Shoigu - the defense minister (Tuvan), Mrs Matvienko - the speaker for the higher chamber of the Russian parliament (Ukrainian).
The Tajiks are the Russian equavalents of Mexicans, and anyone aware of the recent Russian history can guess why Chechens and Ukrainians aren't much liked. Moreover there're very different Ukrainians. I know some who've come here from the Eastern Ukraine. Basically, allegiance to the Russian state is more important than ethnicity, that's something inherited from the Eastern Roman Empire (aka Byzantium).
But as for the Russian Americans you might be right. I doubt that any other American could dare to refer to the New Orleans blacks as 'hereditary useless spongers'. Even they do it in Russian.
BTW is flying the Confederate flag at one's house in California like one of them is doing stupidity or bravery?
It is 2017, the centennial of the 1917 Revolution in Russia. And in this moment of history especially, it’s important to point out that any self-respecting lover of Russia and lover of the faith will NOT defend a leader who has:
* presided over one of the most godless, liberty-hating, and corrupt systems of power and wealth distribution as is on display in 21st Century Russia. A modern State which has NEVER formally renounced nor divorced from its birth in blood-soaked Bolshevism.
* made it a POINT to whitewash the legacy of Josef Stalin, and has overseen the persecution of truth-seeking archivists and historians unearthing the records of victims (namely CHRISTIAN victims) who perished in the Gulag.
* stands for the upkeep of Vladimir Lenin’s open tomb in Red Square, and revived nostalgia for an empire that led the souls of millions to both physical slaughter AND eternal darkness (as so many died without ever hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached.)
* who laments the fall of this very empire “The greatest catastrophe of the 20th Century” and whose entire grip on power is predicated on avenging this very empire.
* And indeed, shame on the Orthodox faithful who have played along to the same KGB, Bolshevik tune.
“The Russian Orthodox Church and the Impact of Bolshevism”
“Today’s Russian Church has proven unprepared to honestly and responsibly evaluate the two Russian revolutions and the Soviet era”
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/the-russian-orthodox-church-and-the-impact-of-bolshevism-59462
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