We are blessed here in the United States to have a true freedom of religion, where the government can not set up a national church nor differentiate due to church alignment. I think we assume that other democracies have this same freedom. Some do not.
Hat Tip to Kevin Tracy for his article entitled Ukrainian Schism avoided in the Russian Orthodox Church, a thought provoker, enough so that I read the original article in full that he refers to from Russia Profile.
Kevin: "I’ll try to simplify this as much as humanly possible. Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko (he’s the guy who got poisoned by an alleged clandestine agent of then-Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2005 and was left with a face that literally looked like it had gone through a cheese grater) tried to cause a Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church by encouraging the Ukrainian leaders in the Church to demand their own independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church."
Russia Profile: "Clearly, the idea of a national Ukrainian Orthodox Church fully independent from Moscow has been an obsession of the Ukrainian “nation builders” ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union. They see it as a missing pillar of Ukrainian sovereignty. Building upon the earlier attempts to create a breakaway church during the Civil War and under the Nazi occupation, such church groups reemerged in the early 1990s with the support of a nationalist movement and the first Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk. At least two such denominations number today about 5000 parishes, but they were never recognized by the world’s family of sister Orthodox Churches and are perceived as schismatic. The majority of Ukrainian Orthodox, however, remained loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate, which granted an unprecedented degree of self government to what became the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Today, it numbers about 11000 parishes. But it is exactly the symbolic connection to Russia that, on the one hand, attracts many people to this church and, on the other hand, makes it an object of hatred in the divided Ukrainian society."
My thoughts:
I know a Ukrainian, he was a very close friend for quite a few years. I found him to be loyal to a fault and easily angered when others didn't follow his decrees of loyalty. Why? The Ukrainians have been abused by literally hundreds of groups, with waves of history crashing over them each wave bringing some form of slavery or desolation. As each major people group took advantage of them, they subdued their desires for total independence and waited.
I believe the Ukrainians are still patiently waiting, this time for the last of the Russian interferences in their nation to leech away. I also believe that the Ukraine may be poised to step around the confines of the stifling weight of Orthodox churchdom, dominated by politics of nation and state, and into a legitimate revival of spirit and Christ.
My good friend was a Christ-follower and if you combine loyalty to cause like he had with a walk with a real Christ, not a church membership card, you get a potent combination.
1 comment:
This is a case more of state-sponsored more than state-mandated religion. In virtually all cases now, the leaders of the state don't interfere with the teachings of the church... that said, they can influence the leaders of the church. Because Orthodox Christianity is overwhelmingly largest Christian faith in these countries, it's possible for Christian leaders to work closely with the state, something that can't be done here, so a good relationship with the government is a benefit.
The Ukrainian President is a flaming liberal though, which is why I don't trust him. Over 50% of Ukrainian pregnancies now end in abortion and he's encouraging it's practice still.
I must warn you though, suggesting the "confines of Orthodox Christianity" hinder a person's relationship with Christ is probably going to be viewed as offensive and irritating to Orthodox Christians who stumble across this post.
When I was in basic training, the Catholic Mass was dominated by men playing guitars, telling jokes, and violating (in my opinion) the sanctity of the Mass. The Protestant service watched movies like "Forest Gump" and "Top Gun."
After Catholic Mass, I would sneak away from the other Catholics in my flight and attend the Orthodox Liturgy, which were still to this day the most beautiful services I have ever been to in all my travels across the world.
I'm still a Roman Catholic, but it was inside an Orthodox Church that I had that life changing moment where Christianity just completely made sense.
So be careful not to dis their faith just because it's not set up like a western church.
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