26 Oct 2017

Why Russians Hate The Idea Of The Separation Of Church And State

By severing the union between them,
you don’t decrease corruption. You increase it
President Putin of Russia and President Lukashenko of Belarus in the throne room of the Moscow Patriarch. Together with Ukraine, Russia and Belarus form Holy Rus'. Note the blue and gold Ukrainian Flag displayed proudly between Putin and Patriarch Kirill, along with all the other flags of Russian Orthodox Lands. 
By Matfey Shaheen: One of the most common criticisms of organised religion is that it involves itself in the affairs of politics and war.
People say: “Why are religious leaders getting involved in political discussions? Politics is Politics, religion is religion, never should the two meet.”
Non-religious people point to the Papal States and the Spanish Inquisition as examples of religion being too political. Likewise, many religious people have reasonable concerns that religion could be corrupted by politics and used for nefarious ends.
Meanwhile, throughout history, there has always been a close relationship between the Orthodox Church and various states; this is true from the times of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire to the Russian Empire and even in modern countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Romania, and, of course, Russia.
“Should the Orthodox Church have a close relationship with the State?”
In Orthodox countries, the answer is obvious - of course, it should!
But should the Church involve itself in the State, which may involve itself in the dangerous affairs of politics and warfare?
Yes, because the Orthodox Church, does not see itself as much as an “invisible church, a body of the elect” but as a spiritual hospital.
Our Father Among the Saints, John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople says:

Enter into the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed again to enter the Church, be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent.
The Orthodox Church always saw it first and foremost as a place to heal people from a mortally ill condition, the disease of sin.
In Orthodox theology, the term mortally ill is quite literal; Orthodox people believe that death is the direct result of sin.
This is the Orthodox understanding of original sin, rather than making us all born “guilty”, we believe original sin infected the human race with a terminal illness - death, and a fondness for death.
Where are hospitals and clinics most needed in the world more than anywhere else? In places where people are the sickest, in places of war and suffering.
While the Church cherishes her dignity as an ivory tower rising from a city surrounded by seven hills and seven walls, she is also a missionary church.
Her people, especially her clergy, go where they are called and most needed.

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