Everyone has an image in their head when they hear the name of Vladimir Putin. Most Christians in the U.S. have a negative image. At least I hope so.
Who is this man, Putin?
Wikipedia:
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000[e] and again from 2008 to 2012. He is the longest-serving Russian president since the independence of Russia from the Soviet Union.
During the Soviet Union, Putin also served as a KGB officer.
What is Putin’s relationship with Christianity?
Well, it’s complicated.
While Putin has styled himself as a devout Russian Orthodox believer and a “defender of the faith,” the fuller truth paints a much more disturbing picture of a ruthless leader who has co-opted his church to advance his statist dream of resurrecting “Mother Russia” as an imperial power.
Putin may be a friend to the Russian Orthodox Church while it remains loyal to him, but not to other faiths.
Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and other religious minorities face fines for handing out literature outside their places of worship. They can be more severely punished under vaguely worded laws against terrorism and extremism.
It’s for good reason that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) cites Russia as one of 17 nations on its current list of recommended “Countries of Particular Concern” “for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
When Putin invaded Ukraine in March, 2021, the Russian Orthodox Church wholly supported this action on Putin’s and Russia’s action. It seems that the teachings of Christianity (of Jesus, that is) are a complete opposite of the views of the Russian church.
Exactly the opposite.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
It seems that the Russian church needs Putin’s pretend support (and his supposed Christianity) as much as Putin needs the support of the church in his barbaric behavior.
Is Putin’s relationship with Christianity unique among recent dictators?
Far from it. Adolph Hitler claimed Christianity as his religion and persecuted both Jews and atheists. He saw his religion and the “mysteries” of ancient religions as a part of his fabricated history of the Great German Super Race.
The evidence that Hitler was a staunch Christian is overwhelming. He banned secular education in Germany on the basis that Christian religious instruction is essential to moral development, repeatedly vilified atheism, and although he often clashed with Catholic bishops over his ill-treatment of Jews, Hitler did not perceive himself as being anti-Christian, but rather as bringing the Church back to what he saw as its proper, traditional role in persecuting the pestilent. While negotiating the Reichskonkordat, Hitler said to Bishop Berning that suppressing Jews was, “doing Christianity a great service by pushing them out of schools and public functions.”
What else can we say about Putin’s Christianity?
Tim Costello of The Guardian offers an opinion:
The evidence that Hitler was a staunch Christian is overwhelming. He banned secular education in Germany on the basis that Christian religious instruction is essential to moral development, repeatedly vilified atheism, and although he often clashed with Catholic bishops over his ill-treatment of Jews, Hitler did not perceive himself as being anti-Christian, but rather as bringing the Church back to what he saw as its proper, traditional role in persecuting the pestilent. While negotiating the Reichskonkordat, Hitler said to Bishop Berning that suppressing Jews was, “doing Christianity a great service by pushing them out of schools and public functions.”
Based on what is available to the Western press and its citizens, I can only conclude that Mr. Putin’s embrace of Russian Orthodox Christianity, which supports his imperialistic intentions, is a transactional and false one and is as bogus as the relationship we see with a certain U.S. president and some current Evangelical Christianity in the U.S.
I am certain that many will have opposing opinions. I invite your comments, positive or negative.
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