In 1917, Russia became the first victim of Communism. Under the revolution led by Vladimir Illyich Lenin, millions would be murdered. The Russian Orthodox Church suffered a horrific persecution in which its bishops, priests, and faithful were murdered for maintaining their fidelity to Jesus Christ!
By the end of the century, the totalitarian Communist system collapsed and Orthodox Russia gradually reemerged. Christianity is flourishing in Russia, while the western world appears to be coming under attack from the failed and discredited theories of Marxism-Leninism. Millions of innocent people suffered under the yoke of Communism in what became the Soviet Union.
The Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength”. I Corinthians 1:25
The renaissance of Orthodoxy that is taking place in Russia today can and should be considered a miracle. By the 1930’s, the Russian Church was nearly decimated. Today, it is the Communists who are decimated and Orthodoxy has been restored.
The events that are playing out in the western world are in many ways a repetition of the sins of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve sinned against God and were expelled from the garden of Eden. The western world has rejected God for quite some time, and the consequences of this rejection are now coming to fruition.
Orthodox Christians are taught to see the image of God in the face of every human being. Certainly, the murder of George Floyd was a horrific sin. In addition however, American news outlets and certain political leaders and celebrities are contributing to the dehumanization of Police officers. Murder was a sin when Cain killed his brother Abel, and murder is a sin today when ever it occurs against any human being.
The Democratic Party in America is becoming a bastion of barbarism like the Communist Party in Russia and the Nazi Party of Germany which preceded them. As a Greek Orthodox I unequivocally stand in opposition to everything that the Democratic Party represents. The Democratic Party is emerging with its neo pagan and anti Christian doctrines as the future persecutor of Christianity.
In the Book of Exodus we learn about the Pharaoh of Egypt who refused to let the Israelites go. The tyrannical Pharaoh brought down the wrath of God on himself and his land. In the early history of the Church, the Roman Emperors were associated by Christians with the Antichrist for their fierce persecution of Christians.
The late Christopher Hitchens used to associate religion with totalitarianism. Mr. Hitchens was a great writer, journalist, and intellectual and I admire much of his work. On the subject of religion he was completely and entirely wrong.
Totalitarianism is the ultimate form of idolatry. It is the violation of the first two Commandments that God gave to Moses. The condemnation in the Old Testament of tyrants such as Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar and the later condemnation of the Roman Emperors in the Book of Revelation and by various Christian apologists and martyrs is proof that God condemns tyrants.
Tyrants always set themselves up as an object of worship. Consider Leni Riefenstahl’s film, “Triumph of the Will” which was filmed at the 1934 Nazi Party Congress. The film’s event has always struck me as a form of idolatry in that Hitler became among the fanatical mobs an object of devotion and perhaps outright worship.
Lenin, Stalin, and Mao likewise made themselves objects of veneration and near worship. We should be profoundly troubled and disturbed that the totalitarian ideologies of the twentieth century have not been completely laid to rest. How ironic is it that the left in American academia denounce “white European males” but remain under the demonic thrall of Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky?
The Holy Church of God has been warring against the demons of hell from the very beginning of its inception by the Lord Jesus Christ! Christ himself descended into hell and liberated the souls that were in captivity! The enemies of the faith of Christ have been numerous.
The Romans, the heretical gnostics, arians, nestorians, monophysites, and iconoclasts, the Franks, the Teutonic Knights, the Ottomans, the Communists, the Kemalists, the Nazis, and the Ustashe. All of them have been defeated. Some of the demons are more quiet but exist nonetheless (Nazism-racism) (Marxism).
Irrespective of the outcome of the events under way in the United States and parts of Europe, the western world will remain hostile to Christianity as it has been for many years now. Orthodox Christians should be looking to Russia for leadership.
Russia has withstood and overcome the demons that were unleashed by the gates of hell. Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler are long gone. Russia is again a bastion of Cathedrals, Churches, and Monasteries. Russia is a source of enlightenment and spiritual liberation in contrast to the west which in its spiritual ignorance and confusion may be embarking on the path that leads to barbarism.
Christianity is the enemy of the Marxist ideology that has corrupted the minds and souls of so many in America today. The bastion of Christianity in the world today is Russia. Russia is the bastion against western atheist and neo pagan barbarism.