Can a Christian be a Communist?

rusmeister · Sep 11, 2020

Lukaris said:
Is it possible that part of this is formed by the remembrance of the Great Patriotic War? Though manipulated, Orthodoxy was genuinely revived as part of fighting for Mother Russia against the Nazis. ( I know you know this much better than I might).

The hammer & sickle flag is not good but it was the flag of the blood, sweat, & tears of those who died for Mother Russia for better or worse. This flag is actually anti Orthodox ( I think) yet if I was Russian, it would probably be part of my picture of what I would think in memory of my grandfather ( etc.) fighting in World War II.

Yes, the War gives Russians a huge shot at being the good guys and victims and a reprieve from the ugly memories of the Terror and Gulag, which they desperately want to forget. So yes, they see the Communist flag in that context as good.

Yeshua HaDerekh · Sep 11, 2020

rusmeister said:
The Moscow region. I was married and spent my first six months here under Gorbachev.

OK, so in the tail end of the Soviet era.

Yeshua HaDerekh · Sep 11, 2020

rusmeister said:
It is true that Stalin relaxed his persecution of the Church during the War. He needed every able body, including the Orthodox, and he simply couldn’t afford to alienate them.

I don't think he "relaxed" it on purpose, I think he had more important things to deal with like the war...

Yeshua HaDerekh · Sep 11, 2020

Lukaris said:
What is your point? I know that but back during WW II, American Orthodox people would have seen a prayer for victory from Patriarch Sergius of Moscow in their prayer books. Times are usually tough; Sergius was probably revered then & later usually reviled to some degree.

My point was that Orthodoxy was not "revived" under the Soviets/Stalin during WW2. Stalin killed and imprisoned so many Orthodox in the 30s....

Lukaris · Sep 11, 2020

Yeshua HaDerekh said:
My point was that Orthodoxy was not "revived" under the Soviets/Stalin during WW2. Stalin killed and imprisoned so many Orthodox in the 30s....

I know, Stalin ranks alongside Hitler as a murderer. Hitler was even a former ally of Stalin; they both, for ex., almost destroyed Poland in 1939. Communists are the biggest parasites, opportunists, & murderers. Mao stood down while Chiang Kai Shek bled to death fighting Japan. French Marxists backed Hitler & Vichy until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. They riot & burn American cities making them unlivable for generations destroying social structure & law enforcement etc. etc. etc.

Hermit76 · Sep 11, 2020

Lukaris said:
I know, Stalin ranks alongside Hitler as a murderer. Hitler was even a former ally of Stalin; they both, for ex., almost destroyed Poland in 1939. Communists are the biggest parasites, opportunists, & murderers. Mao stood down while Chiang Kai Shek bled to death fighting Japan. French Marxists backed Hitler & Vichy until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. They riot & burn American cities making them unlivable for generations destroying social structure & law enforcement etc. etc. etc.

Stalin's murders surpass Hitler's. History just can't stand painting a former ally as that evil

rusmeister · Sep 11, 2020

Yeshua HaDerekh said:
My point was that Orthodoxy was not "revived" under the Soviets/Stalin during WW2. Stalin killed and imprisoned so many Orthodox in the 30s....

Of course it wasn’t a “revival” of Orthodoxy; it was just a reprieve from persecution.
However, I have a friend who is mad on the idea that Stalin was secretly tonsured after the war as a monk and believes in his genuine repentance.

tapi · Sep 12, 2020

rusmeister said:
Of course it wasn’t a “revival” of Orthodoxy; it was just a reprieve from persecution.
However, I have a friend who is mad on the idea that Stalin was secretly tonsured after the war as a monk and believes in his genuine repentance.

A website run by an Orthodox priest who moved from the States to Russia in the hopes of fleeing from the "Godless morality" of the Western world suggests that Putin has also been secretly tonsured a monk at Mount Athos and is living a monastic life in secrecy.

rusmeister · Sep 12, 2020

tapi said:
A website run by an Orthodox priest who moved from the States to Russia in the hopes of fleeing from the "Godless morality" of the Western world suggests that Putin has also been secretly tonsured a monk at Mount Athos and is living a monastic life in secrecy.

I’m not surprised. People who emigrate to Russia can be prone to wear rose glasses at times; they’re certainly motivated to justify their choice. It’s just inconsistent with other known facts about his life.

Lukaris · Sep 12, 2020

Just want to add a footnote to my post #85. It is my tone that I feel I need to address not the general post. I mentioned the sins of murder, lying, & parasitical behavior but made them a bit too personal ( not to anyone in particular) but still I feel I became the self righteous man in Luke 18:9-14. I believe I should have said communism is an evil that furthers evils like murder, lying etc.

I feel I should always pray that I should take care to remember my sins also & pray for all ( 1 Timothy 2:1) for God is of the living ( Matthew 22:31-32).

2PhiloVoid · Sep 12, 2020

Not David said:
Doesn't the Leader of the Communist Party on Russia go to Church often?

Since this is the Eastern Orthodox section, I won't say much, but so as to help out a little, David, I'll just bring your attention to the fact that the Communist leaders referred to in the article you cited seem to not so much care about Christianity as they do about the priority of Russian Nationalism. Here's a quote from that article you cited, and I think it hones in on where their interest in the Orthodox Church really lies:

But, instead of messianic strife for a worldwide "proletarian unity", today's Communist Party endorses nationalism and exploits a widespread nostalgia for the Soviet past.

It is "a party of imperialistic nostalgia and Russian nationalism, and there's no imperialism or nationalism without Russian Orthodoxy," Andrei Kolesnikov of the Moscow Carnegie Centre, a think-tank, told Al Jazeera.

buzuxi02 · Sep 12, 2020

Orthodox christians shouldn't be communists, but ALOT of Orthodox Christian's are communist party adherents in the old countries.

Yeshua HaDerekh · Sep 12, 2020

rusmeister said:
However, I have a friend who is mad on the idea that Stalin was secretly tonsured after the war as a monk and believes in his genuine repentance.

I seriously doubt that...

Can a Christian be a Communist?

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