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A Great Evangelical Divorce? — Speaker Mike Johnson’s Breakup with Marjorie Taylor Greene Could Be Bad News For Trump

By Diana Butler Bass

…Mike Johnson to change his mind. On April 21, the House finally passed its Ukraine aid bill. Was Ukraine a test case? Until this vote, a Venn diagram of MAGA, the Freedom Caucus, and congressional evangelical Republicans was essentially a circle. But in the days before the vote, it became obvious that there was a split on this issue. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most vocal and extreme evangelicals in Congress, appeared on Steve Bannon’s show…

The Enigmatic Role of Anti-Semitism in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

By Katherine Kelaidis

…of historical trauma is very much alive. But as Russia commences a war in Ukraine, history isn’t the only reason for Ukraine’s Jewish community to be afraid. A not-so-latent anti-semitism lies at the heart of Putin’s propaganda machine, and appeals to anti-semitic sentiments have been a central theme in the kultur politik advanced by both Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church in the Putin era. For example, whatever sympathy Russia does get from…

Espionage Allegations Against Russian Church Raise Religious Freedom Issue in Ukraine

By Katherine Kelaidis

…. Implicit in this ban is the suggestion that all the Orthodox faithful in Ukraine should be part of the Constantinople-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). But the choice between the UOC and OCU isn’t a neutral one, and banning the Moscow-backed UOC, despite the very convincing national security reasons to do so, is unquestionably placing a limit on religious freedom in Ukraine. Which in theory should be a problem for a country that, seemingl…

New Mormon Anti-Gay Policy Sparks Mass Exodus From Church; Christian AID Workers in Africa Refuse to Help Gay Refugees; Ukraine Rejects, Then Accepts EU-Required Gay Rights Law; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…event is a significant milestone along the way and a historical event for Ukraine. The Gay Alliance of Ukraine celebrated, and said the first appearance in law of the terms sexual orientation and gender identity should make it easier in the future given that thunder did not burst from heaven and Jesus did not show up personally to vent his outrage at the vote. They also said that activists’ unwillingness to remain invisible and push for the vote…

Putin Escalates Ukraine Invasion to ‘Cosmic War’ — But There is Hope

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…rthodox Church. On March 5, 2022, at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Patriarch delivered a sermon on what is known as Forgiveness Sunday in the Russian Orthodox tradition. In it, he portrayed the battle in Ukraine as not just a mundane military encounter, but a conflict of “metaphysical significance,” in which the existential forces of good and darkness were contesting. Kirill, and now Putin, have raised the stakes in what was i…

Holy Father, You’re Not Helping: The Problem with the Pope’s Plan to Consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

By Katherine Kelaidis

…l as implying exactly that. And that’s ignoring the fact that consecrating Ukraine and Russia at the same time, because of a prophecy about Russia, is probably less than ideal in the midst of a war in which the independence of Ukraine is at issue. To be clear, there’s almost certainly no ill intent on the part of Pope Francis, the Vatican, or all the well meaning Catholics cheering this on. They all probably believe they’re doing a very good thing…

Putin Theo-Propaganda Minister Kirill Invokes 600 Years of History to Lay Claim to Ukraine — Here’s What it Means

By Katherine Kelaidis

…ing shows that about a third of Ukrainans see him as a “man who fought for Ukraine’s independence,” while nearly a quarter see him as a traitor. And the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, wouldn’t rule out the idea that his family was connected to the former Hetman. He even had a statue of him built in the middle of Kyiv. But that’s kind of the point. History isn’t just a series of things that happened. History is what we think those…

In Sermon on Birth of the ‘Fatherland,’ Putin’s Patriarch Kirill Equates Invasion of Ukraine with Defense of Orthodox Faith

By Katherine Kelaidis

…d in his sermons, which draws an equivalency between Russian aggression in Ukraine and defending and living the Orthodox faith. He then goes on to once again erase Ukraine from the historical map, saying that the people ought to pray that “Holy Russia would be reunited.” As he’s made clear before, Ukraine is not, to his mind, an independent nation, but a rogue territory within Russia. And keeping Ukraine as part of Russia is a sacred obligation. I…

Make no Mistake, if There’s a War Between Russia and Ukraine, it Will be a Religious War

By Katherine Kelaidis

…d symbol to religious conservatives around the world. Let the fight begin. Ukraine has been an early and persistent hotspot in this conflict. In 2018, the Patriarch of Constantinople granted independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (a status known in the Orthodox world as autocephaly). The fallout has been significant—though it isn’t obvious to most observers that the fallout is either significant or related. Most recently, on December 29, 20…

Failure to Grasp the Distinct Character and History of Eastern Christianity is Compromising Our Understanding of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

By Katherine Kelaidis

…nd it motivates so much of the rhetoric on, if not the actual invasion of, Ukraine. The skirmish over “Russian World” in particular highlights the ways in which both sides of this conflict draw on legitimate elements of Orthodox Christian history and theology to support their position. Moreover, it’s clear that the two sides are speaking primarily to one another, and not to the Western world whose values and norms are ostensibly at the center of t…