NO this is not some regurgitation from some half mad preacher predicting the end of religion if Dems and the “Left” have their way…..not all…it is about a real action taken by a democratic leader…..
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he is seeking to ban all religions with ties to Russia. He claims the move is needed to “guarantee spiritual independence to Ukraine.”
This law will target millions of Ukrainians who identify as Russian Orthodox.
During his nightly address on Thursday, Zelensky announced he was introducing legislation that would eliminate religious organizations affiliated with Russia from operating in Ukraine. He said this will make “it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian leader said it was necessary to purge the church to preserve the country’s spiritual independence. Adding, “We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul.” Zelensky denounced Ukrainians continuing to attend the parishes as failing to overcome “the temptation of evil.”
He claimed a series of recent raids by Kiev’s intelligence found orthodox churches which remain connected with the Moscow Patriarchate have been acting as operatives for the Kremlin. In his address, Zelensky instructed his security forces to further target Russian Orthodox parishes.
Around two-thirds of Ukrainians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians. At one point, the majority of Ukrainians attended parishes that followed the Moscow Patriarchate. Some recent polls say that number has dwindled to under 15%. However, the polling was only conducted in territory that was controlled by Ukrainian forces. Zelensky has vowed to return those regions to Kiev’s authority.
(antiwar.com)
As an American I have a problem with the leader of a nation deciding what a person is to believe. I realize he is in a war but this does nothing to further the possibility of some sort of settlement in this conflict.
I also wait to see what other condemnations are coming Zelensky’s way…..I am sure that there will be few and far between.
He has banned opposition parties and closed down some papers that do not agree with him….and he is still billed as ‘democratic’ leader.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 
That sounds like a bad move that could alienate many people in his own country. Banning any mainstream religion is never acceptable to most people, including atheists like me.
Best wishes, Pete.
I agree….and I want to see if the MSM picks up on this and if they do how they will spin it. chuq
Reblogged this on Citizen Tom and commented:
Well, here is something on which Lobotero and I partly agree. Religious freedom is a good thing.
What about religious freedom in Ukraine? Unfortunately, most of the world has totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Sadly, freedom is not something most people know how to make work. We may want to be free, but not every population of people has the moral character to make freedom work. The basic problem is this. Where do “my” rights end and “your” rights begin? Pride tempts us to respect the rights of others as little as we can. Instead of trying to protect the rights of our family, friends, neighbors, and countrymen; we allow strong men to organize us into factions, and each of these factions seeks dominance. Rival factions pull nations apart in civil war.
Due to increasing conflicts between rival factions, our republic in the USA is tottering. Because some strong men consider it an obstacle to their desires for power, most of our population no longer respects our Constitution, and we don’t bother to study it carefully. Therefore, we don’t appreciate our First Amendment rights, including the concept of religious freedom. Otherwise, we would not have substantial numbers of people trying to ban the “hate speech” of clerics.
Can we save our constitutional republic? God knows. We certainly cannot make Ukraine the USA. Unless the people of Ukraine are defending their own country and their own beliefs, they won’t fight well. If people of Ukraine don’t fight well, then Russia will surely subjugate Ukraine, and that won’t be an improvement.
So, the real issue for the USA is what we define as our national interest in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Biden Administration has not done that.
We are spending tens of billions arming the military forces of Ukraine.
1. That has angered Russia, and Russia has threatened to use nukes.
2. We have done a poor job of tracking where our money has been spent.
3. We have not defined an exit strategy. Our policy goals are unclear. We spending huge sums and risking nuclear war for what?
In other words, President Joe Biden has made another foreign policy mess. When the people of Ukraine fought surprisingly well, they shamed the USA (President Joe Biden) into supporting them. Ever since then the wishes of President Volodymyr Zelensky have dominated our policy towards Ukraine.
Do the folks who lead our government know what they are doing? They probably do to at least some extent. That is one reason their bumbling should worry us. What if there bumbling is not entirely unintentional?
The victory of Ukrainian military forces is probably the best outcome. Nevertheless, we need to know how our money is being spent. We need to reduce the high potential for fraud, waste, and abuse.
The people leading our government have a terrible record of fraud, waste and abuse. They also have a proclivity for enslaving us, and their dishonesty poses a greater threat to our country than any foreign power.
Check out => https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/11/house-gop-brings-bill-to-audit-ukraine-spending-nearing-103-billion/, https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/17/exclusive-house-republicans-introduce-legislation-auditing-ukraine-spending/ and https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-scrambles-track-20b-ukraine-aid-house-republicans-warn-audits.
RE-blog appreciated….thanx chuq
“Religious” organizations with Russian ties is a fertile ground for spies and in-house terrorists. Ukrainian enemies would surely love to have the protection of Ukraine so that they can cover their activities under the guise of religion. It is kind of like, “Hello there, I am your brother in Christ but I am here to kill you under the auspices of Putin…” I think it is a wise move for the protection of Ukraine to shut down all possible avenues for enemies to practicve their agenda of destroying the country. I think this is one of the most brilliant moves to protect his democracy that he could make. The other brilliant move might be for Zelensky to leave the Russian-driven churches alone and simply infiltrate them all with spies of his own.
Crapping on people’s religious beliefs cannot end well….it smacks of authoritarianism….chuq
I believe then that we could reasonably resurrect the old outlawed American Communist Party or the American Nazi Party on the basis of a belief in Atheism. Atheism is a religion after all. I believe we could bring back the practice of slavery by an expanded revision of the Bible and claim it as part of our belief in God’s plans for Mankind.
Sounds reasonable in some minds. chuq
Cannot agree more, the countries infrastructure has been destroyed and their women and children raped and murdered by Russians who will claim to be Christians. This is just another ploy to destroy the Ukrainian people, this spying technique was also used during the world wars. If these people want to worship why can they not do it privately and wait to attend churches after this war is over.
Thank you Sklyjd. I appreciate youtr comment. Come often.
Understanding this specific issue, requires knowledge of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet and post-Soviet era…….and it’s ties with the Russian oligarchy, the FSB and the GRU. It’s rife with corruption (even on the Russian scale), and it’s a fairly overt venue for the transit and care of spies, saboteurs and malign influence. Zelensky made the right call hear…….though western media won’t dive into the facts and context……it will seek to rile the religious fundamentalists for ratings wins.
I disagree…their ‘preachers’ cannot be any further in the oligarchy sphere than ours…..chuq
Perhaps so. It’s their long affiliation with the Russian intelligence apparatus that sealed their fate, with regard to Zelensky’s edict.
But he could be making more enemies closer to home….people do not like their beliefs messed with for any reason. chuq
Reblogged this on Calculus of Decay .
Thanx for the re-blog…..I appreciate your visit. chuq
Reblogged this on boudica.us and commented:
H/T Citizen Tom
Thanx for the re-blog. chuq
Kind of silly to ban a religion that has dominated the region for centuries. They should go after individuals (operatives for the Kremlin) as spies. That’s all.
I agree….attacking a person’s religion is no way to make friends….chuq