He opposed this murderous action from the start( as have clerics who truly put the Gospel first)as did other Russian clerics who actually believe in the 10 commandments, love God & neighbor, the golden rule etc. as opposed to a current, corrupt apparatus that is the opposite. I will continue to read & respect his views.
As I said, we are not going to try the case here.
The problem with trying to apply those rules in National politics is that war is not necessarily against the ten commandments, love God & neighbor, or the golden rule, and even if it is that does not make war an inappropriate national option. That cleric was clearly biased against the Church to begin with, as can be ascertained from his musings on the history of the Russian Church. And these are just his opinions, not reality, even if there is something of the truth in them, especially since they leave out far too much in order to paint a history so dark. To partialize the picture to such an extent is to present a false narrative, which is what this priest has done, at least in this snippet you shared. You're free, of course, to allow yourself to be influenced by these thoughts however you will, but you might do well to be aware that there's far more to the story than he's telling there. That's all.
That narrative and such testimonies could be both false and untrue, or not. As always, the source needs to be carefully evaluated and not simply trusted 100% just because we want to believe the narrative. The American people need to be convinced, one way or another, that their involvement in Ukraine is justified, and not simply to fulfill the evil designs of the current political administration. A claim of genocide fills such a need. But those who live in Ukraine aren't of a different race, or genetically different in any way from Russians (unless of Polish or other mixing). Their identity is based on other things, not race, and so it's not technically genocide any more than the Rwandan affair was. It's identity politics that's the issue; not genomes.
I agree with all you've said, Scott. It's just I've given up arguing over this with some brethren in here because I think the Western propaganda is too thick to clear it out for what I've said and you have said (and a few others). It just isn't going to be acknowledged and realized, unfortunately.
I believe you are talking liberties in saying what Fr Ioann stands for. He is a priest who believes that the Gospel tells us to live by the Lord’s commandments ( Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 13:8-10 etc). Actually much of what Fr Ioann has said in his writings is similar to what St. Maria ( Skobtsova) observed of the Russian church during the 1930s. She wrote a penetrating essay on the excesses on externalities & the lack of spiritual feeding of the laity.
incommunion.org
Thankyou, I'm familiar with such thoughts and works. But I'm also familiar with other sorts of thoughts and works, and so believe I'm on my way to a more thorough and comprehensive view of things than can be found in these sources alone. Also, the discernment of grace must be the principle source of understanding, not the mere reasonings and ponderings of our minds, subject to what we may be lead to believe by others.I believe you are talking liberties in saying what Fr Ioann stands for. He is a priest who believes that the Gospel tells us to live by the Lord’s commandments ( Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 13:8-10 etc). Actually much of what Fr Ioann has said in his writings is similar to what St. Maria ( Skobtsova) observed of the Russian church during the 1930s. She wrote a penetrating essay on the excesses on externalities & the lack of spiritual feeding of the laity.
General info on St. Maria:
Mother Maria of Paris: Saint of the Open Door – Incommunion
On January 18, 2004, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul recognized Mother Maria Skobtsova as a saint along with her son Yuri, the
Her essay (about 25 printed pp.)on Types of Religious Lives:
Speaking external extravagance:
Making Putin Great (Again and Again) – Zhanna Agalakova - The Moscow Times
Video | Russian journalist Zhanna Agalakova, who worked for state-run media for over 20 years before quitting over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, discusses Putin's rise to power and his approach to governance at Maastricht University. This lecture is part of a series of lectures organized by The...www.themoscowtimes.com
I guess the Wagner group is doing the work of God?
Wagner Group - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Dorothea, just for the record and not to argue with you, I get very little news from "Western" sources. The Russian sources themselves are more than sufficient.
that’s pretty much it, and how surprising just how bad the Russian military is. the high turnover and mortality rate of flag officers (generals and admirals) has everyone surprised. even with the NATO aide, Russia should be destroying Ukraine if they had even halfway decent command.
Russia doesn't want decent command. The only clear desire on the part of the government is "destroy." The destruction of their own people and whoever's nearby. Every governmental organization in Russia is corrupt beyond the imagining of just about any American (and yeah, I know we have plenty of corruption). They way they do business looks superficially like the US but is in reality almost entirely unrelated.
www.businessinsider.com
Arguably, the Russian military is viewed as performing badly because they are compared to the Ukrainians who are vastly overperforming based on their limited numbers. This is true even if they ultimately lose.
what I mean is that it’s ineffective command, which is why it looks like the only strategy is to throw bodies at this. that usually doesn’t work out well for the larger, less disciplined force.
yep. “Shock and awe” was also based on the precision and accuracy of the targets being hit. it wasn’t just being big and loud.
I understood. My comment didn't mean they don't have"morally decent" command but "effective command." All these years, faking it, stealing all the resources for the military, and letting incompetent sycophants get into all the positions of authority has been enough. Now they could use a competent military (to perform genocide more successfully), they don't have it, so they're hurling soliders by the tens of thousand to their deaths.
