Even the
Soviet period could not completely eradicate this impulse.
Protestant
Europe and especially America have always been forward looking. Remember at the
time of the Reformation, Rome was conservative and it was Protestantism that
was the liberal/progressive movement. Protestantism wanted a new Europe, and a
new world.
In America,
we don't grow up with historical awareness, perspective or perhaps most
importantly, deep visceral feelings and passions connected with the past.
America is very patriotic, but it's forward looking. The intensity and nature
of the patriotism is quite different. Some, particularly in the Church have
fostered something closer to this sort of feeling. But even today, I don't
think the average American can even grasp what it meant to the national psyche
when the frontier was finally closed in the 1890's. This almost spiritual
element connected to the American mind and experience is something that has
already been all but forgotten. Some thought it was recaptured briefly during
the Space Race. And today they lament its termination believing the pioneer
spirit was essential to American identity... something that has now been lost.
I'm not
saying we should or shouldn't have these feelings, passions and connections
with the past. I mention it only because I believe that lacking these feelings
hinders us in our understanding of others and what motivates them.
Europe went
through a time of darkness and destruction in the centuries subsequent to the fall
of Rome. The Byzantine world flourished but also had the constant spectre of Islam
and Asiatic invasion on the horizon. Eastern Christendom has always felt like
they defended the West and yet the West has never appreciated it and in fact to
show their gratitude has frequently stabbed them in the back.
While
European civilization was flowering during what we might call the High Middle
Ages, Russia was entering a dark age. While Europe was building cathedrals,
stone castles and synthesizing knowledge in the universities, Russia was being
burned by the Mongols. And then in the midst of this horror the Roman Catholic Teutonic
Knights invade from the Baltic coastlands. If you understand the period it's
easy to see why the Russians so revere Alexander Nevsky and the stalwart kingdom
of Novgorod. There's a reason why they call it Novgorod the Great.
While Europe
was launching into the Age of Discovery and Exploration, the Byzantine world
was in ruins. Out of the ashes of the Mongol invasions the state of Muscovy
arose and united the Russian people eventually breaking the power of the Mongol
ruled Golden Horde.
Moscow saw
itself as the Third Rome, the defender of Eastern/True Christendom against the
heretic Roman Catholics from the West and the Asiatic hordes coming from the
Eastern Steppe.
The First Rome
had fallen into apostasy and came under the domination of the antichrist Popes.
The Second Rome (Constantinople) fell to the Turks and Moscow the Third and
Final Rome now took up the banner.
This
continuationism, this sense of the Byzantine/Ancient Christian heritage
continued right up to the fall of the Tsars with the Bolshevik Revolution.
When Russia
emerged in the 1500's as a new powerful state it was very 'backwards' compared
to the West. No wonder considering what it had endured. But 'backwards' is of
course a subjective judgment. They thought different and still do. They did not
have the 'progress' model of the West that was birthed by Renaissance and Protestant
and Catholic Reformations. This notion of progress would lead to the
Enlightenment the Scientific Revolution and ultimately the Industrial
Revolution.
The Russians
(rightly I think) look at all of this from under a furrowed brow. The modern
age hasn't been so wonderful. They are not as dazzled by 'progress' as the West
is. To them the West has always been decadent and apostate. The Enlightenment
and all it has wrought only confirm this.
Remember too
that Marxism is a Western ideology and paradigm. It was applied in Byzantine
fashion to the Soviet Union, a classic despotism, but the core ideas and values
come from Western Enlightenment thought. In many ways Lenin was a traitor to
the Russian soul. The Soviet period was supposed to be about progress and
shedding the past, but it didn't take long for the Russian people to realize it
wasn't any of these things. It was a false promise, a lie.
While the
West speculated and invented, the Russians were still fighting the
Tatar-remnant of the Mongol Invasions and interacting not with the New World,
but with the wilds of Asia and coming into conflict with older Oriental
civilizations.
The
Communist era and the Cold War were historical aberrations. Coming out of the
chaos of the 1990's, Russia has been trying to regain its footing and sense of
self identity.
Their
history has been about resistance, and strong rulers who will defend their
massive land from the Eastern hordes and the Western schemers. They are wedded
to their history and their place in it. Continuous reinvention is not part of
their psychological character. To the West this is a regressive fault, to the
Orthodox mind this is fidelity, strength and dignity.
To survive
they (like old Dark Ages Europe) had to work collectively. Feudalism is to them
a more recent and necessary system that ensured their survival as a people.
This is perhaps why Communistic ideas found a more fertile field there. Of course
Communism does not necessarily have to be Marxist. Many Christian groups which
antedate Marx by centuries in Russia and North America can attest to that.
Interestingly some of the most accessible history on these groups was written
by Marxist historians who wished to look at examples of Communalism and
Communism from the past.
The Russians
do not have the same kind of individualism and confidence in progress that is
found in the West. Does that make them backwards? Assuredly it does to some.
For myself, I'm not so sure.
Russia is in
the process of reverting to a historic model... a strong hero-leader, a new
Tsar who must rule with a strong hand. It's part of their history, culture and
geo-politically almost a necessity. I'm not defending it, I'm simply pointing
it out.
Russia sees
itself as the Third Rome. Of course in
our secular age, you're not likely to hear that promulgated in the halls of
diplomacy. Russia helped to liberate the Slavs of Southeastern Europe from the
Turks. This is why from the US/EU perspective, the Serbian resistance had to be
crushed before Russia became strong again. Russia was bound to stand with her
historical ally. Of course they would have preferred if Russia had stayed down,
but history and geography was against them. But even today, Russia is not as
strong as some think and riddled with severe and looming problems.
The US is
trying to intervene in a complicated neighbourhood and the East has centuries
of experience at playing the diplomatic game. Putin so far has proved quite
cunning when it comes to checking further Western advances. And understand,
that's how they see it. From Eastern Europe to the Caucasus, the Middle East and
even in Central Asia...the US has moved (even bullied) its way into old
traditional Russian spheres. The US wants to pretend these spheres don't exist
(the unipolar model) but they are facing a growing resistance all around the
world. Some of it is coming from Europe itself and has engendered great
bitterness between the camps. I found it interesting that a revised Tom Clancy
story was made into a movie that envisioned the European Right provoking a war
between America and Russia in order to completely liberate Europe from outside
control.
Russia is
the defender of Eastern Christendom and this would include the Nestorian and
Monophysite groups scattered in the Caucasus and the Middle East. Who is
intervening? Is it the Russians reverting to old roles contra Islam and the
East? Or is it the North American based New World Order?
Both sides
are of course evil. All empires are. Russia is not the empire it once was and
once again it must be emphasized that though it appears ascendant at the
moment, it is riddled with deep internal problems. For both Russia and China
their greatest enemies are civil strife and unrest that have the potential to
break their systems.
Don't think
that the United States isn't doing all it can to foment those forces as well.
That's an old tactic and one the US knows well. Money can buy a lot of civil
unrest and agitate already existing social tensions and problems.
Right now in
Russia you have the modernizing legacy of Peter the Great warring against
Alexander Nevsky. One faction wants Russia to be modern and part of Europe, the
other force led by Putin views Russia in terms of its overall historical role
and place.
Who will
win?
Ironically
Putin represents the kind of leader the Christian Right wants for the United
States... but they won't be quick to admit it.
What I am
most struck by in this country is the role the media is playing in criticizing
his regime. And yet they refuse to tell the story. They won't dig into the
1990's or the geopolitics. They certainly won't report Russia's position.
They could
even go after Putin's wealth. He's hidden it, but is reportedly one of the
wealthiest men in the world. Instead they focus on things that will agitate and
scare the American public and at every opportunity, they push the issue of
homosexuality, a now resolved issue in this country.
The
Christian Right lost control of the narrative. In this country it is now viewed
on par with the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960's. And if you had any
doubts, both Chevrolet and Coke ran ads during the Sochi Opening Ceremony that
featured gay couples. It's already been in the primetime television shows, but
to incorporate this during a major television event, a time when families would
be watching, is certainly crossing a line.
I find it
repulsive and marvel at the sweeping social change. Such a thing was simply
unimaginable not that many years ago. My response? Turn it off if you must. Television
has long been morally objectionable to me and of course a big waste of time.
I don't want
the state following Putin's route even if homosexuality is an abomination. The
homosexuals and fornicators don't need the force of the state or the pressure
of Constantinianism. They're lost and hell-bound. They need to know Christ. We
judge according to the Word but since we are saved by grace, we don't render the
judgment. Christ will do that.