Russian-backed separatist leader in Ukraine announces plans to persecute Protestants

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RachelBibleStudent

Guest
#1
#1
with the help of russian funding and russian weapons and ultimately russian troops separatist leader aleksandr zakharchenko has managed to seize control of a portion of eastern ukraine that he calls the 'donetsk people's republic'...

now zakharchenko has announced his separatist regime's policy on religion...

I am Russian Orthodox, I go to church, for me the only church is the Moscow Patriarchate.

As head of state, I recognize four main confessions which should be present on this land. That is Russian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam and Judaism. On the other hand, I will combat sectarianism harshly. I do not want the thoughts and minds of our youth to be occupied by pseudo religion.

This should all be taken into account under a law "On Religion."
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The Bell | The Interpreter

notice that neither protestantism in general nor any specific protestant movement or denomination is included among zahkarchenko's 'four main confessions which should be present'...in other words the separatist regime plans to withhold recognition from any protestant organizations...

also for those who are unaware of the longstanding conventions of russian orthodoxist doublespeak...'sectarianism' is an established russian orthodoxist euphemism for protestantism...where individual protestant denominations are derided as 'sects' and addressed with the same level of indignation that american christians tend to have towards cults such as the jehovah's witnesses...

as a result...this is an open declaration of zakharchenko's intent to 'harshly combat' protestantism...which he does not even recognize as legitimate christianity...in the portions of ukraine that his sectarian militants control...

separatist militants already kidnapped and murdered four protestants last year...the separatists have also closed or seized many protestant churches in the territory they control...forcing protestant congregations to start holding worship meetings in apartments...due to constant threats and harassment and restrictions many protestants have already fled to kharkiv which is still controlled by the elected ukrainian government in kiev...

there are up to 700,000 protestants in ukraine today...
 
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Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#2
#2
That is concerning, yes, but it is also true that only 2% of Ukrainians are non-Catholic Christians, and 80% of them live in the western third of the country, and most of those in the east began fleeing the Donetsk area shortly after the initial invasion. Still, it is something else we need to be praying about.
 
Desdichado

Desdichado

Senior Member
#3
Feb 9, 2014
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Memo to Christians- Putin is not your friend. He is Saruman. RT and Pravda are giant manifestations of Worm-tongue. If you cannot see this, you are blind.

May the Lord have His vengeance.
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#4
Nov 24, 2012
30,779
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#4
"I do not want the thoughts and minds of our youth to be occupied by pseudo religion."
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Has it ever occurred to Cmrde Zakharchenko that Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism can't ALL be true and therefore by his standards three of his four favorites are also 'pseudo religions'.
 
dcontroversal

dcontroversal

Banned
#5
Dec 12, 2013
46,515
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crossnote said:
Has it ever occurred to Cmrde Zakharchenko that Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism can't ALL be true and therefore by his standards three of his four favorites are also 'pseudo religions'.
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Not to bright hey HAHAHHAH!
 
Desdichado

Desdichado

Senior Member
#6
Feb 9, 2014
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#6
crossnote said:
Has it ever occurred to Cmrde Zakharchenko that Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism can't ALL be true and therefore by his standards three of his four favorites are also 'pseudo religions'.
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Good point. Cmrde Zakharchenko is singling out the religion that is historically the least friendly toward brazen, earthly assertions of authority and the most loyal to an institution unconstrained by brazen, arbitrary government action.

Unless of course the United Methodist Church and PCUSA have made inroads into Ukraine. :p
 
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RachelBibleStudent

Guest
#7
#7
crossnote said:
Has it ever occurred to Cmrde Zakharchenko that Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism can't ALL be true and therefore by his standards three of his four favorites are also 'pseudo religions'.
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and the irony is that if any religion in that region today can be called a 'pseudo religion' it would be zakharchenko's 'russian orthodox church'...which for most of its history has been much less a 'church' than the kremlin's department of religious propaganda...regardless of regime...
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#8
Nov 24, 2012
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#8
RachelBibleStudent said:
and the irony is that if any religion in that region today can be called a 'pseudo religion' it would be zakharchenko's 'russian orthodox church'...which for most of its history has been much less a 'church' than the kremlin's department of religious propaganda...regardless of regime...
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And I wonder whose the puppeteer for the RCC?
 
Desdichado

Desdichado

Senior Member
#9
Feb 9, 2014
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#9
RachelBibleStudent said:
and the irony is that if any religion in that region today can be called a 'pseudo religion' it would be zakharchenko's 'russian orthodox church'...which for most of its history has been much less a 'church' than the kremlin's department of religious propaganda...regardless of regime...
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It's more than that. The Russian Orthodox Church is a religious institution that binds the Russian people together with a sense of divine purpose for their nation. It serves as a moral and cultural teacher as well as a bridge from the past to the present.

Does it preach the Gospel? I think it breaks through to some people, but the ROC is so tied to Russian culture that unscriptural folk beliefs and state directives are shoved in. There have been some profound Orthodox thinkers however that understood the nature of the Gospel. I'm not willing to pull the rhetorical trigger on the ROC for that reason.
 
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