By SN
Monday April 28, 2008
New York Times – April 24, 2008:
It was not long after a Methodist church put down roots here that the troubles began.
First came visits from agents of the F.S.B., a successor to the K.G.B., who evidently saw a threat in a few dozen searching souls who liked to huddle in cramped apartments to read the Bible and, perhaps, drink a little tea. Local officials then labeled the church a “sect.” Finally, last month, they shut it down.
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There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir V. Putin.
Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.
This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Mr. Putin’s tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working “in symphony.”
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#27 – MM,
Good. Then stop suggesting that I can get anything other than delusions from your religion. Thanks.
And, I don’t live in the armpit. I live next door to it. NJ is the known as the Armpit of the Nation or the Garbage State.
#29 – MM,
Pot meet kettle. You’re exactly as intolerant as I am, no more, no less.
All these limp negative articles about religion.
Suggestion: Post articles about some real real religious nut-cases like Jeremiah Wright.
Dana Milbank from the Washington Post said:
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, explaining this morning why he had waited so long before breaking his silence about his incendiary sermons, offered a paraphrase from Proverbs: “It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Barack Obama’s pastor would have been wise to continue to heed that wisdom.
It just keeps getting better and better.
Joe Kline from Time Magazine just released the following statement:
Wright’s purpose now seems quite clear: to aggrandize himself–the guy is going to be a go-to mainstream media source for racial extremist spew, the next iteration of Al Sharpton–and destroy Barack Obama.
Great article.
All this hoopla about Jeremiah Wright. Who in the hell cares about this guy? He never existed until 2 months ago.
Learning about the loony fringe few is the not the problem. It’s the massive religious institutions that need be dealt with.
What’s all this hoopla about Jeremiah Wright?
Oh, I don’t know.
Could it possibly be that it could be a reflection on the judgment skills of the potential next President of the USA?
# 28, 30. Oftentimes, what cults say about themselves in public is different than the real world within. If you believe that you have a real insider’s view of the Seventh-day Adventist corporation, try to refute The Seven Faces of Seventh-day Adventism.
Shubee,
I am not a Seventh Day Adventist and therefore have no interest in refuting your website and your problems with the church.
All in all, this believer would hate the idea of any ‘Government Church’ be it the Russian Orthodox, or the Church of England.
That a candidate has faith, I would expect it to influence them. Thats a given, they’re an individual.
But the hunting down of churches by a governement. I don’t like. “With malice towards none, and charity to all”, like Abraham Lincoln, should be the standard of the day.
#32–jbenson==he made those comments and expressly said “so I waited for the media to keep talking and show itself to be foolish until they attacked (what amounts to his theology).
Then he was asked if muslims go to heaven and he said “other sheep have I who are not of this fold”. I googled this out of interest and the pro-god sites that are usually objective don’t really cover what this means.
I just assume that as in 99.9% of issues, you can find language on both sides in the bible. Almost like it was written by Hillary.
# 36 Thank you ethanol for admitting that your understanding of the Seventh-day Adventist church’s oppressive nature is at best superficial and irrelevant.
That they’ve selected a religion that will hew to the company line doesn’t change the fact that this is another example of totalitarians shutting down religion. Liberals in this country do the same thing when they say ‘I love religious people when they do A,B,C but hate the ones that do X,Y,Z
#40–Mike==are there two of you? This post is as totally stupid as a few of yours over the weekend were quite good. Both of you should be embarassed about the other?
Anyhoo–please explain how liberals expressing a value judgement is the same thing as the State shutting down a religion.
There could be a whole new side to “thinking” that has escaped me.
My mistake it’s not the same thing, just that liberals express the same sentiments that the totalitarians act on.
#41, bobbo,
C’mon, be fair. Asking Lyin’Mike to explain himself is very taxing on his brain. His sole purpose here at DU is to make stupid comments.