Really good, albeit painful, stuff. I opened my own similar essay -- "Waving Farewell to Byzantium" (https://sabbathempire.substack.com/p/essay-10-waving-farewell-to-byzantium) with a quote from Ellul which says about all that needs to be said, really: "Jesus does not seem to have had a vision of a triumphant and triumphal church encircling the globe. He always depicts for us a secret force that modifies things from within, that acts spiritually, that shows us community, unable to be anything else but community...The concept “Christian,” then, bears an inverse relation to numbers, whereas that of the State bears a direct relation. Nevertheless, the two concepts have been combined, to the great advantage of nonsense and the priests....People cannot see or understand that Christianity has been abolished by its propagation." – Jacques Ellul, The Subversion of Christianity.
I've been Orthodox for 13 years, and it's taken me this long to realize: Orthodoxy is a religion for empire, period.
An ideology -- beautiful and profound in certain ways, yes -- but ideological. What it's doing in Russia is exactly what it's supposed to do, and has always done -- alas.
Thank you for this extremely well researched and thoughtful article. I am glad that you included all the references and links and will certainly take some time to go thru them one by one carefully and again reread the entire article. As a new convert to Orthodoxy living in the USA, the land where nothing is transparent and everything is in question, it is very hard to even believe that objective truth can be obtained …… But I do understand what you have made so clear towards the end of the article. That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came here to seek and save the lost, the sinners of whom I am first. Lord have Mercy on us! The Body of Christ, the Church of Christ I believe must stand for Love and must hold to the faith of the Apostles and Martyrs that in Christ alone are we free. All oppression and genocide and war must be condemned. We Christians overcome by the word of our testimony, the blood of the Lamb and that we love not our lives unto death.
There is no genocide in Ukraine. There is a war, and civilians are killed. There is no genocide in Gaza- it is an ethnocide as Israel is not eradicating all Arabs, but is hell bent on killing all Gazans, or at least getting them removed so Jared Kushner could build his seaside resorts. And stop with the 30,000 dead Gazans- that number is an insult. Simple math: two million Gazans in 125 square miles = how many people per square mile? And since nearly every square mile has been leveled…. The support for the war by the MP makes no sense to me, as all war should be condemned. However, Russia’s security interests (No NATO, …) especially after her western rape under Yeltsin and the 2014 Maidan coup should be remembered. Finally, the UOC. is a western- backed, Pompeo concocted LBGTQ. Trojan Horse admitted into the keep by Abp. Epididimitis to boast of hid power, given his two square mile jurisdiction.
1. There is a genocide in Ukraine. A war in which civilians, especially tens of thousands of children, are displaced to other countries and indoctrinated to lose their national/ethnic/linguistic identity, as well as the war itself being motivated by a desire to eradicate such identity, is the definition of genocide. Likewise, Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, as Genocide is defined as "any of the following acts (killing, causing bodily harm, creating conditions meant to bring about destruction, preventing births, transferring children with intent to destroy identity) committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Any denial of genocide, in the cases of Ukraine and Gaza, evidences deficient intelligence whether moral or intellectual.
2. This article you are commenting under does not make any claims about the number of Palestinian deaths as a result of Israel's genocide of Palestine. If I have used the number 30,000 elsewhere, I would need context on why I was wrong to do so. When writing on matters like this I prefer to use widely accepted numbers, even if I assume in reality the numbers are likely far higher. I have committed no insult to Palestinians that I am aware of, and especially not in this article which is not about Palestine.
3. I have no desire to argue with you over the farce of claiming the war on Ukraine had/has any legitimate foundation. It did/does not, and you disgust me.
4. Everything you say about the Orthodox Church of Ukraine contains errors. You lambast the UOC (-MP) when, I assume, you mean to aim your vitriol at the OCU. You say the one who admitted the OCU (or as you said it the UOC...) into Orthodoxy is a certain Archbishop Epididimitis, when it is actually Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who granted the OCU autocephaly. At this point its just as likely your post was written by a bad instance of Chat GPT as it is that it was written by a functioning human being.
As for your claims of the OCU (unless you really mean the UOC...) being a politically funded, LGBTQ Trojan horse, firstly, all the Orthodox Churches in the Old world have political patrons and are motivated by political, often nationalistic, ideologies and fealties. Yes, the Ecumenical Patriarch and OCU are linked to the US, while the Moscow Patriarchate is the religious arm of Russia's power and geopolitical interests and has its current hierarchy's origin in Stalin's recreation for nationalistic purposes, the list could keep going. If a Church's existence is to be invalidated by its great reliance upon and support of a certain political power then pretty much no Orthodox jurisdiction is valid. As for being a LGBTQ Trojan Horse, this is far fetched as the EP continues in general to hold the traditional line and does nothing to curb the often vitriolic attitude towards LGBTQ of those jurisdictions under its influence. If it was such a Trojan Horse though I would not especially care, as almost every change in the Church since Constantine can be attributed in part to political meddling, and I am pro LGBTQ.
Great article! It seems to me that Russian and Eastern European homophobia is proving to be every bit as disastrous as antisemitism was, politically. It took the Holocaust for the Western Church to confront antisemitism, and it is only very recently beginning to confront homophobia. What do you make of this dynamic in the East? I’ve noticed a similar thaw in the Serbian and Greek Orthodox spheres, but certainly nothing in Russia.
I can certainly see homophobia becoming the issue popularly seen as emblematic of institutional Orthodoxy's favoritism towards authoritarian identities and structures of power. I am sorry to say that I really have no idea how the shifts in various Western-leaning societies on this issue will affect the Church hierarchy in the long term. It seems clear that opposition to homosexuality shares the same value as an identity marker and justification of power for Russia and the MP as it does for the American Right. That is about as much as I can say.
Also, anti-semitism is not yet a "was" for us. There is a lot of work to be done on that front in Orthodoxy.
I agree completely with your conclusions regarding the hypocrisy of the Russian Patriarch's complete union and submission to the Russian government. The Russian Exarch in Africa and Korea are other examples of the Russian Church being used as a soft power to push Russian political interests in the area. However, your argument would be stronger if you reframed from using American talking points about Russia and instead focused on the criticism from Ukrainian Orthodox who support Met. Onuphry.
Calling the Russian-Ukraine War a genocide is one such talking point. 10,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths in 2 years is terrible. 30,000 Palestinian civilian deaths in the past 4 months is even worse! Calling the Ukraine-Russian a war is justified as it has mostly been between two militaries with war crimes committed by both sides since 2016. Calling it a genocide when a real genocide is taking place in Gaza discredits your argument. Geopolitically, I can understand why the Russian government directly joining in the Ukraine civil war that has been taken place since 2016. I can understand Russia's geopolitical security concerns in not wanting NATO bases and nuclear weapons in the Ukraine (much like the US does not want those things in Cuba).
What I can't understand is why Patriarch Kirill would publicly support a war against his own flock in the Ukraine. Why call only fallen Russian soldiers martyrs? Are not Ukrainians fighting for their country too? These are rightfully terrible things!
I really enjoy your essays and was disappointed by this one. I recommend strengthening your argument with criticisms from faithful Ukrainian Orthodox who feel rightfully betrayed by Patriarch Kirill. The Union of Orthodox Journalists from Ukraine presents that perspective.
Thank you for reading the article, your words of sympathy for the Ukrainian people, and your recognition of the ROC's "hypocrisy." To your confusion at why Pat. Kirill supports the war against his own flock, I think some of the hyperlinked articles embedded in the above article can clear that up.
To your criticism of my arguments, we will simply have to disagree. That a genocide with a larger number of civilian casualties is also happening right now does not mean it is has a monopoly on being characterized as genocide. 10,000+ murdered civilians, 20,000+ deported children, and all this backed by an ideology that is explicitly aimed at the eradication of Ukrainian statehood, identity, and language, is genocide.
I also do not think it is right to use any group suffering in this genocide as a shield to tell others to speak with less clarity and force on this issue (a large part of the article addresses these exact types of appeals and favoritisms and their effects). It is because it requires no bravery from us in the "West" that speaking with full force and clarity is the least we can and must do.
🌐 Most Holy Theotokos save us!
Lord, have mercy....☦️ ❤️🩹 📖🕯️📿
I don’t think we should be having to argue that war is never a good option. But it seems as if this is a mandatory argument to be had these days.
Really good, albeit painful, stuff. I opened my own similar essay -- "Waving Farewell to Byzantium" (https://sabbathempire.substack.com/p/essay-10-waving-farewell-to-byzantium) with a quote from Ellul which says about all that needs to be said, really: "Jesus does not seem to have had a vision of a triumphant and triumphal church encircling the globe. He always depicts for us a secret force that modifies things from within, that acts spiritually, that shows us community, unable to be anything else but community...The concept “Christian,” then, bears an inverse relation to numbers, whereas that of the State bears a direct relation. Nevertheless, the two concepts have been combined, to the great advantage of nonsense and the priests....People cannot see or understand that Christianity has been abolished by its propagation." – Jacques Ellul, The Subversion of Christianity.
I've been Orthodox for 13 years, and it's taken me this long to realize: Orthodoxy is a religion for empire, period.
An ideology -- beautiful and profound in certain ways, yes -- but ideological. What it's doing in Russia is exactly what it's supposed to do, and has always done -- alas.
Thank you for this extremely well researched and thoughtful article. I am glad that you included all the references and links and will certainly take some time to go thru them one by one carefully and again reread the entire article. As a new convert to Orthodoxy living in the USA, the land where nothing is transparent and everything is in question, it is very hard to even believe that objective truth can be obtained …… But I do understand what you have made so clear towards the end of the article. That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came here to seek and save the lost, the sinners of whom I am first. Lord have Mercy on us! The Body of Christ, the Church of Christ I believe must stand for Love and must hold to the faith of the Apostles and Martyrs that in Christ alone are we free. All oppression and genocide and war must be condemned. We Christians overcome by the word of our testimony, the blood of the Lamb and that we love not our lives unto death.
There is no genocide in Ukraine. There is a war, and civilians are killed. There is no genocide in Gaza- it is an ethnocide as Israel is not eradicating all Arabs, but is hell bent on killing all Gazans, or at least getting them removed so Jared Kushner could build his seaside resorts. And stop with the 30,000 dead Gazans- that number is an insult. Simple math: two million Gazans in 125 square miles = how many people per square mile? And since nearly every square mile has been leveled…. The support for the war by the MP makes no sense to me, as all war should be condemned. However, Russia’s security interests (No NATO, …) especially after her western rape under Yeltsin and the 2014 Maidan coup should be remembered. Finally, the UOC. is a western- backed, Pompeo concocted LBGTQ. Trojan Horse admitted into the keep by Abp. Epididimitis to boast of hid power, given his two square mile jurisdiction.
1. There is a genocide in Ukraine. A war in which civilians, especially tens of thousands of children, are displaced to other countries and indoctrinated to lose their national/ethnic/linguistic identity, as well as the war itself being motivated by a desire to eradicate such identity, is the definition of genocide. Likewise, Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, as Genocide is defined as "any of the following acts (killing, causing bodily harm, creating conditions meant to bring about destruction, preventing births, transferring children with intent to destroy identity) committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Any denial of genocide, in the cases of Ukraine and Gaza, evidences deficient intelligence whether moral or intellectual.
2. This article you are commenting under does not make any claims about the number of Palestinian deaths as a result of Israel's genocide of Palestine. If I have used the number 30,000 elsewhere, I would need context on why I was wrong to do so. When writing on matters like this I prefer to use widely accepted numbers, even if I assume in reality the numbers are likely far higher. I have committed no insult to Palestinians that I am aware of, and especially not in this article which is not about Palestine.
3. I have no desire to argue with you over the farce of claiming the war on Ukraine had/has any legitimate foundation. It did/does not, and you disgust me.
4. Everything you say about the Orthodox Church of Ukraine contains errors. You lambast the UOC (-MP) when, I assume, you mean to aim your vitriol at the OCU. You say the one who admitted the OCU (or as you said it the UOC...) into Orthodoxy is a certain Archbishop Epididimitis, when it is actually Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who granted the OCU autocephaly. At this point its just as likely your post was written by a bad instance of Chat GPT as it is that it was written by a functioning human being.
As for your claims of the OCU (unless you really mean the UOC...) being a politically funded, LGBTQ Trojan horse, firstly, all the Orthodox Churches in the Old world have political patrons and are motivated by political, often nationalistic, ideologies and fealties. Yes, the Ecumenical Patriarch and OCU are linked to the US, while the Moscow Patriarchate is the religious arm of Russia's power and geopolitical interests and has its current hierarchy's origin in Stalin's recreation for nationalistic purposes, the list could keep going. If a Church's existence is to be invalidated by its great reliance upon and support of a certain political power then pretty much no Orthodox jurisdiction is valid. As for being a LGBTQ Trojan Horse, this is far fetched as the EP continues in general to hold the traditional line and does nothing to curb the often vitriolic attitude towards LGBTQ of those jurisdictions under its influence. If it was such a Trojan Horse though I would not especially care, as almost every change in the Church since Constantine can be attributed in part to political meddling, and I am pro LGBTQ.
Great article! It seems to me that Russian and Eastern European homophobia is proving to be every bit as disastrous as antisemitism was, politically. It took the Holocaust for the Western Church to confront antisemitism, and it is only very recently beginning to confront homophobia. What do you make of this dynamic in the East? I’ve noticed a similar thaw in the Serbian and Greek Orthodox spheres, but certainly nothing in Russia.
I can certainly see homophobia becoming the issue popularly seen as emblematic of institutional Orthodoxy's favoritism towards authoritarian identities and structures of power. I am sorry to say that I really have no idea how the shifts in various Western-leaning societies on this issue will affect the Church hierarchy in the long term. It seems clear that opposition to homosexuality shares the same value as an identity marker and justification of power for Russia and the MP as it does for the American Right. That is about as much as I can say.
Also, anti-semitism is not yet a "was" for us. There is a lot of work to be done on that front in Orthodoxy.
Mr. Noah,
I agree completely with your conclusions regarding the hypocrisy of the Russian Patriarch's complete union and submission to the Russian government. The Russian Exarch in Africa and Korea are other examples of the Russian Church being used as a soft power to push Russian political interests in the area. However, your argument would be stronger if you reframed from using American talking points about Russia and instead focused on the criticism from Ukrainian Orthodox who support Met. Onuphry.
Calling the Russian-Ukraine War a genocide is one such talking point. 10,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths in 2 years is terrible. 30,000 Palestinian civilian deaths in the past 4 months is even worse! Calling the Ukraine-Russian a war is justified as it has mostly been between two militaries with war crimes committed by both sides since 2016. Calling it a genocide when a real genocide is taking place in Gaza discredits your argument. Geopolitically, I can understand why the Russian government directly joining in the Ukraine civil war that has been taken place since 2016. I can understand Russia's geopolitical security concerns in not wanting NATO bases and nuclear weapons in the Ukraine (much like the US does not want those things in Cuba).
What I can't understand is why Patriarch Kirill would publicly support a war against his own flock in the Ukraine. Why call only fallen Russian soldiers martyrs? Are not Ukrainians fighting for their country too? These are rightfully terrible things!
I really enjoy your essays and was disappointed by this one. I recommend strengthening your argument with criticisms from faithful Ukrainian Orthodox who feel rightfully betrayed by Patriarch Kirill. The Union of Orthodox Journalists from Ukraine presents that perspective.
https://spzh.media/en/zashhita-very/78886-what-would-st-nicholas-of-japan-say-about-smo
Or Met. Onuphry who has been against the invasion since the beginning.
https://spzh.media/en/news/78986-uoc-primate-addresses-ukrainians-on-the-second-anniversary-of-rf-invasion
Let's fight propaganda with facts and empathy. Fighting propaganda with propaganda just discredits our arguments.
Dear Ben David,
Thank you for reading the article, your words of sympathy for the Ukrainian people, and your recognition of the ROC's "hypocrisy." To your confusion at why Pat. Kirill supports the war against his own flock, I think some of the hyperlinked articles embedded in the above article can clear that up.
To your criticism of my arguments, we will simply have to disagree. That a genocide with a larger number of civilian casualties is also happening right now does not mean it is has a monopoly on being characterized as genocide. 10,000+ murdered civilians, 20,000+ deported children, and all this backed by an ideology that is explicitly aimed at the eradication of Ukrainian statehood, identity, and language, is genocide.
I also do not think it is right to use any group suffering in this genocide as a shield to tell others to speak with less clarity and force on this issue (a large part of the article addresses these exact types of appeals and favoritisms and their effects). It is because it requires no bravery from us in the "West" that speaking with full force and clarity is the least we can and must do.