Categoria:

“The enemy of my enemy …”: Why do American evangelicals venerate Vladimir Putin? – ABC Religion & Ethics

Autor: ABC Religion Ethics

I can still remember the days when American evangelicals championed the cause of liberal democracy against the Soviet Union and its communist authoritarianism. In some Christian circles, in fact, the Soviet Union was often touted as the “Gog and Magog” of biblical prophecy — nations in the east who would garrison the satanic forces as they prepared for their final and futile war against the armies of God (Revelation 20:7-9; Ezekiel 38:2).

I can also recall how President Ronald Reagan was enthusiastically embraced by American evangelicals in the 1980s, despite his somewhat dubious moral pedigree as a divorced Hollywood actor, not least because he promised that America would win the Cold War and the godless communists would not triumph.

When European Communism collapsed between 1989 and 1991, and Russia opened itself up to the world, American evangelicals rushed into Russia with gusto to connect with their persecuted peers and to proclaim the gospel in cities that had never before heard the Christian message. The American evangelist Billy Graham visited Russia in 1992 and preached at a mass rally of 100,000 people in Moscow.

Many American evangelical groups had been active in Russia and Ukraine until restrictions tightened in the 2000s. I have American evangelical friends who have adopted children from Russian and Ukrainian orphanages, bolstering the connection between evangelicals and the former Soviet Republics.

How, then, did we reach the point where many American evangelicals support both the oppressive regime and military aggression of current Russian President Vladimir Putin? I think the answers are complex and must be viewed through the lens of the culture wars raging in the United States.

Our kind of strongman

Vladimir Putin is considered by many American evangelicals to be the defender of an ethnically homogenous “Christian society”. Putin himself is admired because he purports to protect the Russian people and Russian Orthodox Christianity against the predations and designs of those European elites who push secularism, multiculturalism, and pro-immigration polices — which are often portrayed as little more than a Trojan horse for an insidious process of Islamisation.

One must appreciate, here, the degree to which Putin is driven by history, or perhaps nostalgia, and how that resonates with American evangelicals. For Putin, the mythology of Russia’s origins and rise — quite evident in his interview with Tucker Carlson — is the driving force behind his political ambitions. Russia is the third Rome, the heartland of Orthodox Christianity, the conquerors of Napoleon and the Nazis. Russia, the heartland of Eurasia, is pitted against the debauched and dangerous West, who are the historic foes of the proud people of the European east and the Asian steppes. Rather than prostrated and pauperised, Putin wants to see Russia returned to its greatness — the greatness of Peter and Catherine.

Moreover, Putin remembers the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was in Dresden seeking direction from his superiors amidst the chaos unfolding in Germany. When his KGB detachment asked for assistance, they were told, “Moscow is silent.” It is this silence that haunts Putin and he seeks to correct it with the furious roar of Russian power in their traditional spheres of influence. This is why Putin has written, “the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”. Not because Soviet communism was the ideal system, but because its collapse brought chaos, destruction, and weakness.

Want the best of Religion & Ethics delivered to your mailbox?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

One of the main reasons why many American evangelicals idolise Putin is because he has bent history to the force of his will, decapitated all opposition, defied the liberality of the West, championed the heritage and hopes of his own country, and refuses to be humiliated by the West. While many American evangelicals will struggle with the icons and liturgy of Russian Orthodoxy, the idea of a nation built on “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality” — a motto of Tsarist Russia — is easily translatable into the American vernacular as “God, Trump, and MAGA”.

Putin therefore represents, in many ways, the realisation of the MAGA dream: God and country restored to their rightfully told history and their divinely appointed hegemony.

I’ve had American evangelicals tell me in person that while they acknowledge Putin’s brutality and authoritarian lawlessness, they are willing to overlook these vices because “there are no gay pride parades in Russia”. Moreover, they say, if Putin is opposed by the secularist European Union and a progressive president like Joe Biden, then, as the saying goes, the enemy of our enemy is our friend!

To American evangelicals, Putin is strong man who is ruthlessly effective at keeping Russia Russian and many want an American version of the same — even if the violence and suppression of dissent needs to be toned down somewhat, in their estimation.

Russian support for Trump

Russia has lent its support to Donald Trump at several crucial junctures — including, crucially, during the 2016 US presidential election — which predisposes many American evangelicals to view Putin as an ally, a comrade in arms.

The irony, however, is that Putin himself evidently does not view Trump as a kindred spirit or ally, much less some kind of “Manchurian candidate”. Rather, Trump is merely expedient, a means to Putin’s end. Trump’s isolationism is conducive to Russia’s territorial ambition and foreign activities in places like Syria and Africa. Besides that, the chaos Trump creates in America’s domestic politics and international relations suits Putin’s desire for the decline of the Western superpower.

How is it, I often wonder, that American evangelicals cannot see that Russian support for Trump is predicated on blatant self-interest, not any kind of shared ideological or civilisational struggle?

The gospel according to Fox

American evangelicals, it turns out, are more formed in their view of the world by conservative media and social media bubbles — with their pro-Russian slant — than by any other source.

There are a number of American pastors I know well who are either “Never Trumpers” or self-described “moderate Republicans”. These pastors are routinely sent conspiracy theories masquerading as news stories by members of their congregation, no doubt in order to turn them into Trump supporters. When these pastors refuse the invitation, I know several who have had their congregants turn on them with a fury, accuse them of treason, or even heresy, and spread all sorts of lurid rumours about them. Some have left Christian ministry altogether as a result of such harassment.

I once visited a church in New Orleans where a fist fight had broken out in a men’s Bible study over Trump ten minutes before I arrived. The poor pastor was still in the process of trying to calm everybody down.

Here’s the problem: a pastor may speak to their congregation about God, faith, and ethics for around one hour a week, but members of the congregation are consuming on average 10-20 hours of right-wing media (to say nothing of social media) during that same week. As a result, the convictions of many American evangelicals are more informed by Fox News or Newsmax than any series of sermons on the teachings of Jesus. While American evangelicals are not monolithic, they did vote for Trump en masse, because they believed he would defend Christian America even if he was not the best exponent of it.

Seduced by a convenient lie

Just last week I spoke with a Ukrainian Christian friend, who is originally from Donetsk but now lives in Poland and works for an American evangelical para-church ministry. He told me that while his colleagues are supportive of him and Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invasion, he occasionally has to deal with Americans evangelicals who are pro-Putin and support Putin’s war in Ukraine. He tells me that they have simply bought into Putin’s propaganda, regurgitated through talking heads like Tucker Carlson; he says they have been seduced by the lie because the lie fits their view of the world.

I’m someone who identifies as an evangelical, in the broad and global tradition of people like the British abolitionist William Wilberforce, the Anglican preacher John Stott, the Kenyan ecumenical leader Samuel Kobia, Canadian climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, and Singapore theologian Simon Chan. I do not recognise this version of American evangelicalism and its veneration of Putin. Like any form of idolatry, it frightens me — after all, as the Bible repeated tells us, people have a tendency to become what they worship.

Rev. Dr Michael Bird is Deputy Principal and Lecturer in New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne. His most recent book, co-authored with N.T. Wright, is Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies.

Deja una respuesta

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada. Los campos obligatorios están marcados con *

Relacionadas
Te puede interesar también
barcelona-–-brann,-en-directo:-champions-femenina-en-vivo
Deportes

Barcelona – Brann, en directo: Champions femenina en vivo

Barcelona – Brann: vuelta cuartos Champions League femenina en vivo ¡MARIONA PERDONA EL SEGUNDO! Jugadón del Barcelona, pero el remate final de Mariona, tras un pase de Alexia, se marcha rozando el palo. La ha tenido el equipo catalán.  Mario González Publicado a las: 19:29 CET 28/03/2024 Las de Jonatan Giráldez siguen moviendo el balón

Leer Más >>
“¿fichar-por-el-barca?-veremos…”
Deportes

“¿Fichar por el Barça? Veremos…”

Stanislav Lobotka es un conocido de LaLiga. Jugó tres años en el Celta de Vigo y en 2020 firmó por el Nápoles, haciendo las maletas a la Serie A. Allí, a sus 29 años, el eslovaco es un jugador fundamental en el centro del campo napolitano. Fue clave el año pasado para la conquista del

Leer Más >>
los-giants-tiene-madera-para-llegar-a-los-playoffs
Locales

Los Giants tiene madera para llegar a los playoffs

Al comenzar el año, las proyecciones de los San Francisco Giants para la temporada 2024 de las Grandes Ligas no eran las mejores. Sin embargo, la gerencia del equipo de la Bahía cambió todo al realizar movimientos más que interesantes. A horas que suba el telón en el Opening Day, donde los Gigantes harán visita

Leer Más >>

¿Quieres hablar con nosotros en cabina?

Nuestros Horarios en el Estudio:

9am a 11am | 12m a 1pm | 4 a 5 pm | 5 a 6pm

horario del pacifico