An Orthodox Christian Criticizes the Russian Christmas Truce

 Kremlin Notes in the Patriarch’s Christmas Appeal 

The call for a truce is a good thing, especially if it becomes a prologue to peace, and is based on a Christian understanding of peacemaking. However, the call for a truce can also be part of a political gamble, and church feasts can also be part of the instrumentalization of religion, a form of manipulation of religious feelings.

Which option is true in this case?

Unfortunately, there is little doubt. The patriarch “forgot” to call for a ceasefire on Easter 2022, he “forgot” to express any sympathy to the families and friends of the killed Ukrainians for all ten months of the war, and he “forgot” that Holy Scripture calls for a witness to the truth. The patriarch extensively uses propagandistic clichés, and here he does not hold back, calling the war an internecine conflict and using dubious pseudo-theological arguments to justify military aggression.

He “forgot” that dozens of Orthodox churches were destroyed and desecrated by “pious” Russian soldiers and that not all churches in the occupied territories of Ukraine would be happy to see a Russian military for Christmas. The patriarch also forgot that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was in a difficult plight, almost on the verge of elimination due to his unsuccessful policy in Ukraine over the past thirty years.

Like a hopelessly false note, the first word in the patriarch’s appeal is the pronoun “I.” To begin a political address with “I” is a sign of painful, hypertrophied narcissism. The semantic construct “I am the patriarch and therefore…” remains within the hopelessly compromised imperial paradigm. It is impossible to take it seriously.

The motivation the patriarch uses has nothing to do with the Gospel sermon, with the commandments, with the joy of the birth of the Infant Christ into the world. The motivation the patriarch uses sounds extremely down-to-earth: “So that Orthodox people can attend services,” that is, to go to the temple and, as the cynics add, leave money there. War is war, but people should bring money to the church regularly, and the task of the patriarch is to provide such an opportunity. So he tries, even addressing the president. Alas, this version of financial and commercial motivation has a right to exist as well.

I see no reason to write anything of my own. If you do not understand what I have quoted, you need to learn more about Christianity.

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