In the aftermath of their assembled COVID-19 powers, the “new western democracy” is an ever-evolving phrase. This version doesn’t have any structural voting representation at the core of the word “democracy,” and is generally akin to totalitarianism with a police state to back it up.
While the United States is sending hundreds of billions to fund the new form of “western democracy” in Ukraine, the outlawing of political opposition, the shutting down of non-state-controlled media, and now the cancellation of religion has a historical rhyming to it. Leftists in the general sense are supporting these new constructs within this newly defined version of democracy, and the western corporate media seem to be subservient to the fiats.
In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sent the state police to shut down Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, the leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Pavel Lebed is now under house arrest.
Pavel’s sin against the Ukraine regime is described by Politico: “in his public speeches repeatedly insulted the religious feelings of Ukrainians, humiliated the views of believers of other denominations and tried to form hostile sentiments towards them,” said the SBU, which also published what it alleges are phone intercepts from Pavel’s sermons. He also “made statements that justified or denied the actions of the aggressor country,” according to the service.”
(Politico) – Ukrainian investigators are searching the home of Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, an Orthodox Church leader, who they accuse of justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and inciting inter-religious hatred.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) confirmed on Saturday that Pavel, who runs Ukraine’s most important monastery, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, is suspected of violating the country’s criminal code. (read more)
(Radio Free Europe) – […] Around three dozen Orthodox priests around the country have been arrested by Ukrainian law enforcement since the February 2022 invasion, accused of unspecified acts of sabotage or of gathering intelligence and sending it to Moscow.
In November, Ukrainian security agents raided the Monastery of the Caves complex, searching for what they said were weapons or anti-Ukrainian propaganda. A Russian Orthodox Church spokesman called it an “act of intimidation” against Ukrainian believers. (read more)
Criminal Zelenskyy & the Ukrainian government arrests the Orthodox abbot of Kiev Caves Lavra monastery and place an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle
Praying is not a crime you authoritarians in Ukraine🔥 pic.twitter.com/ngF27bZtBr
— 🇺🇸 ʟᴇғᴛ ᴄᴏᴀˢᴛ ᴠᴀɢʀᴀɴᴛ 🇺🇸 (@Baklava_USA) April 2, 2023
History tells us that churches and organized religion are always the first targets of the totalitarian state, because they represent a unity of purpose and assembly that is not reliant on the totalitarian state. In all communist regimes, religious worship is generally banned.
As the “new western democracy” takes shape in Ukraine, a system of government supported by the U.S. government and NATO, what we see now is an outcome that is something entirely different from the traditional secular democratic norms.
In the United States there are many voices identifying how Christianity itself is under attack from the ideology of leftist government. In Ukraine those attacks are manifesting more openly as orchestrated by the state.
As we enter the most holy of Christian weeks leading up to Easter, there is a rhyming in current events.
Sundance, you’ve misrepresented the complex church situation in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) represents less than 10% of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and is directly tied to the Russian Orthodox Church – Moscow.
On the other hand, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) represents the vast majority of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine (80+%) and is not tied to the Russians. The OCU, the largest Christian church in Ukraine, remains open; the Ukrainian Government has not shut down the activities of the OCU. Caretaker responsibility at the Lavra remains an issue between the UOC, the OCU, and the Ukrainian Government.
The UOC has been targeted by the Ukrainian Government not because it is a Christian church, but because it is believed to be a base for Russian espionage activities. Is the UOC a base for Russian espionage in Ukraine? I don’t know and I don’t think you know either. What is known is that history is full of governments trying to deal with the sticky issue of espionage emanating from churches. For example, Solidarity used Catholic churches as centers for espionage and propaganda activities in Poland during the early 1980s. The Communist government of Poland arrested numerous Catholic clergy but recognized the impossibility of shutting down the whole Polish Catholic church given the fact that more than 90% of the population was Catholic and there was a Polish Pope in Rome: although the Soviets tried to assassinate JP-II. Remember the Polish government being invisible during the massive White March in Krakow in the weeks after the failed attempt on the Pope’s life. And the Black Robed Regiment played an active role in our own revolution against the England.
Lastly, you write “In all communist regimes, religious worship is generally banned.” On what evidence do you base that statement? Although not condoned by communist governments, religious worship at church was permitted in the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Moldova (so say my friends who lived behind the Iron Curtain in those countries) and I suspect the same was true in the rest of Eastern Europe. My friends still living in Siberia and Moldova who lived through Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and the rest tell me they never had a problem worshipping at the Orthodox church. Atheism was the official doctrine of the USSR, public expression of religious activities was severely limited and social stigmas were promulgated toward religious practice, but worship at church was not banned. As a side anecdote, it’s ironic that when Boris Yeltsin took over from Gorbachev as the leader of the Soviet Union one of his first actions was to accompany the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church to Sverdlovsk (now known by its pre-Bolshevik Revolution name of Yekaterinburg) to symbolically turn a shovel of dirt to begin the construction of a new Russian Orthodox church on the very site where the Romanovs were murdered (the very location of an unofficial memorial to the Tsar and his family that the people of Russia had erected and maintained for decades and which Yeltsin had razed when he was the Communist Party boss of Sverdlovsk).
Hungary’s Viktor Orban issues a warning:
Does Sending “Peacekeepers” to Ukraine Guarantee World War III?
Orbán warns of secret EU plan: peacekeepers for the front in Ukraine?
“Peacekeepers, peacekeepers from the EU nations, are to be sent to the front lines. If that happens, World War III will draw closer,” warns Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a recent interview.
According to Viktor Orbán (59), the plan for sending tens of thousands of peacekeepers to the east of Ukraine, which has already been discussed among the heads of state of the EU nations, sounds sensible on the surface: These EU troops are intended to separate the two warring parties and thus secure a ceasefire zone — it should bring a quick end to the bloody hostilities.
But the Hungarian Prime Minister sees an extremely great danger in this plan: “We are approaching World War III with it,” says Viktor Orbán in a recent interview with Kossuth Radio.
With peacekeeping troops in the Ukraine, there is a risk of a world war
And it’s pretty clear what Orbán means by this: If German, British, French, Polish and maybe also Austrian peacekeeping units are standing in the rubble fields of Bakhmut and other frontline towns, incidents may very quickly occur — the first shots could lead to firefights, then escalate to massive acts of war. This would mean that NATO and EU countries would suddenly be involved in a dramatic military conflict with the Russian Federation. [Personally, I believe that this is the name of the game — ESCALATION.]
Orbán warns: “Our security is at risk”
And Viktor Orbán also said in an interview with the radio station: “In any case, the war is becoming more and more brutal and bloody. The Hungarian population is concerned; our safety is at risk. We must reach a ceasefire — if there is one, then peace talks are possible.”
I haven’t been commenting under the Ukraine posts since my take on that which is happening in the Ukraine is at odds with those of most of the readers here and especially with the proprietor of this blog.
Having said that, and given the title of this post, I have decided to break with my self imposed silence of not commenting on Ukraine post on this site, the below is my comment:
To understand the situation in the Ukraine, one is advised to first understand the history of this region.
The Ukrainian nation came into existence (i.e. first traces of the Kiev Russ in the form of documentary evidence around 12th century) about the 8th century. The Ukrainians origins date back to its founding by the Varangian prince Rurik. He established Kiev as the capital of his territory, that which was known as the Kiev Rus. This territory is comprised of modern day Finland, Baltic States, Western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria down to but not including Crimea.
The territory east of the Kiev Rus (i.e. Ukraine) was controlled by the remnants of the Byzantine Empire, later replaced by the Mongol Empire (12th century) culminating in the era of the Golden Hordes circa 13th century. Within this territory was the village of Moscow and the people who inhabited it were known as the Muscovites. (You will hear this name bandied about today as a derogatory term for the “Russians”)
As for the Ukrainians (known as the Kiev Rus at this time), they experienced a golden age (Golden Age of the Kiev Russ) starting with Vladimir the Great in 980 and lasting until the Mogul invasions of the mid 13th century.
For context, Poland was founded in 966 with the Polish prince Mieszko I being baptized into the Catholic Church through the Moravian Episcopal line. The Polish kings then took to proselytizing the northern territories stretching through what are the Baltic States today, sharing a border with the Kiev Rus.
At this time (980 AD), the Kiev Russ did not have a religious affiliation. But given that they found themselves between the Latin Rite Church (See of St. Peter in Rome) and that of the Byzantine Rite Church, which was closer (this is before Great Schism of 1054) they naturally flowed into the Byzantine Rite Church whose Patriarch was in Constantinople at that time.
At this time, it did not matter a great deal about which Rite was accepted by the Kiev Rus since it was still inside the Catholic Church, but after 1054 (much like after Luther’s rebellion) the power centers began to use the separation to their advantage and it became an issue.
This Golden Age of the Kiev Rus lasted until the mid 13th century, its collapse caused by the invasion of the Golden Horde (Mongol Empire). The devastation of Kiev lands allowed for the Muscovite Duchy (based in Moscow) to become the major administrative center, and started encroaching into the lands comprising the Kiev Russ territory. It also needs to be mentioned here that the major role of the Muscovite administration was to collect taxes which were then paid to the Mongol Khans for their “protection”. So the Muscovite tax collectors had real force (hard power) behind them.
The Mongol invasions turned the tide of history around since they massacred most of the inhabitants of the land which they overran. This vacuum created a settlement boom (i.e. also known as colonization) from areas where the Mongols did not reach. At the end of this process, circa 1480, most of the land in modern day Ukraine was inhabited by Slavic peoples under the Polish-Lithuanian aristocracy.
In 1480, the Muscovites finally freed themselves from the Mongol “yoke” and the leadership passed to the Russian aristocratic class known as the Boyars. The Boyars gained control over the Muscovite and Novgorod Duchies and began to expand east.
At this same time, the Poles and Lithuanian kingdoms were already united and stepped into the power vacuum to control much of what is modern day Ukraine. The southern regions however were a no-man’s land, not under any oversight and became analogous to our Wild West, populated by runaway serfs, “free spirits”, escaped criminals and settlers.
Which brings be to the religious aspect. Once the Muscovites established their administration center in Moscow, they began “outreach” projects into the Kiev Russ territories. Since they were no match for the Polish-Lithuania armies, they did it by stealth. And they did it through the only means at their disposal, i.e. the Orthodox Church. Since the Poles and Lithuanians were Catholic, they had no access into the Orthodox “sphere of religious influence”. But the Muscovites did and they used it very effectively.
Here I would just draw your attention to the Soviet creation and infiltration into the Cold War “peace” and “disarmament” movements. This is very similar to the Muscovite Patriarchy model of half a millennia earlier. It also needs to be noted that the European “pacifist” movement, especially among the German intellectuals produced an open letter supporting the Russian’s invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of this war. But I digress…
The Russian influence operations through the Orthodox Church (by this time Moscow already declared itself as the third-Rome) into the lands of the Polish/Lithuanian Crown came to a head in 1595 when the Eastern Orthodox hierarchs of the Kiev Rus lands enacted the treaty (Union of Brest) that allowed for faithful Orthodox to leave the Russian controlled Orthodox Church and re-unite with Rome. This rite became known as the Ukrainian Catholic Rite and gained followers in the western areas of the Kiev Rus lands. The eastern regions unfortunately (for Ukraine) stayed under the control of Moscow.
Which brings me to the key to understand the title of this post.
When Constantinople fell (1543) Orthodox clerics from Constantinople sought refuge in the Muscovite lands and naturally the Russian kings gave them refuge. One of the benefits to giving these displace Orthodox refuge was that it gave them a direct linkage to the Constantinople Patriarch and due to this, a bat-shit crazy theory became prevalent that Moscow somehow now became a “new Rome”, i.e. the “third Rome”, after Rome itself and then Constantinople pre- fall to the Ottomans.
And naturally, as with King Henry VIII and the German princes after the reformation, it was the King now who was the head of the church, not the Vicar of Christ in Rome. So naturally, these quasi-religious sects naturally were transferred into intelligence gathering and influencing assets of the Russians, protestant German princes and the English.
So this state of play in Russia lasted until the Bolshevik revolution. Post revolution, all the religious were either killed or sent to the gulags by the Communists. They all fought on the side of the White Russians, needless to say.
But after the fall of communism in Russia, the Yeltsin government re-established the Moscow Patriarchy, i.e. reestablished the Tsarist information, intelligence and influencing network that was the Moscow Orthodox Church. And it should not come as a surprise to anyone a former KGB agent was made the Patriarch of Moscow.
This is also the background to why the Ukrainian Patriarch split from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchy after the Russian invasion in 2022 and why the Russians are freaking out. The reason for the freak out is that they will lose their intelligence network in Kiev. This is also the reason for the hysteria of the Russian aligned monks being kicked out of the Lavra monetary.
The only people who are hysterical about this are the Russians (intel people) and the people Lenin allluded to as the uninformed…
I’ll end here…
Democracy = Mob Rule
Two sheep and a wolf, deciding on the dinner menu.
“Tend my sheep”.
Democracy = gang rape in a clean suit
Zelensky is so stupid he doesn’t even comprehend the tactical importance of maintaining the moral high ground. But, then again, what can you expect from a second rate joke boy fronting for the corruption of others?
He is doing what he is told to do just like Biden. Look to the new world order. They are almost in control of the world. China and Russia are killing the dollar. Gates and Soro’s are killing the population. Schwab and Kerry are killing industries. Not much left to kill off. We are to become the slaves that do as we are told when we are told and how we are to be told. No religion, no books, no freedom . But God gave us free chose and we have chosen evil over good. We will pay the price. Zelensky is a criminal in the worst sort of way. One day you will learn but by then it will be to late. God help us please.
I don’t like saying it but I don’t think being slaves is what they have in mind it’s more like we don’t exist anymore.
Why is the USA funding another Hitler?? Better we know and keep our current Nemesis, Mr Putin, than create another !
Isn’t it enlightening to know that so many asses we saved during WWII, are now kicking ours, both here & abroad.
Someone wisely stated that to avoid war, we do no business with any country we were at war with in the last hundred years.
I share this plan.
Seems like there’s a proliferation of second rate joke boys……Biden, Harris (joke person), Durbin, Raskin, Warren (again a joke person), Markey, Austin, Milley, Mayorkas…….and to be biiii-partisan I’ll throw in NH Gov Sununu and POTUS “candidate” Asa Hutchinson.
Fetterman, Hobbs, Whitmer, Ømar, et al.
Is Odumbazz running Zelensky TOO !!
Has he lost the phone number to Victoria Nuland. Dr Jill won’t return his calls.
She is too busy figuring out her next play.
The Mask is off.
Even the Pope who is anti-religion has come out against this.
Bastard!!! You simply do not mock God. These men are men of prayer.
Excuse me — satanists do mock God. That is why this country is in such turmoil.
That was my point; they are truly mocking God. It’s why our world in such turmoil.
And this is just the test bed my fellow Americans. This very tactic WILL be coming here, and throughout all Europe in just a few short years. Mark my words….
And remember where our real home resides when we have to suffer for our beliefs. The Bible told this would happen
“Why do you kick against the goads?” Paul, a man of religion had no idea who Jesus was or God. How was it that he knew the scriptures but knew not God.
I had this discussion with my wife yesterday. To know God is to reverence God, to put him first and he is now with you. “Depart from me I knew you not” is not some future ‘play’ in the sweet bye and bye its now, the great “I am” is a God of now not later, think about now.
When you do not give God his due, his worship, first place, his word has no faith. Faith is in the relationship. And…..evidence is in works.
Every action must be attached to something or should I say more clearly, ‘is attached to something’. What is it attached to? Was it from hell, the pit of demons, a sewer hole, a gutter, some Radom spirit? Or was it attached to Gods voice, his word, his Holy Spirit, truth, love, was it rooted and grounded in love? That is when God says “I know you” and you know Gods voice. When faith is aligned exactly with your words, works will be evident.
Jesus was Gods son. There was no “lag time” with his works and faith, it was immediate results.
And when ignorance says, “miracles are done away with” that applies only because a relationship is absent. There may be a reason why works are not evident in our lives but it can be overcome. Excuses say, it’s gone. If that is so than evil was completely vanquished along with it, obviously we still see evil today and it proliferates as miracles become scarce.
I know this is easier said than done, I know. Paul even described it in his letters. Why not take Gods way first? Why not educate our children first on God and produce a foundation of truth before anything else is applied?
The high places of evil will fall, they are built in a place made by God and his love alone is the sunlight that burns away the clouds of deception.
C’mon, even so, that’s a cheap shot worthy only of Carlson and his fellow traveler Tulsi Gabbard.
I am by no means a scholar on the Eastern Orthodox Church, but I do know there’s a political nuance between the leadership in Russian Orthodoxy and its Ukrainian counterpart. I do know there are as many as sixteen separate sects, each with its own Patriarch or leader. As Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill has taken a decidedly non-Christian stance in support of a genocidal war against the Ukrainian people and in favor of Putin’s restoration of the Soviet Empire. He has tried to paint Ukraine (and the West) as a Satanist States bent on the destruction of Russia. Odd that Russia invaded Ukraine, but I digress.
The Moscow Church supports Russia at every opportunity, subversion of the secular State included. When the denizens of religious order actively oppose the defense of a sovereign nation in an armed conflict, the leaders of that nation have the duty to stop them.
I think you have major missed what is going on and the atheism that is an integral part of socialism. The communists tried hard to destroy the Christians in Russia. It did not work and the ‘state’ is not now secular. Rather it has supported the revival of Christian orthodoxy and is committed to being a Christian state. This is part of its difficulties with the west today.
That I know of, there is no genocidal tenet in the teachings of Christ. Try harder.
There is a just war doctrine. It involves protection of innocents. The Russian war against Ukronazi antichristian forces is a just war.
Well, clearly, the FSB doesn’t sleep, do you?
Your opinion, seems to me, to be the antithesis of Christian teachings. Not to mention its origins in Russian thuggery. What’s ironic is that, apparently, the world’s weakest (economically and militarily) countries make the loudest noises and put forth the most obnoxious fabrications. Nothing in your comment has any foundation in fact.
Here’s a fact for you to address: it has been posited that Dear Leader Putin has stolen an amount equal to 80% of Russia’s annual GDP. Care to comment?
You want to hold “Russia” to account for the greed of its government in the person of Dear Leader Putin. I truly hope the rest of the world does not pass that same judgement on America. We’d all be in line for the gallows.
This isn’t genocide.
It wouldn’t even be happening IF only Zelensky had merely agreed to negotiate in good faith w/Russia, with whom they share a 600+ year relationship in which Ukraine was part of Russia … AND …Ukraine borders Russia. Soviet premier Kruschev was from the Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have a long history together.
Putin amassed troops on the border of Ukraine and waited for 8 months before invading.
IS IT TRUE that the Ukraine govt was murdering Russian speaking Ukrainians in the Dombas region? Yes, it is true.
In addition, Ukraine should not have attempted to join NATO. That was the trigger. Putin has said for decades that Ukraine joining NATO was his “red line in the sand.” Who thought Putin would back down from that? No one. We (the Biden govt) pushed Zelensky to thumb his nose at Putin while the world watched Russian troops amass at his border.
Now… 14 million Ukrainians have no home. The destruction of Ukraine is horrific… and Ukraine is losing this war. For what?
This horrible war with Russia NEVER would have happened if only Zelensky had just negotiated w/Putin in good faith. They could have negotiated and avoided war.
Thank you Kare508 for telling the truth! I was going to post but saw your account. I lived in Moscow for 3 years and currently attend an Orthodox Church. Unless there is a clear understanding of the culture, church and 1000 yr history it is easy to be sucked into the MSM false narrative. In addition to entering Ukraine on behalf of Russians living there and to protect the church Putin wanted to maintain a buffer zone between Russia and Europe much like we protected America during the Cuban Missile crisis. Ukraine has been that buffer. Our leaders escalated this war by not encouraging negotiations. It is a travesty that the Ukrainian government has taken control of the church treasures from monastery!
Ukraine was shelling the Donbas for 8 years and with the help of NATO built up their military over these years. It was clear that their target was the ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine and Russia. If Russia would have stood by and not acted it would be paying a high price.
They made a decision and they see it as a existential threat. What were these biological labs all over Ukraine.
I might add, I don’t think Zelensky gives two shits about the Ukraine people, but its the neocons in the Biden regime and UK that will not allow negotiations.
They’ll be negotiating from a much weaker position when all is said and done.
Exactly! And who told Zelensky not to negotiate? Our illegal government did!
👍
Agreed.
Before you make a final judgment on the cesspool call Ukraine, you might want to take a look at how “Born in Kenya” Obama helped stage a coup to overthrow the democratically elected president of Ukraine who did not support joining NATO. And think about what you would do about the US arms and Ukrainian government and Ukraine’s Nazi troops murdering ethnic Russian civilians for years and years. Was that an act of war?? And consider all the ways that the West and usurper Biden kept poking the bear year after year, such as the US building biolabs next to Russia’s border and usurper Biden blowing up Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline. Were those acts of war? And if “The Big Guy” gets 10 percent, how much incentive does Biden have to send over 100 billion dollars to one of the most corrupt countries on the planet to continue a proxy war to kill the bear? If you are Putin, when is enough enough?
If you haven’t been following what former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has said about all of the West’s lies about Ukraine and NATO’s proxy war against Russia, then you should start here:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/02/willing-die-ukraine/
Also, usurper Biden said, “The United States and the nations of Europe do not seek to control or destroy Russia.” No, what Biden meant to say was that he (The Big Guy) and the EU and the Nazis that they support in Ukraine just wanted to control and destroy the Russians who live in Ukraine:
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2023/february/08/setting-the-record-straight-stuff-you-should-know-about-ukraine/
“On February 16, 2022, a full week before Putin sent combat troops into Ukraine, the Ukrainian Army began the heavy bombardment of the area (in east Ukraine) occupied by mainly ethnic Russians. Officials from the Observer Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) were located in the vicinity at the time and kept a record of the shelling as it took place. What the OSCE discovered was that the bombardment dramatically intensified as the week went on until it reached a peak on February 19, when a total of 2,026 artillery strikes were recorded. Keep in mind, the Ukrainian Army was, in fact, shelling civilian areas along the Line of Contact that were occupied by other Ukrainians.”
Is the bombardment and slaughter of one’s own people an ‘act of war’? We think it is. And if we are right, then we must logically assume that the war began before the Russian invasion (which was launched a full week later) We must also assume that Russia’s alleged “unprovoked aggression” was not unprovoked at all but was the appropriate humanitarian response to the deliberate killing of civilians. In order to argue that the Russian invasion was ‘not provoked’, we would have to say that firing over 4,000 artillery shells into towns and neighborhoods where women and children live, is not a provocation? Who will defend that point of view?
No one, because it’s absurd. The killing of civilians in the Donbas was a clear provocation, a provocation that was aimed at goading Russia into a war. And –as we said earlier– the OSCE had monitors on the ground who provided full documentation of the shelling as it took place, which is as close to ironclad, eyewitness testimony as you’re going to get.
This, of course, is a major break with the “official narrative” which identifies Russia as the perpetrator of hostilities. But, as we’ve shown, that simply isn’t the case. The official narrative is wrong.
This Twitter thread, which includes the topic of US bioweapon labs in Ukraine, is interesting too:
1) Now that I have everyone’s attention, allow me to address why US establishment politicians are sending tanks, jets, weapons, equipment, and $100+ billion to Ukraine. It has nothing to do with Ukrainian citizens, and everything to do with Deep State assets/secrets in Ukraine.
Absolutely outstanding post.
One of the best synopsis I have read, regarding Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
If only every American could read it.
Your post is every bit that good, and worthy of anyone seeking the truth to read.
The people of Ukraine aren’t some monolithic block aligned against Russia. The majority of people east of Kiev are pro-Russian.
Ukraine was supposed to remain neutral but the west (NATO) continued to expand closer to Russia’s border and threw out the Minsk Agreement among other things.
The point is that eastern Ukrainians never had any legitimate voice in terms of how the country was run because of the west continuing to meddle in their affairs.
The church is not the problem; the issue is not allowing Ukrainians in the east (i.e. Donbas) to have free and fair elections without western influence.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/ukraine/this-is-important-i-have-been-warning-ukraine-has-been-losing/
Wow! You truly have fallen for the propaganda!
2 birds with one stone( strick), churches have wealth & value, Z gets their $$, takes out their influence, and any opposition. It worked well for A. Hitler. Z is always looking for the bucks, he’s a big money man
Now’s the time, this Holy Week, to shove this worship of the Ukie nonsense right back into the face of the prelates and clerics that had the self-righteous nerve to preach in church about it!!! All because of the Covid money, they were bought so easily by the government.
This is an interesting history lesson on the background to what is happening today.
Professor Barry Lituchy of Medgar Evers College discusses the history of Ukraine and how it lead to the current outburst of fascism and war.
The History of Fascism in Ukraine with Professor Barry Lituchy (2015)
The irony here is that Putin is pro church (thug that he is). Yet, Zelenskyy (the administrative state’s thug De jour) is silencing and shutting down churches in a very Gestapo manner.
The cabal controlling this country are so blatant in their hypocrisy. I wish more people in this country would do some damn research.
Pardon my preaching to the choir here on Tree House!
Blessings!💕
The irony is you calling Putin a thug for protecting his ethnic culture and peoples. If Trump did similar would be the greatest ever. Double standards are of the devil. Partake of them at your peril. It is like the climate change BS. If somebody can use it to bolster their argument they will jump right on that bandwagon and puppet the talking point to win the argument even though thy know the core premise is flawed or a blatant lie.
The FREEDOM loving citizens need a cohort of strong NATIONALIST leaders to rise against this globalist rot that is devouring what was once ‘the Shining City on the Hill’…USA; USA; USA!
People that listen to the CNN mantra and the US govt refrain that “Putin is a thug”, just repeat the same uniformed propaganda. These people can never provide you any examples to support their uninformed opinion because it’s akin to the bogus racist accusation we also hear being thumped at us.
You can ask these people for examples, but these commenters will never reply back to you with any factual examples because they don’t have any. But it’s always important to keep asking them to qualify their statements to educate us on what compels them to say this.
I think what is playing out here is a ethno-cultural battle between Catholicism (Poland/Lithuania) vs Orthodoxy (slavic/Russian)
At some point we must recognize and discuss the true source of these planetary power grabs. The only entity on the planet that could coordinate a release of a bio-weapon and use it to shut down whole economies, end human rights and print unheard of amount of fiat currency is the central bank mafia. The CCP, all intelligence agencies (regardless of which country pays their salaries), all governments and multi-national corporations are controlled by a small group of individuals that control everything through debt. They create currency backed by nothing and use it to pay off their many henchmen and surrogates all for one purpose – control. This control allows them to live better than any king ever has and it is not enough for them to be content with this situation they now want to be gods where they can play with or kill humans as they see fit. The only chance We the People have to defend ourselves and loved ones is to openly discuss the utter abuse of power the central bank mafia has amassed and consciously begin dismantling their machine. The financial corporate structure, media empire and deep state intelligence agencies (FBI, CIA, NSA, MI5, MI6, etc.) included all must be disbanded and the corrupt officials held to justice at a Nuremburg 2.0. The Fascists lurking have come into the public and every one of them must be brought to justice. The guillotine would be my form of punishment.
You are absolutely correct!
You get it! I have made many similar posts. Keep chipping away, there are cracks in the dam. The “people that control everything” are getting worried. They should be.
“And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.”
Man I absolutely love living in a police military state prison State country ran by a deep State tyrannical government who doesn’t believe in actual Law and Order or truth and justice but pure evil and power and revenge. Kind of feels like 1940ish Germany.
This is a situation brought upon by the Maidan and Ambassador Pyatt’s goal of destroying the Ukrainian Church’s ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
I called my representatives about Pyatt when he was dispensed to Greece with a similar goal.
“New” western democracy = communism.
The CIA is what you get when you import the leftovers of the Gestapo and combine it with lots of money. Good at destroying things for no benefit whatsoever.
“ My elderly family member was a nun in the convent in Kyiv. Zelensky’s junta didn’t spare even nuns. They forced this split in the Orthodox faith to rob the Russian Orthodox churches, to terrorize the believers, even nuns, forcing them into this fake religion. Many nuns left, but my relative had no choice. After serving 30 years in the convent, she was on hospice there, after being diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and on meds to control her intracranial pressure. Her condition was stable for years, but these Inhumas forced her into this new “church.” They cut the 80 yo woman’s hair and renamed her. She stopped taking her meds. She wanted to die, and she died just days after they committed this atrocity over her. I’m sure that she’d have had more time on Earth if they had not exposed her to this humiliation. It broke my heart. I echo the words of the Metropolitan of Kyiv-Pechersky Lavra, whom Zelensky shackled, and arrested, “Mr. President, and your wolf pack – our tears will not fall to the ground but on your head!”
He’s right with this one
These are like ISIS mosques
It’s not the Orthodox religion but the branch that worships Russian Imperialism and is led by a KGB goon and has even used church property to store weapons.
There is no Russian ‘imperialism.’ These people worship God thru CHRISTIAN doctrine not Russian Imperialism. KGB was disbanded years ago. You are making up things as you go and it’s easy for everyone to see.
All very much like what’s going on here and across Europe.
Is it interesting that Putin is now fighting against Globalist control, while we are fighting him through Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian Fascist State.
I never really cared for all the sloganeering that went behind this activity going on Ukraine. I’ve always considered this to be another Slavic rumble that has little to do with anyone’s perceived “fear” of democracy. Whatever that means. I don’t care for Russia or Ukraine or just about any other country(America First), but I gotta say, if Putin takes this guy out, he should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. They’ve already given it nefarious characters before, so it wouldn’t be an issue here. The quicker it happens, the better.
How anyone can still support this despicable regime after all of their shenanigans is kind of a head scratcher.
Ethnic cleansing and look who supports Zel baby, NATO they are all good with it. Ukraine the new model of democracy we need to fight for, wake up America we are being played.
Guaranteed to be another thorn in Putin’s saddle; the grifter Zelensky knows that it will serve to sustain the animus of true Russians. The war production department at Foggy Bottom is smiling because any Russian reaction to this will support their previous dikta that “we will not allow a negotiated peace.”
Proof positive that Ukraine is a New Western Democracy just like the United States of America.
Hip hip hooray .
On the surface, this is essentially thugocracy vs thugocracy. Each thugocracy will eliminate anyone/anything opposed to that respective thugocracy. Simple enough.
Digging one level deeper, we have the existential struggle between two divergent sects of Orthodoxy, the Russian sect vs the Ukrainian sect. Sadly, each sect has been successfully co-opted by the thugocracy in control of the peoples who traditionally belong to each sect. Thus, neither sect survives today as a true religious movement that is distinct from the thugocracy in which each sect dominates; each sect has been usurped and institutionalized as a tool of the respective thugocracy.
Putin began over 20 years ago claiming devotion to the Russian Orthodox church. He then moved massive government funds into magnificent buildings, staffing, etc. for his Church. At this point it has sadly become indistinguishable from the Putin thugocracy.
Z, on his part, is way behind the curve, and recognizes that Putin has the jump on him when it comes to control and usurpation of the local Ukraine Orthodox crowd. So he must do that which he can do: simply arrest Russian Orthodox and independent (i.e., anti-Ukraine) Orthodox adherents as enemies of the Ukraine state. These actions are merely an extension of the war to the religious front, not surprising.
Personally, I detest both the Putin thugs and the Z thugs and find it tragic that the Christian church outside Ukraine and Russia is not pushing hard for a cease fire.
Here’s some background
Before you jump to the KGB propaganda manipulation of your Christian sensibilities
I came across a Russia Today documentary about what has been going on in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Most interesting how the church has been used by the US and the CIA to help divide Ukraine’s church, confiscate its property and destroy its priests:
https://rumble.com/v24qsci-ukraine-the-road-to-schism-rt-documentary.html
Just following in Hitlers footsteps. The Ukraine has been the home of the NAZI party since WWII, and the democrats know it.
More nonsense. Do you have any idea what books they were burning in Berlin? Look into it. Really look and you will be amazed at what lies you have been told.
https://df.news/en/2022/03/16/christians-all-over-the-world-distancing-themselves-from-roc-over-support-of-putin-s-aggression/
https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/articles/blessing-bombs-putins-altar-boy-and-twisting-russian-orthodoxy-sanctify
They’re in a war, not a simulation.
I do not marvel at Biden’s billions to Zyyy. They both share a quiet hatred of religion and people possessing sincere faith and the humility that comes with it.
‘Christophobia’
Orthodox Prayer for Enemies
Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst command us to love our enemies, and those who defame and injure us, and to pray for them and forgive them, Who Thyself didst pray for Thine enemies who crucified Thee.
Grant us, we pray, the spirit of Christian reconciliation and meekness, that we may heartily forgive every injury and be reconciled with our enemies.
Grant us to overcome the malevolence and offences of people with Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor.
We further beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant to our enemies true peace and forgiveness of sins; do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and sincere conversion.
And help us to repay evil with goodness and to remain safe from the temptations of the devil and from all the perils which threaten us, in the form of visible and invisible enemies. Amen.
From the Saint Gregory Palamas Outreach website:
http://www.saintgregoryoutreach.org
Very good observation from Trent Telenko below:
I would just add that it might even be an axiomatic principle of Natural Law that unfinished business needs to be finished.
Just as the current Ukrainian War can be seen as the unfinished business that Gen. George Patton warned against, i.e. not continuing the war on to Moscow in 1945 along with the remnants of the German Army under US control, before the USSR had nukes,
… the current “religious” issues in Ukraine are the unfinished business lingering from the Union of Brest of 1595 whereby the eastern Ukrainian Orthodox Church wouldn’t ditch the Moscow Patriarchate and the subsequent madness of Khmelnytsky’s subjugating the Cossack forces to the Tsar under the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654.
Because of these historical blunders, the Ukrainians lost their nation for the next 337 odd years.
And they were real close to losing it again in the last days of February of last year.
What save them in no small measure was the Javelins that President Trump sent to the Ukrainians in early 2017, a move that he took a lot of grief for from the State Dept …
To think we goaded on a Civil War for Victoria Nuland, payola bonanza for Dimocrat kids and funded Nazis with 100+ BILLION dollars, to “spread our brand of democracy”. Not in my name! No wonder the last election HAD TO BE RIGGED!
I’m a non-denominational Christian who isn’t into the organized, institutional, denominational aspect of Christianity, but even I oppose the political targeting of any particular church denomination or other type of religious institution.
It’s an attack on religious freedom and an attempt to prevent people from gathering in worship. In this case, it’s also an attack on a particular church denomination that didn’t yield to the political establishment.
I’m an anti-war, grassroot conservative who hates neocon warmongering and warmongering in general.
As someone who hates war, I want the war in Ukraine to end as soon as possible. With that said, I think that Putin is on the right side of this war. I don’t think that Putin is a good person. I just think he’s on the right side of this war.
I believe that Putin started this war in part to claim territory for Russia, but mostly to push the American and global deep state out of Ukraine because he didn’t like having them operating so close to Russia.
All totalitarians fear:
ALMIGHTY GOD !