It is often said in recent years that events in Europe present as the precursor for events that later follow in the U.S. and North America. Indeed, there are many points of reference which support this outlook.
According to recent media reporting, various state police agencies in Europe took action against Islamic extremists, identified as ISIS-k affiliates, to stop planned terror attacks against Christian targets, specifically well-known cathedrals, this Christmas holiday season. The events took place in Austria and Germany, with targets identified in Vienna and Western Germany.
(Jerusalem Post) – Austrian, German, and Spanish police were on high alert at cathedrals in several cities due to concerns that Islamists were planning a terrorist attack on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, with several suspects already arrested in Vienna and Germany, according to German reports.
According to the Bild, several suspects were arrested in the Ottakring district of Vienna, while another was arrested in Saarland, Germany. The arrested suspects are Tajiks allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, the branch of ISIS in south-central Asia, according to the report.
Vienna Police noted in a press release that there is an “increased terror alert level” and “generally an increased risk in Austria during the Christmas holidays.”
“Since terrorist actors across Europe are calling for attacks on Christian events – especially around [Christmas Eve,] December 24 – the security authorities have increased the corresponding protective measures in public spaces in Vienna and the federal states,” Vienna Police said, adding that there would be increased patrols and surveillance during the holidays, with attention focused primarily on churches, religious events, and Christmas markets. (read more)
I would be remiss if I did not add context to this report, literal boots on the ground reporting, something that many U.S. readers might find of interest.
The cultural crisis within the EU rests just under the surface. It is very visible if you look with eyes to see and have discussions with native Europeans in almost every country.
The import of millions, actually tens-of-millions of Muslim oriented migrants is problematic for the domestic tranquility of multiple nations. The more “progressive” or multicultural minded the country’s political leadership, the greater the turmoil.
The issue is simply a percentage of extremism within the larger Islamic migrant population. Not all Muslim immigrants are extremists, but a significant percentage of them reject even the concept of assimilation. That percentage might only be around 25%, but when you think of the scale of the denominator, 25% of a large number is a very significant issue.
Very well-known Christian cathedrals and monuments are now essentially operating like guarded fortresses. It is a very sad thing to witness, as this reality has turned the churches, synagogues and places of faith into risk zones. Even the smaller churches and lesser known -albeit generationally old- houses of faith, have very visible security.
In almost all areas, the days of just walking into a civically positioned church, beautiful old churches built for the local population that eventually built houses around the church, are gone.
The doors of the church are locked, the grounds secured and only at scheduled times is the church available.
There’s another even more sad aspect to this, it’s become the new normal.
Again, to emphasize, the scale of the issue is directly proportionate to the ideology of the political structures that sit atop the society. The more “progressive” or multicultural the emphasis of the political leadership, the stronger the security and threat around the churches.
France is the worst, and fear has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and the rest of the Western EU all experience this fear/threat/security situation in varying degrees.
Additionally, and this is where it gets really interesting, the further North and East toward Russia you travel, the lesser the threat dynamic seems to show. Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, and some of the Baltic states do not have as severe a Christian security problem.
Look at a map (with non-pretending eyes), plot the highest threats/incidences and you will clearly see the overlay. Much of Europe is killing its own Christian faith simply by reacting to being threatened, taking security efforts and being politically/culturally correct, according to their own stages of pretense.
Remarkably, and this is where it becomes an astonishingly big lie, Russia…. Yes, RUSSIA, is the safest place for openly visible social/societal Christianity to exist.
In the former Soviet Union, cathedrals and massive places of Christian orthodox worship were essentially turned into warehouses and devalued. Thankfully, these beautiful buildings and architectural masterpieces were not destroyed, they were just neglected. However, in the past 20+ years something amazing has happened, and the people in almost every Russian region talk about what is happening with incredible optimism and fondness.
All of the old monuments and cathedrals are now considered as national cultural prizes. The restoration and preservation are simply stunning, I mean drop your jaw on the ground stunning and overwhelming. The beauty and Christian grandeur are bigger, brighter and feels more alive, cherished and respected than any place in Western Europe.
Yes, this perspective, this modern valuation, this incredible, remarkable and social celebration of Christianity that exists in Russia, far surpasses almost EVERY historic Christian monument and building in the EU in comparison to Russia. It’s not just the building, it’s the way the social fabric of the people thinks about the values reflected within the represented imagery.
I don’t know when this modern Russia began to restore itself, and I have no concept of time to give it context. But what I witnessed is nothing even remotely within the ballpark of what I previously imagined or believed.
Even the Muslims in Russia that don’t celebrate Christmas have found a way to enjoin themselves culturally to the representation of faith and values, in their celebration of the New Year. I found this expressed and open religious cohesion/respect to be incredible and uplifting. It reminded me… and this is going to sound really odd… of the United States many years ago.
Risking a little diminishment I will let you in on a secret, … I was so overwhelmed at times, while visiting these places more than once I had to leave, find a quiet place, and just sit still so I could openly cry with the sense of joy and wonderment – without anyone thinking I was weird. When you feel close to God, you shrink… and nothing in a long time made me as irrelevant and miniscule as those moments of awe.
Socially the valuation system in St Petersburg Russia, formerly Leningrad, is nothing like what you might have been led to believe. The value of the family structure is the apex of expressed social, public and governing policy. Family values are celebrated, men are men, women are women and children are children, nurtured and protected.
Everything in Russian culture is very deliberate, very forceful, incredibly non-pretending, and that sentiment carries forth in the way the Christian religion is presented.
I guess the best way to encapsulate religion and this time of year in a way that most could understand, is to say: Christmastime in St Petersburg, Russia, is like traveling back to Christmastime in 1950’s USA. The purity of it is overwhelming.
Merry Christmas!
Kirill went on, claiming God was on Russia’s side and expanding his critique of Western liberalism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/19/patriarch-kirill-orthodox-church-russia-ukraine/
In October 2015, Russia’s newly launched military intervention in defense of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received a clerical blessing. Patriarch Kirill, the powerful leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, declared the operation “a responsible decision to use military forces to protect the Syrian people from the woes brought on by the tyranny of terrorists.”
The main spokesman for Kirill’s church went even further: “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.
Seven years later, Kirill and his loyal clergy now deliver sermons about their country’s role in another righteous, holy battle. It doesn’t matter that many Ukrainians weathering the brunt of the Russian war machine are Kirill’s co-congregants — there are some 12,000 parishes in Ukraine subject to the church in Moscow. As Russia embarks on a new large-scale offensive in the east of the country, Kirill has articulated little concern about the millions of Ukrainian lives hanging in the balance.
Instead, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church has sounded the same sort of ominous and profoundly ideological rhetoric as Putin. He cast the fight as a religious and national drama, an existential battle of good and evil, a clash between Russo-Slavic tradition, values and unity and the corrupting foreign influences festering at Russia’s border.
“We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance,” the patriarch said in a sermon on March 6.
Syria has been DEVASTATED, all based on a CON, with the U.S. building up ISIS, under the guise the islamists were “freedom fighters” and creating a bogus “Duty to Protect” excuse since “genocide” wouldn’t fit.
How’s that “Duty to protect” working out NOW, Ms. Powers?
Wasn’t the “Duty to Protect” fraud concocted for destroying Libya?
I think that murderous idiocy is simply stumbling about looking for more victims.
It was first codified after the Rwanda genocide followed by the former-Yugoslavia Ethnic Cleansings back in the Clinton years.
Why are you quoting The Washington Post here? I read the Russians directly on Telegram. Putin and the Religious heads are always expressing regret that they have to fight their brother Slavs in Ukraine. It is Zelinsky a Jew who has encouraged physical attacks on the Russian Orthodox church and buildings and monks being beaten up.
Zelinsky has declared the Church illegal in Ukraine and annexed their ancient monuments and most holy places.
I don’t know if Russia has God on their side, but I can say that we (USA) as a nation don’t seem to be on *HIS*.
Yes, newfound freedom, especially for a long pilloried church, can indeed make strange bedfellows when those of the earthly realm carry the façade of being their liberator. Strange indeed.
Oh Wow, Sundance! How beautiful are the pictures and your written word. We are of the same tribe.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and all the Treepers!
I have to agree. I was encouraged by the article and the pictures. Say what you will of Russia; they know what a woman is, they protect their children from evil, and they have a sovereign country due to a border. Merry Christmas fellow Treepers!
Pretty tough to feel sorry for countries (like the US) that intentionally allow an openly hostile enemy to enter and, in many cases, help them flourish. You’ll never convince me that most of these so-called terrorist attacks within the US and other places aren’t facilitated in some way by government agencies and agents. That was certainly the case with 9/11. It was no organic act of terrorism.
I used to think that was crazy-talk, but watching what they have done to Trump and his associates over the past 8 years has completely changed my mind. If a terrorist attack does happen in the US that has no connection to our government agencies, it’s purely by long-shot chance. Most of this is working toward another post 9/11-like crackdown on freedom and the constitution.
The vast majority of people under 50 in America place little or no value on their personal freedoms. They have been conditioned by the schools to believe the government is their god and the founding fathers were horrible people.
“You’ll never convince me that most of these so-called terrorist attacks within the US and other places aren’t facilitated in some way by government agencies and agents.“
I expect the next attacks will be the same as what happened in Israel, they have already imported the most likely folks to do that job, the same folks that did it in Israel.
Mumbai 2008.
Munich Olympics, 72
Imported? Open Southern border.
Yes, imported. Occam’s razor indicates that our government imported terrorists into our nation in violation of our laws and placed them throughout our country with the likely intention to activate them against against our own citizens . It is difficult to argue that every step taken to achieve that goal was not intentional because every choice was made to enable and facilitate the outcome.
Bibi propped up Hamas just like Obama and Hillary supported ISIS. Hamas is a tool for Israel to take over even more land.
Lebanon is next.
Zzzzz…..
Israel withdrew from Gaza 20 years ago. They don’t need a tool or justification to take it back for the same reason they were there in the first place. Israel had a ridiculous policy of giving land for peace, it did not work in Gaza or Lebanon. The correct policy should be to take land for war, permanently. Israel should take back Gaza and South Lebanon to the litani River. Israel missed an opportunity to help Lebanese Christians establish a Christian state there.
It is Biden that pressures israel to leave the terrorists and their supporting civilians in place. Both the USA and Israel need to recognize that most Muslims support the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7. In France it polled at 85%.
Biden is pressured by CAIR, the unindicted hamas co-conspirators and other Muslim and leftist orgs. Israel has always been restrained by the USA in all wars when they had the upper hand, so they have never been allowed to be successful as the USA was against Germany and Japan.
It’s people born after 1985 that hold no value. Those of us born in 1980-85 absolutely still believe in personal freedom. We came up under Reagan, and movies consisted of Red Dawn, Rocky, Rambo, etc etc. we were conditioned to LOVE America and hate Nancy boy losers like today’s woke scum.
So please change your age scale to those under 38. Grazi!!!
Then you could say their parents and grandparents failed them.
“I don’t know when this modern Russia began to restore itself”
I do. It was when Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin became President of Russia.
Russian Orthodox Revival Under Putin Continues
Vlad understands the definitions of ‘sacred’ and ‘holy’ and allows them to flourish under his leadership.
Forgot to add….full screen sound up. It’ll blow you away.
Sundance,
I am so happy that you enjoyed your adventure to Russia. The Orthodox faith is the guiding star and center of their culture and way of life.
In addition to being centered around the core of the family as the “little church” *, and then radiating out to the community, I love the commitment to a humble, ascetic life, focused on fasting, prayer and almsgiving, living in and with respect for nature as stewards of God’s creation and gift to us.
Our Priest often talks about how Protestants “deconstructed” Christianity, and I believe that is an accurate description. Until I began my journey of conversion, I had no idea just how much of the original faith, as taught and handed down through the ages, beginning with the Apostles, who founded Christ’s church, had been taken from us. The Orthodox way of life is rich is meaning, and layered symbolism that compels you further into understanding as you grow in the faith.
Xrystós ráždaetsja! Peace be upon you. May in this season may you find joy and peace in your heart.
*In the liturgical marriage ceremony, the crowns symbolize not only the groom and his bride as “King and Queen” of their own home, setting up their own “little church”, but also that they wear crowns of martyrdom, because each is committing him/herself to a lifetime of sacrifice and giving to the other. It’s an absolutely beautiful ceremony, not just in its majesty, but in the purpose again with layers and layers of meaning.
Blessings to all of you.
Thank you Sundance. How I long for those bygone days in America.
Glad to have experienced America in the 50s & 60s. What percentage of the current US population even knows how anti-Christian the nation has become?
Hate to say it, and I’m sure it will ruffle some feathers, but the problem started about 500 years ago. Remember what Christ said about remaining as one like He and His Father were One?
Most church services are more like rock concerts, no one remembers what sacred and holy means any more. The Holy Spirit is identified by their emotional feelings, not by that still small voice inside.
Yes, “SuperFun Rock Band” church. Little repentance, old hymns, approaching the altar for forgiveness and reverence, cleansing. All the depths are gone.
Retired Magistrate here: We attend a little red brick country church down the road from us. This morning my husband rang the old bell for worship; you can hear the bell up and down the river valley.
Our pastor’s wife read the Christmas Story and in between passages we sang Christmas carols. We then took up our collection and had connection time when we all socialize. Then our pastor gave a sermon on why JESUS was born in a stable and the true meaning of Christmas. Our congregation is small; however, we love JESUS and are there for each other. It truly is like church used to be back in the 1950’s.
When covid hit, we closed for one week and then re opened. Our Governor, DeWine, attempted to shut down churches; however, our pastor ignored him and we stayed open. It was wonderful to have fellowship during that time. So many churches closed for over a year and many never re opened because they lost congregation members. If there was ever a time the church needed to stand strong, it was during covid; thankfully ours did.
Ours is not a fancy church. We have wooden pews with cushions, several paintings of JESUS, a large wooden cross at the front of the church, the American flag and church denomination flag at the front and big windows; no stained glass-at the time the church was built, 1880, people could not afford stained glass. Our pastor plays the piano and sometimes the organ.
The photos of the Russian churches are magnificent; I only hope that U.S. churches can return to their founding principles based on the Bible and not social justice and political activism.
Merry Christmas.
wonderful. is there room for me in your pew?
Retired Magistrate here: Of course, we welcome all.
Amen and amen !!
Merry Christmas Treepers. Thank you Sundance and family. This site has brought me more tears,laughter,and wisdom than I thought possible..May God bless us all with his Love…
Putin wears a cross around his neck that his mother gave him. I believe he is more friendly to Christians than our own current government is. He has stated that Russia has less persecution of Christians than the U.S. has, and I believe the man is right about that.
Beautiful and hopeful!
I have several colleagues in Europe that I’m online with regularly and they are very aware of their surroundings and the pollution of their cultures with 3rd world Muslim squatters.
One of these guys specifically in Norway about 30 minutes from Sweden has become a good friend over a decade of working with him. The village he lives in a couple years ago celebrated 1020 year anniversary around the same time busses were showing up in the middle of the night dropping off Somalis in the center of this ancient village. He says they just sit around the village community center defecating in the shrubs until they can be placed in a dwelling at a cost to the Norwegians. He says people are getting angry about it.
He made a great comment; “I thought the globalist were all about indigenous peoples, I’m indigenous Norwegian, my family goes back before the time of Christ in Norway.”
Of the half dozen or so Europeans I deal with in Norway, UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy are not happy with the direction their countries are taking…hopeful.
We ALL know, I think, it has NOTHING to do with indigenous people. The globulists are demonic, like their father. This is a true battle between good and evil.
They are after all Christians, especially Catholics (especially Traditional Latin Mass Catholics!)
Peace to you Sundance, now go join your companions, get some eggnog, and tonight enjoy what we have and not lament what we have lost. Rejoice! We can fight on following following our feast.
Thank you Sundance!
What an entirely different perspective than the propaganda that MSM continually forces upon Americans regarding Russia as the big, bad, boogie man. I’ve often felt Russia was the big scapegoat used by our govt. to purposely shift blame upon Putin and his country for all the failings in the US. God bless the Russians for the convictions they have around their faith and families.
Am I the only one who had noticed that Hollywood…our cultural propagandists…always portrayed Russia in a pisitive light when the country was Communist, but now as the bogeyman? That in old films when the US needed help or saving … the Soviets were there for us. Think “Marooned” where our astronauts were saved by a cosmonaut. In “The Martian” filmed in the last 5 or 6 years, the US turned to Red China for possible help. Russia wasn’t mentioned. This is subtle but who among us wasn’t influenced by movies before we knew any better?
Same with our government. Remember “detente”? No “detente” for Putin. He is the bogeyman Soviet dictators never were to these people.
Interesting. Never noticed, but you’re absolutely correct!
And remember it was the media that went after Joe McCarthy! They’ve been doing this for a long time!
To paraphrase Bishop Fulton J Sheen, he basically said communism was turning away from God, godlessness.
Where are we now folks?
You know, I wonder sometimes if the “so called” dictators aren’t right about the US. After what we’ve seen for the last 20 years, perhaps we are the bad guys, in lots of instances. What with all the lying, cheating and pretending that our gov’t has done, it’s no wonder we are not trusted by a large portion of the world. Let’s hope PDT can begin to fix it.
Agree. I have come to believe that the US is one of, maybe THE one, most corrupt nation on the planet. In my younger days I would never have thought so. Thanks to CTH and some others my eyes have been opened.
Thank you for the perspective.
This perspective of Russia currently being traditional America (like America from the 1950s) is in accordance with my perspective from knowing a person who is from Russia. What I have heard and experienced of Russians is that they currently hold more of the historic, traditional values which America used to have: including valuing the family and being more open to Christianity.
Also, I love the pictures. They are great and speak to this perspective and culture.
I particularly liked “men are men and women and women and children are children”.
That’s beautiful! Thank you for sharing, SD!
Public places and churches in Western Europe are under attack from the inside, even more than from the outside. The attacks from the outside are at the behest of or with the complicity of the people on the inside.
<Public places and churches in Western Europe are under attack from the inside…>
And you definitely don’t want to be Russian while European 🙂
WORDMAN™: Russian cross-dressing while European is particularly problematic.
Yes…
I saw that issue come up in a movie on Nyet-Flix 🙂
🤣🤣🤣x1000000000000000!
Ouch!
Yup!
None of these corrupt, selfish, dictatorial European “leaders” care about their people. They mean to RULE, NOT to SERVE.
Pope Francis, who described Kirill as “Putin’s altar boy.”
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/30/1201065400/ukraine-russian-orthodox-church-tensions
Researchers say before the war began there were roughly 12,000 Orthodox parishes in Ukraine linked to Russia. Over the last 19 months, only about 1,500 of those congregations have voted to join a break-away Ukrainian-led church.
“They are really believers, very strong in their faith,” said Karen Nikiforov, a Ukrainian who studies religion in Kyiv, explaining why more churches don’t leave the Moscow patriarchate.
He noted the irony that Russia-aligned parishes remain particularly popular in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has destroyed whole cities, committed war crimes and even destroyed Orthodox holy sites.
Nikiforov is himself a member of the Moscow-aligned church.
The very people Putin said he was trying to get self-determination for. Donbas region
You are obviously a propagandist for Zelinsky. Not true that the Russians have committed war crimes.
Well many would call the Papacy as such an invalid institution, due to its historical pretentions.
The idea of a mere man being God’s regent on earth, with sweeping authority over all Christendom. Is from my understanding literally heretical.
So the Pope’s opinion is questionable. Particularly on denominations, that are antithetical to the exstance of his office.
As for the rest, I think those people in East Ukraine simply know who’s to blame for the war.
Plus the NATO Orthodox Church, is so clearly a godless & fraudulent entity.
That anyone with any standards is almost obliged to overlook the awkward fact their historic canonical church is supportive of an enemy government.
Can’t say I’m too impressed with Pope Frank and Beans and any of his supporters.
You know toothpick ,I am getting very tired of your left wing posts, do us all a favor and take it some place else.
A Ukrainian who studies religion in Kiev may not be the best commentator on religion in the east of the country given the antipathy his Government feels about it.
Maybe the people in the east, by their continued and strong support of the Moscow church, are giving a different view on the stories you quote and how the incidents affected them.
Kinda makes you think we might not be the only Christian nationalists being targeted, Russia could be a target too
Goodbye
Ukrops were slaughtering Russian civilians in East Ukraine since 2014. Putin has freed these people.
First you cite WAPO and now NPR? Read the room toothpick. You don’t have an audience. There are no media sponges here. But there is a fount of knowledge and truth here at your disposal. So do yourself a favor and read some of the articles here instead of watching main stream misinformation. Really read them, don’t just skim looking for things you don’t agree with. Then think about what you’ve read. You remember thinking don’t you? It’s an active process. Unlike being a sponge.
Zzzzz…
moving account.
Merry Christmas Sundance and fellow patriots.
God Bless America
“…. events in Europe present as the precursor for events that later follow in the U.S. and North America.”
If you want to know what will happen in Europe and the USA regarding Muslim terrorism then the best place is to look through the last few decades at Israel: suicide bombing, stabbing, arson, death by vehicle, attacks on religious buildings, the perverse mob barbarism of Oct7.
I expect to see the same types of attacks of October 7 to occur in the USA and Europe. Certainly the depraved creatures have been imported into both in recent years so that doesn’t need to be an attack from the outside. Muslims attacking random individuals is already taking place but we will likely see mob attacks in many venues at once. They also store there weapons and explosives in mosques.
Muslim religion is based on a theocracy which is antithetical to our constitution—based on separation of church and state. Christian religion thank god, teaches there is a higher power than the STATE.
I wonder how many terror attacks and military-related crimes are stopped in progress but not reported (leaked) to the media.
Well if anyone knows how to kill people, Germans do. Islamic terrorist must have a suicide mission.
Amen.. curious that the leftards paint Russia as our enemy.
Not curious at all, Russia as constituted today is THEIR enemy, “our” ally.
{ Hating Russia is a Full-Time Job, by Philip Giraldi } from 2018
“… One question that came up frequently was “Who is driving the hostility towards Russia?”
I responded that the answer is not so simple and there are a number of constituencies that, for one reason or another, need a powerful enemy to justify policies that would otherwise be unsustainable. Defense contractors need a foe to justify their existence while congressmen need the contractors to fund their campaigns. The media needs a good fearmongering story to help sell itself and the public also is accustomed to having a world in which terrible threats lurk just below the horizon, thereby increasing support for government control of everyday life to keep everyone “safe.”
And then there are the neocons. As always, they are a distinct force for creative destruction, as they put it, certainly first in line with their hands out to get the funding of their no-expenses-spared foundations and think tanks, but also driven ideologically, which has made them the intellectual vanguard of the war party. They provide the palatable intellectual framework for America to take on the world, metaphorically speaking, and constitute the strike force that is always ready to appear on television talk shows or to be quoted in the media with an appropriate intelligent sounding one liner that can be used to justify the unthinkable. In return they are richly rewarded both with money and status.
The neocons believe in only two things. First, that the United States is the sole world superpower, given license by something like a Divine Entity to exercise global leadership by force if necessary. That has been translated to the public as “American exceptionalism.” Indeed, U.S. interventionism in practice has been by force majeure preferably as it leaves little room for debate or discussion. And the second neocon guiding principle is that everything possible must be done to protect and promote Israel. Absent these two beliefs, you do not have a neocon.
The founding fathers of neoconism … ((synagogue of satan))… evolved (or devolved) from being bomb throwing Trotskyites to “conservatives,” a process they self-define as “idealism getting mugged by reality.” The only reality is that they have always been faux conservatives, embracing a number of aggressive foreign policy and national security positions while also privately endorsing the standard Jewish liberal line on social issues. Neocon fanaticism on the issues that they do promote also suggests that more that a little of the Trotskyism remains in their character, hence their tenacity and ability to slither between the Democratic and Republican parties while also appearing comfortably on disparate media outlets considered to be either liberal or conservative, i.e. on both Fox news and MSNBC programs featuring the likes of Rachel Maddow.
I have long believed that the core hatred of Russia comes from the neocons and is to a large extent tribal or, if you prefer, ethno-religious based. Why? Because if the neoconservatives were actually foreign policy realists there is no good reason to express any visceral dislike of Russia or its government. The allegations that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. are clearly a sham (linked), just as are the tales of the alleged Russian poisoning of the Skripals in Winchester England and, most recently, the claimed assassination of journalist Arkady Babchenko(linked) in Kiev which turned out to be a false flag.
Even the most cursory examination of the past decade’s developments in Georgia and Ukraine reveal that Russia was reacting to legitimate major security threats engineered by the United States with a little help from Israel and others. Russia has not since the Cold War ended threatened the United States and its ability to re-acquire its former Eastern European satellites is a fantasy. So why the hatred?
In fact, the neocons got along quite well with Russia when they and their overwhelmingly Jewish ((synagogue of satan)) oligarchs and international commodity thieves cum financier friends were looting the resources of the old Soviet Union under the hapless Boris Yeltsin during the 1990s. Alarms about the alleged Russian threat only re-emerged in the neocon dominated media and think tanks when old fashioned nationalist Vladimir Putin took office and made it a principal goal (linked) of his government to turn off the money tap.
…”
Continue reading at the title/link above
“I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”
Revelation 2:9, 3:9
I suggest you get a Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, and use it as a reference tool. It’s one of the best NT study tools out there.
https://www.accordancebible.com/product/theological-dictionary-of-the-new-testament-little-kittel/
All while ignoring China.
You misunderstand the use of the terms “Jews” in those NT passages, perhaps intentionally. For you to assume that it refers to ALL Jews is scripturally, exegetically & and hermeneutically ignorant.
The “Jews” referred to by Peter, Paul, John, etc were the Judaizers sent out by the Pharisees & Saducees to follow the teachers of the new sect, Christianity, and recapture the new converts back into Judaism. The Christians were a mortal threat to the religious hierarchy, because the Veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom upon Jesus’ death, heaven to earth, by GOD, showing the people that they no longer needed the Levitical Priesthood to approach God and be forgiven of their sins.
They could go DIRECTLY TO CHRIST, through the blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. Those Judaizers were the “Jews” referred to, not all Jews generically.
As usual, it was freedom from the power structure of the day (the Temple priesthood) that posed the threat. There’s not much that changes in the heart of man.
Christ is their enemy. Russian/European/American Christians are in the way.
When Jesus The Christ moves the world is going to know!
The west is beginning to pay for its societal sin. The Russian people payed for its societal sin and learned its lesson and now they understand a Godless existence is hell. The time for China’s citizens to see their societal sins and put a stop to it!
The USA has to go through the valley of darkness to learn its lesson, sad but true.
Seeing what has taken place in Russia after almost 100 years under the yoke of communist oppression gives me hope that somehow America will recover from the current onslaught of evil. Thank you, Sundance.
Back during the Obama Administration, when conservatives were fleeing blue states for safer states and everyone was talking about ‘safe spaces,’ people thought I was nuts when I said Russia would be my only choice for a safe space. Of course, I was already enamored with Putin in how HE, (Yes, PUTIN) was rebuilding the worn down and bombed out Christian churches, and how it was a requisite that the Russian military were REQUIRED to do Bible study, but in my wildest dreams I had no idea Russia would turn into what the 1950’s United States used to be about.
Thank you Sundance, for your boots on the ground report. I am joyous you got to see it, even if I never will be able to. AT least I can share this article and put it in the faces of those who laughed at me at the time and called me crazy.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
This comment is likely to be unpopular, but so be it.
Man is religious by nature. Either we worship God consciously, or we will end up worshiping something else unconsciously. There is no way around it: Atheism is Satanism. I mean that quite literally, as Atheists always take an absolute stance against God while being drawn towards expressions of Satan in their art, music, culture, etc. Consider, for instance, the symbolism being invoked by the different sides in the war between Christian Russia and Globohomo in Ukraine. We see Azov Battalion soldiers with tattoos of Baal and Baphomet, on the one hand, and Russian tanks flying Pantocrator flags on the other. Even if neither imagination were “real” (though every imagination is in fact real to the extent it is imagined), I see no reason to invent a demon and then invoke it. The spiritual and religious struggles being manifested in the current war cannot be overstated. In my opinion (sadly), we’re not just supporting the wrong side in this conflict; we ARE the wrong side. God wins in the end.
Merry Christmas!
People are either for Christ, or anti Christ. There is no grey area.
The sad part about the latter is that most don’t realize it. ALL need to know about Christ our Lord and Savior before it’s too late!
Incredible, so awe inspiring. I have seen nothing quite like it. Thank you for sharing.
Merry Christmas. And while thanking God for his son remember to pray for our nation.
Merry Christmas, Sundance. May God’s blessings and favor fill you and yours with His peace and joy unspeakable and full of His glory. Blessings to all.
Am going to assume Russia’s well-renown xenophobia is what has enabled them to retain their national identity.
Using the restoration of their brand of Orthodox Catholicism was a major tool in allowing the nation to rediscover some portion of their identity.
Nothing has really changed though, Tsar, Dictator, back to Tsar. The people retain their natural xenophobia, but with new reasons to do so; oh, plus the Russian built-in need to conquer and acquired neighboring lands. That too has been the story of Russian history.
A good reminder when it comes to Russia, the more things change the more they stay the same.
Xenophobia? Russia is one of the most diverse cultures in the world, embracing both Muslim and Christian, encompassing Europe and Asia. What are you talking about Tsar? Russia is not ruled by a Tsar and has not been for a century. Vladimir Putin is not a Tsar.
What do you mean by Russian “built in need to conquer and acquire neighboring lands”? I think you are forgetting that it was the UK, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan who conquered and acquired lands around the globe – Africa, India, Southeast Asia, South and Central America. It is the US which in interfering in countries around the globe today sponsoring terrorists and anyone else who supports the US hegemony and sending in their minions to interfere in countries that don’t toe the US “rules based order”.
Studied a lot of history over the years, especially Russian; but sure.
Russia is not one of the most diverse cultures in the world, probably another reason Western globalists dislike Putin. The Beslan massacre was not that many years ago. Any cooperation today between the Russian Christians and Muslims is tenuous at best.
Getting overrun by a Muslim horde will do that to you.
It wasn’t only Charles Martel that defeated the Muslim expansion.
Long memories, in Russia and Ukraine.
^^^Exactly this^^^ There’s always a very good reason for a nation to develop a long history of not allowing outsiders in and I think many European nations are in the process of being reminded why xenophobia became a thing.
I believe Russia was fortunate that the USSR was not able to completely decimate their Orthodox religion. And hope that alone can also be a sign to the rest of the world to remember, and re-embrace their Christian foundations.
There really is nothing to compare to the experience of sitting, by oneself, in one of the large cathedrals, the presence of God is absolutely profound, and very often life-changing and it’s easy to get a sense of what Sundance describes, having that moment to really inhale and take in the experience. Amazing it was in Russia, and wonderful too!
Same – same in Hungary and Poland.
King Jan Sobieski and his Polish Winged Hussars came to Vienna’s rescue in 1683, to prevent the overrun of the Christian West. Magnificent!
Putin is the person to thank. He restored the churches and promotes family values.
God is Who to thank!
Being a “behind the scenes” type, I note that our Islamic sisters and brothers hold Jesus to, at least the status of prophet.
My senses tell me that another tribe, not holding the same belief about Jesus, might attempt to use proxy warriors, or a paid private military force to silence Christians. They may even have access to USA taxpayer dollars.
I like the meme going around with a couple of sharks adorned with crucifixes remarking that y’all better back off on criticism of Christmas/Easter, etc. or we’re taking over shark week, too.
Russia is not our problem-not so sure about Ukraine and Israel……….
Believers have no brotherhood with Islam, unless the Muslim turns away from Islam, and turns toward and accepts Christ as there personal savior. Islam is NOT an Abrahamic religion.
What’s interesting is that many Muslims who have turned to Christ, did it because of God speaking to them through dreams.
Believers have no brotherhood with any other faith, Judaism included.
Judaism is the root. Read the Pauline epistles.
There’s been a lot of that going around lately.
“It seems the police in these Democrat governed cities R all standing down,
which is a breach of their oath of office.
The police have a responsibility 2 protect property & 2 ensure highways remain open 4 commerce.
They’re not doing that in LA or NYC.
Clearly, Dems support Hamas.”
Islam seeks to dominate
– the koran
Mosques are not houses of worship, they are Islamic headquarters within an invaded country as a sign of conquer. It’s where the battle plans are drawn, and sharia law is dispensed.
Islam is a governance posing as a religion, and taqiyya is how they make inroads within the populace. When Islam is weak and outnumbered, they are like the friendly puppy, but when they become strong and numerous, they become like vicious wolves (see western Europe).
War is deceit
– muhommed
Woe to the invaded who have no grasp of islamic truths.
islam (non – capitalization is deliberate) is an oppressive retrograde socio/political system cloaked in a religious patina.
1990’s I visited Czechoslovakia very shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much was in extreme neglect, yet the locals everywhere were very busy restoring their most cherished buildings first, even in very small villages – their churches, either large or small.
Scaffolding was up around neglected spires, which were getting re-gilded with gold foil. Don’t know where the organization, money or equipment was coming from so early in this post-Soviet period, but the love for their former Orthodox churches was highly evident. They wanted them to shine and glisten again, as the centerpiece of their new lives.
Another incident in Prague at that same time, when showing a local resident a tourist map and pointing to where we wanted to go. She grabbed the map from our hands and furiously scratched out the old Soviet name printed on the map for a main street, and rewrote the historic Czech name. Then very graciously pointed us in the right direction.
SD, thank you for the pics of Russian churches, Christmas scenes.
Looking at “Tannenbaum” in many of them, I think the Tannenbaum is Old Germany’s greatest export. Even greater than lager, lol.
Globally the Christmas tree has been adopted, for example pics of South Korean dept stores show sparkling Christmas trees.
Merry Christmas to all – and I wrote to Santa, all I want for Christmas is President Trump again + a MAGA executive branch.
Russians knew what they lost and how valuable it was.
So they brought it back.
Western Europeans and Americans are still in the process of throwing it all away.
You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. Unfortunately, that’s true for too many people.
This explains why the West has made them into such an enemy after the cold war. Wow.
Beautiful! Merry Christmas to all.
Almost a given the rebuilt Notre Dame will be burned down again w/ o significant 24/7 security. Hard to feel bad about any of this self-inflicted pain.
You’re all heart.
I am disappointed they are using original materials, i.e., wood. Wisdom tells me to use fire resistive materials. Duh.
Latest Reconstruction Progress 2023 | Notre-Dame Restoration (friendsofnotredamedeparis.org)
France has forests of oak set aside and managed exclusively for use in such endeavors, I think it is magnificent that they are restoring it in this fashion.
It went 800 years without burning down; the problem is not the manner of construction, it is the nature of those allowed to flood the country with the most destructive hate known to man.
The age of the original roof/ceiling timbers blew my mind.
Merry Christmas ya’ filthy Islamo-Nazi Degenerates and a Happy Ramdamadingdong! BOOM!
The Marian apparitions in Portugal (Fatima) essentially said Russia would be the bastion.
The Eastern Orthodox.
No one hardly talks about their current hardships in Ukraine nor their tiny minority in Gaza being persecuted to the nth degree.
But it is happening.
Merry Christmas and think of our Christian brethren over there.
The Marian apparitions of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, revealed a prediction that said, “Russia will be the glory of God. The West has achieved a high degree of civilization, but it has lost God. It is as if it were its own Creator.”
This was stated by the Blessed Mother in the late 80’s.
No pictures of snow…, you’d think you would see some snow… in Russia.
Um, what is the value of pictures of the ground. lol… It’s snow.
But, I guess if you have a snow fetish, here you go…..
Thanks for the snow pictures!…….. and all that you do!
…….… I’m just one of those guys with his feet on solid ground …… just an old habit.
…………….. Merry Christmas and God Bless you.
…………………. Let’s make 2024 a year America will never forget in a positive way…. and then top that with 2025!!!!!
I’m sure 2024 will be a year America will never forget. Not so sure it will be in a positive way.
You da best!!!!! Thanks for all the beautiful pics.
Muslims seem only able to kill, and destroy, like their Father.
Christians will continue to rebuild, as we have in Russia.
God bless! Merry Christ Mass!
We adopted our four children from Russia just over twenty years ago. Many of the churches were open for tourists and some Orthodox churches had services. We brought contemporary Christian music on CD’s and our facilitator was grateful. He said it wasn’t banned, it just wasn’t available. We were warned by aN American doctor not to let our children visit when they were young adults as they had dual citizenship and could be drafted into the military. I think the move back to their Christian roots was just beginning. Thanks for the update, Sundance.
One word: Putin
Great post, Sundance. It’s amazing the reaction I get in the general population when I say anything complimentary about Russia. Fundamental transformation indeed.
In the late 80’s- early 90’s I lived in Moscow and traveled throughout the former Soviet Union. On one visit to Purpe in Siberia our host, an executive of an O/G company took us for a drive into the countryside for a picnic on a high bluff overlooking the Ruakurug River. After sometime enjoying the view from this overlook several cars and busses slowly began to appear on the opposite bank of the river. Soon we could make out several priests and parishioner’s gathering in a circle. They were blessing the grounds for the construction of a new church. Our host reminded us that just a year or two before we could all be shot or imprisoned for organizing or attending an event such as this. I met many practicing Christians during my travels. The rebuilding began shortly after the fall of the Soviet state. It was an interesting time.
The fact that so-called “Western” Europe is generally losing influence and the willingness to use violence within their population is increasing is mainly due to the spread of Islam, for which all other religions are haram. How it came about that a predominantly Christian continent is increasingly under the influence of Islam can only be described cursorily:
[1] Though piece was written six years ago, Topic is more present than ever: Muslim Population Growth in Europe | Pew Research Center
Merry Christmas (which is haram)!
I would remove the charlatan Meloni from your patriot’s list.
I am more lenient in my assessments because it is relatively easy to demand a lot as an oppositionist. It is much more difficult for those who are then in charge and have to coordinate with three coalition partners in different European parliamentary groups.
Just look at “MAGA Mike” (R-LA) how he acts as Mr. Speaker. Or MTG (R-GA) who increased her influence in the House conference by allying herself with Kevin (R-CA), at home with Frank, a move that led to her being expelled from questionable Freedom Caucus. And we don’t need to talk about President Trump’s countless backstabbers.
DEC 25 2023 – reuters – Ukraine’s new Christmas Day unites Catholic-Orthodox family
Ukraine, like Russia, officially observed Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 according to the Julian calendar until Kiev passed a law earlier this year shifting the date to Dec. 25 in line with other Western European countries.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-new-christmas-day-unites-catholic-orthodox-family-2023-12-24
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bbc – Ukraine war: New Christmas date marks shift away from Russia
[…]Ukraine is celebrating Christmas on 25 December.
The move is more than just a change of date from 7 January – the date for Christmas in the Julian calendar, which Russia uses.
It’s the continuation of a significant cultural shift in the country – the latest attempt to eradicate Moscow’s influence in Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67801204
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Ukraine picks new Christmas date in break with Russian tradition
DEC 25 2023 – “The evil will lose”: Zelensky delivers holiday message to Ukrainians amid war with Russia
Concerning Religion’s decline in the West:
In the 1960’s, after the disastrous Vatican II conference, whose long-term effects have devastated the Catholic Church liturgically, scholastically, and in many other ways, Russian-American composer Igor Stravinsky was asked about why he thought dropping Latin and Gregorian Chant and liturgical music by great composers (from Gabrieli, Allegri, and Thomas Tallis to Schubert, Bruckner, and even Stravinsky himself), was a bad idea.
I am paraphrasing, but Stravinsky said that when one worships God, one should use a special, elevated language distinct from the vulgar, everyday language, with special, elevated Music divorced from the popular styles.
It is anecdotal, but right now Catholic churches whose pastors have brought back the great music of Anton Bruckner, Theodore Dubois, Alexander Guilmant, Franz Schubert, Pietro Yon, and other fine composers, for LATIN Masses, are filling the pews and have dynamic congregations.
Of course, these are the Conservative churches under attack by both the Vatican and the U.S. FedGov for being guilty of WrongThink.
These and other Conservative orders – who are attracting the lapsed and new adherents – are the ones under assault by “Progressives” at the Vatican, who want them shut down.