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**delnisfernan** · 12-14-2008, 12:38 PM

Since the time of the Emperor Constantine the Church has cosied up with nationalism. It sees it as a close cooperation between the Church and the State and calls it "synergy." The Church has always been the bearer of the national culture. It worked very well - a combination of Patriarchs and Monarachs for 1600 years. Much weakened now since the early 20th century. The Russians appear to be re-establishning a form of it.

If the cooperation between the Putin-Medvedev government and the Church is some revival of "synergy", I think it had better remain well in the past.

Synergy is a nice ideal, but how well has it ever been achieved? A number of questions come to my mind...

After Constantine, how many Church leaders spoke out against the empire's continued wars of conquest? How many more Christians like Martin of Tours emerged?

What steps did the Russian Orthodox Church, on any large scale, ever take to protect Jews in Russia from vicious anti-Semitism?

Why would Patriarch Pavle protect people like Radovan Karadzic?

Did Patriarch Alexy II ever denounce the invasion of Georgia, or criticize any of Putin's policies? Likewise, did Patriarch Ilia II have anything critical to say about his government's role in the conflict? Can we say Orthodox nationalism is a good thing when it stands by while Orthodox Christians kill each other?

12-14-2008, 12:38 PM	#17
delnisfernan Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 544 Senior Member	Since the time of the Emperor Constantine the Church has cosied up with nationalism. It sees it as a close cooperation between the Church and the State and calls it "synergy." The Church has always been the bearer of the national culture. It worked very well - a combination of Patriarchs and Monarachs for 1600 years. Much weakened now since the early 20th century. The Russians appear to be re-establishning a form of it. If the cooperation between the Putin-Medvedev government and the Church is some revival of "synergy", I think it had better remain well in the past. Synergy is a nice ideal, but how well has it ever been achieved? A number of questions come to my mind... After Constantine, how many Church leaders spoke out against the empire's continued wars of conquest? How many more Christians like Martin of Tours emerged? What steps did the Russian Orthodox Church, on any large scale, ever take to protect Jews in Russia from vicious anti-Semitism? Why would Patriarch Pavle protect people like Radovan Karadzic? Did Patriarch Alexy II ever denounce the invasion of Georgia, or criticize any of Putin's policies? Likewise, did Patriarch Ilia II have anything critical to say about his government's role in the conflict? Can we say Orthodox nationalism is a good thing when it stands by while Orthodox Christians kill each other?
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