The State and its religious allies

Aug 22, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Vladimir Putin has incurred the wrath of the West with his so-called “special military operations” in Ukraine. A tremendous amount of hardship has been felt by Ukrainians, with the Russian military exposed as less than invincible, and the Russian economy struggling to feed Mr. Putin’s war machine. Though he is not without loyal allies, there is one that is most surprising. The Russian Orthodox Church is not just an ally, it is one of Mr. Putin’s strongest, and most unwavering. What many are calling an unjust war disguised as special military operations does not reflect well on those who should be about peace, and against violence per se, notwithstanding how smartly it is camouflaged.

It is understood that the conflict in Ukraine has to do with fears of a shrinking border as seen from the Russian perspective, and of a territory grab as concluded by Ukrainians, and many in the West. Further, there are deep Russian concerns about the expansion of NATO, and the turning of countries on its border against Moscow. There are also the rich granaries of Ukraine, and Western anxieties about a possible domino effect, meaning that Ukraine is the present target, with others likely to follow, if Putin is not stopped.

Amid all this, it is concerning that a religious group would come out so openly, so completely, to support a war that has inflicted such a human toll, as well as infrastructure and psychic damage on the two sides now locked in a mortal struggle. The Russian Orthodox Church is within its rights to be about nationalism and Mother Russia and sacred national patrimony. But it is more in keeping with their calling, when religious leaders go the other way, which is leading the charge for peace, and ending a now long running conflict. The bloodshed and grimness of heavy human suffering are just too much for open-ended conflict to continue without cessation of hostilities, and religious leaders embroiled.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, did make an overture to his counterpart in the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence with Mr. Putin, but that yielded no results. According to a Wall Street Journal article dated May 22, 2022, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill sees the conflict in Ukraine as a holy war against the West. The Patriarch’s unwavering backing for Putin counts for much in Russia, since 63% of the population identifies as Orthodox (“Putin’s powerful Church ally help cement support for the war” -WSJ). A former close associate of Patriarch Kirill, Sergey Chapnin, asserted that top Orthodox Church shepherds form “part of the corrupt Putinist elite” and “it’s terrible to see how this union with the state has made the church pliant and amoral.”

Many in Guyana conclude similarly about local religious leaders from many denominations, who give the distinct impression of paying mere lip service to the teachings of their sacred books, or the commandments of their faith. They do so by staying silent on the excesses of an increasingly authoritarian government and its crafty leadership. They do so, rather unconcernedly, by stepping forward with knees bent and hands outstretched for blessings of money, or position, and welcomed as unthreatening, if not supporting allies.

Like any other citizen, religious leaders are free to choose their political friends and role models. But when this either divides their flock, or ignores the plight of the poor in their midst, then they are not about divine attributes, but the selfishness that leads to their own enrichment. Guyanese people left behind, or at the bottom of the economic pile, are looking for any honest, strong, and vibrant spiritual leader that they can find, to lift them out of their disillusioned state. Neither God (by any system of belief), or believers are served when those specially selected to be leaders and guides of worshippers are about themselves only, and what feathers their nests. The truth is that too many religious leaders in Guyana have gotten too close to powerful politicians in general, and the government, in particular. They should stick to caring for their flocks, and not taking care of their own interests only; many are suffering.

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Editorial, Russian, special military operations, Ukrainians, Vladimir Putin

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