The communist ideology responsible for the slaughter of more than 100 million people and the enslavement of billions over the last century is “very similar” to Christianity, claimed Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. The bizarre remarks, first reported by Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT, also suggested that the ideology of communism could be found throughout the Bible — an idea ridiculed by mainstream Christian theologians who view the murderous “ideology” as practically the antithesis of biblical morality. Finally, Putin likened mass-murdering dictator Vladimir Lenin's dead body lying in Moscow's Red Square to the veneration of Christian saints.
“Communist ideology is very similar to Christianity, in fact: freedom, equality, brotherhood, justice — everything is laid out in the Holy Scripture, it’s all there,” Putin claimed in an interview for the Russian documentary Valaam, parts of which were broadcast on Kremlin-owned television station Russia 1. “And the code of the builder of communism? This is sublimation, it’s just such a primitive excerpt from the Bible, nothing new was invented.” While acknowledging that during “those years of militant atheism,” “priests were eradicated” and “churches destroyed,” Putin claimed a “new religion was being created.”
Acknowledging that some people “might dislike” his remarks, the former KGB chief said “faith has always accompanied us, becoming stronger every time our country, our people, have been through hard times.” The “new religion” Putin referred to being created during those times was presumably whatever perverted form of “Christianity” and “communism” the Russian leader claims to believe resemble each other. There is some truth to his remarks, though — at least in Russia. After attempting to eradicate Christianity and the Russian Orthodox Church with barbarism, murder, and torture — and failing — the mass-murdering Soviet KGB that Putin served decided, instead, to try to hijack and neutralize the church.
That hijacking extends all the way to the Russian Orthodox Church's present-day leadership. In 2009, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, known today as Metropolitan Kirill, was chosen to serve as the “Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia,” the highest position of authority in the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Kirill took over after the death of Patriarch Alexy II, who led the ROC from 1990. Prior to his post at the head of the ROC, he was a longtime KGB agent code-named Drozdov, or “Blackbird.” All three of the candidates to replace Alexy II were also reliably identified as agents of the KGB/FSB, including Metropolitan Kirill, who ultimately got the job.
“According to material from the Soviet archives, Kirill was a KGB agent (as was Alexei),” explained Russia expert David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, in a 2009 article for Forbes. “This means he was more than just an informer, of whom there were millions in the Soviet Union. He was an active officer of the organization. Neither Kirill nor Alexei ever acknowledged or apologized for their ties with the security agencies.” With Putin and Kirill both tracing their careers back to the murderous KGB, their public affinity for each other should hardly be considered surprising.
While the ROC is officially celebrated in Putin's Russia today, other Christian denominations have not fared so well. Under the guise of targeting “extremism,” the Kremlin has been cracking down on protestants, evangelicals, and more. In 2016, Moscow even adopted a law purporting to ban Christian evangelism anywhere outside of church buildings registered with the state. The law also purports to ban house churches and requires that missionaries seek and obtain government permits. A wide range of other draconian restrictions have also been imposed. And they have been widely condemned by Christians across Russia and around the world.
In an open letter, Russia’s Baptist Council of Churches, for example, wrote that the new religion regime would “create conditions for the repression of all Christians.” “Any person who mentions their religious view or reflections out loud or puts them in writing, without the relevant documents, could be accused of illegal missionary activity,” the Baptist Council warned. In an open letter to Putin, Sergei Ryakhovsky, head of the Protestant Churches of Russia, warned of even more terrifying implications. “Soviet history shows us how many people of different faiths have been persecuted for spreading the Word of God,” he said. “This law brings us back to that shameful past.”
If a communist-inspired, counterfeit Christianity is what the Kremlin wants, it even comes complete with its own “saint.” And in his comments, Putin literally equated putting the dead body of savage mass murderer Lenin on display in the heart of Moscow with certain Christian churches venerating their saints and martyrs. “Look, Lenin was put in a mausoleum. How is this different from the relics of saints for Orthodox Christians and just for Christians?” Putin asked, neglecting to mention that Christian saints served God and their fellow men while the bloodthirsty tyrant slaughtered his victims by the millions. “When they say that there's no such tradition in Christianity, well, go to Athos and take a look, there are relics of the saints there, and we have holy relics here.”
More at: https://www.thenewamerican.com/world...y-putin-claims
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Originally Posted by dannno
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