Whether or not or not you are a follower of Jesus and publicly profess “Christianity” as your faith, it’s crucial to shell out consideration what quite a few “Conservative Christians” have been expressing and proceed to say about Vladimir Putin and his cultural / political agenda. I want to recommend two new article content and OpEds on these subjects.
First, examine out Thomas Zimmer’s OpEd from Friday in The Guardian, “America’s lifestyle war is spilling into genuine war-war.”
Zimmer (@tzimmer_heritage) is an author and traveling to professor at Georgetown. He’s the co-host of a German podcast, “Kreuz und Flagge” (@KreuzundFlagge) which focuses on Christian Nationalism. His podcast co-host is Annika Brockschmidt (@ardenthistorian).
In the OpEd, Zimmer precisely identifies the alarming intercontinental rise of right wing authoritarianism and enchantment of these voices to “conservative Christians.” He notes:
“The transnational rightwing admiration for autocrats like Putin and Orbán is a important reminder that the battle about democracy and multiracial pluralism is without a doubt enjoying out not just in the US, and that the reactionary counter-mobilization is an intercontinental phenomenon.”
Zimmer, T. (2022, March 4). America’s society war is spilling into precise war-war. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/04/americas-lifestyle-war-is-spilling-into-genuine-war-war
Last summer months, motivated in element to much better recognize the increase of “Christian Nationalism” in the United States typically as perfectly as specifically in my (at the time) Christian church guys’s team, I read an excellent biography of the Roman Emperor, Constantine. I shared some associated reflections in my publish-looking through weblog post, “Classes about Constantine & Historical Rome.”
The next write-up I want to commend is from March 5, 2022, in Foreign Affairs, “Russia’s Menacing Combine of Religion and Nuclear Weapons – In the Kremlin, Faith and Drive Go Hand in Hand.”
Fortunately both of these posting links can be accessed immediately with out bypassing a paywall.
The writer of the Overseas Affairs piece, Dmitry Adamsky, notes:
Considering that the Soviet Union’s collapse, the purpose of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russian identification, domestic politics, and countrywide stability has developed immensely. Putin has introduced religious conservatism into Russia’s nationwide ideology and made use of spiritual analogies to go over stability challenges. He has framed this war in historic, pretty much transcendental conditions. And Russia’s state-church nexus is most seen in the military—especially inside of the nuclear weapons intricate.
Adamsky, D. (2022, March 5). Russia’s Menacing Blend of Religion and Nuclear Weapons. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/posts/russian-federation/2022-03-05/russias-menacing-combine-faith-and-nuclear-weapons
It’s vitally critical that we go on to “de-couple” arranged religion and politics in the United States. These conservatives contacting for a Christian theocracy in the United States with “Just one Nation Less than God” evidently have not researched political and religious conflict in Europe, or may well not be students of Christianity and Jesus Christ at all.
My interest in these difficulties as very well as skilled perform and advocacy is component of the impetus guiding the “Conspiracies and Lifestyle Wars” media literacy project, which is a nascent e book that will (ideally) turn out to be just one of a number of new publications I’ll share in the coming year(s).
These concerns and the stakes of these conversations are pretty large. As citizens of the United States, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, it is exceptionally essential that we better realize the unfolding “lifestyle war” all all-around us, and we thoughtfully communicate out in opposition to both of those heresy and cultural fratricide.
Please join me in praying that average, nicely-informed, ethical leaders and voices will prevail in our polarized climate of conflict and emotionally charged media. May God defend us all.
“Trump’s Image-Op of Faith” (CC BY 2.) by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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