Posted on 10/01/2015 9:28:10 AM PDT by Trumpinator
The Christian zeal behind Russia’s war in Syria
By Ishaan Tharoor October 1 at 10:27 AM
As the Russian military commenced airstrikes in Syria, another important national institution applauded the intervention.
On Wednesday, a statement from the Russian Orthodox Church praised the Russian war effort, describing the mission to fight the jihadists of the Islamic State as a "holy battle."
"The fight with terrorism is a holy battle and today our country is perhaps the most active force in the world fighting it," said the head of the church's public affairs department, Vsevolod Chaplin, in a quote reported by Interfax news agency and translated by Agence France Presse.
Chaplin added: "This decision corresponds with international law, the mentality of our people and the special role that our country has always played in the Middle East."
...snip...
For decades, Russia's czars coveted lands then ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and framed their imperial ambitions in religious terms, as I wrote earlier:
Beginning with the Catherine the Great in the late 18th century, the Russians had framed their own conquests in religious terms: to reclaim Istanbul, once the center of Orthodox Christianity, and, as one of her favorite court poets put it, "advance through a Crusade" to the Holy Lands and "purify the river Jordan."
This rhetoric so perturbed certain 19th century Western diplomats that they tried to champion another spiritual tradition to counter Russia's dangerous zeal: Islam.
If you think of it from a Russian religious perspective (I am not Russian Orthodox - so just speculating) the USA, since the end of the Cold War has gotten involved in wars in the east that has cost Orthodox Christians (who share the same faith as Russians) heavily.
Serbs who are Orthodox are bombed by NATO on behalf of Sunni Muslims, Cyprus Christians are occupied by Turkey, Iraqi Christians once having influence and power became hunted after the Iraq occupation and Saddam's overthrow. Syrian Christians are very much like they were in Iraq under Saddam. Iraqi and Syrian Christians are for the most part either Orthodox or Greek Catholics.
So from Russia's perspective, the USA's policies - either by design or by accident have hurt their co-religionists and the alliance the European west made with Islam to wage war in Russia may remind some of Afghanistan, etc.
Christian zeal my .... Russia is only in this for expansionism and to throw sand in the eyes of the US. Same for the Chinese.
An alliance against the Soviets made sense. An alliance against the Caliphate makes even more sense.
And the kill count on McCain’s pet jihadis.
Don’t forget the kill count.
There’s nothign Christian about it. It’s a naked attempt by Communists, both Russian and Chinese, to establish dominance in the Middle East while America is weak.
Yeah, but it’s much better politically to get the left riled up about those evil Christians. The Left after all are much more bigoted against Christianity than Russians.
Russia’s religion, from Ivan onwards, has been its quest for universal empire under Russian tutelage. As it stands, Russia’s territory is almost as large as the next two largest countries *combined*. Orthodox Christianity is its state religion - proto-nationalism in religious guise - the way the priests of Baal went into battle in support of the Philistines who worshiped this god.
Crusaders! The Crusaders are coming! Olly Olly Akbak!
RE: the Russian Orthodox Church praised the Russian war effort, describing the mission to fight the jihadists of the Islamic State as a “holy battle.”
So why aren’t the Russians bombing ISIS?
Victor Sheymov in his book Tower of Secrets says those who were marginally successful in their KGB training were assigned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Personally I don’t imagined things have changed much.
Victor Sheymov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Sheymov
Putin expressly warned the West about the failures of communism more than six years ago. But by all means continue support Obama’s inversion of the United States while you pretend we are still in the last century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XD2Mm3aQbs
Whether the original and most important motive or not, Putin in this instance is doing MUCH more for the preservation of Christianity than almost any of the so-called “Western” nations, many of which have moved into a “post-Christianity” era. Just check the attendance and the support of ANY Christian church throughout Europe. If you claim a given church affiliation, the government authorities then assess you a given fee based on your annual income, sort of an additional income tax, and this is then turned over to the church to which you claim affiliation. A way to beat this tax, is to declare NO church membership anywhere. Apparently this system does not work with Muslims, because they do not even pay the tax.
There are reasons that there is an amendment to the US Constitution separating church and state, and right there, is a major one.
That aside, Putin is much more a defender of Christianity, than any of his counterparts in the so-called “Christian” Western democracies.
Who says they aren’t bombing ISIS also? The State Dept?
Do these KGB priests know karate and how to fire a weapon?
I agree with you. Since Bosnia, the United States has been pursuing a foreign policy that has been virtually genocidal towards eastern Christians from Serbia to Iraq. The U.S. has steadily broken down bulwarks against Islamic jihad (Hussein, Assad, the “Arab Spring” uprisings), and then forked over massive amounts of military equipment, one way or another, to jihadists throughout the region. Jihadists who had continued the de facto American policy of extinction and annihilation against Christians.
No wonder Russian Christians are pissed. For that matter so am I. I know Russia’s motives are mixed, but that doesn’t nullify the authenticity of Russian Christian motives here. The real question is why so many American Christians continue to support Washington and whitewash its actions.
I know in Iraq and Syria that the Catholics and Orthodox were the main Christian groups - home grown native Christians since the Apostle times.
Maybe because they seem like exotic Christians they don't register in Western Christian minds? They do in my mind though. I don't care what kind of Christian denomination they are - they have suffered.
Oh like thats a bad thing!
Ask the Christians in that region which they prefer: Russians bombing Obama’s favorite jihadis and hitting ISIS in the process, or ISIS having free reign to murder, tape and destroy?
Your analysis is correct, with the exception of “by accident”, but the article is an admission of the degenerate Western mainstream media’s hatred of uncorrupted Christianity to the point that the Media will accept and cover for Islamic mass murder, rape and torture of those uncorrupted Christians.
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