[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
International News Title: "Putin Is Not God" Says Russian Orthodox Church Russia’s politicians may look like they’re playing God, but religious leaders are guiding their flocks away from playing the blame game – particularly against the government. And for once, the country’s four major faiths all appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet. The Russian Orthodox Church, the country’s most powerful religious institution, has so far collected over 12 million roubles ($400,000) for victims of the wildfires, while Patriarch Kirill has urged Russians to stop blaming the authorities and help each other. “Of course, humanity’s sins are the reason for all misfortunes on Earth,” Kirill said in a statement. “But called upon by God to love each other we shouldn’t blame others... because this calamity touches all of us – including those who are far away from the actual fires and those who are seemingly safe.” The church was not spared by the “misfortune”, either, with at least two churches in the Nizhny Novogorod and Ryazan regions consumed by the flames. But the Orthodox Church’s information department could not provide any figures about how much church property was affected nationwide. Orthodox educators, meanwhile, pointed out that because many people are convinced that the Kremlin is all-powerful, they automatically assume that the government will have an easy time preventing natural disasters. “I suppose if a giant meteor fell somewhere in Russia tomorrow, the government would also be to blame,” Yevgeny Nikiforov, chairman of the Radonezh Orthodox educational society, told The Moscow News. “But Putin isn’t God - and when a natural disaster occurs, it’s first and foremost a reminder of God’s power.” Nikiforov said that in a time like this, it’s important to focus on relief work as opposed to finger-pointing. “This past Sunday alone, 300 people in the Moscow region were fined for trying to start campfires to make shashlik,” he said. “This tells us something about the lack of responsibility and infantilism that many people are displaying at this time. This disaster has befallen us collectively - and at a time like this, introspection is crucial.” For Russian Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan began on Wednesday with prayers for those affected by the wildfires. “Islam teaches us to be merciful and understanding toward those who are in need right now,” Gulnar Gaziyeva, a spokeswoman for the Russian Council of Muftis, told The Moscow News. The council has opened a drop-off point for food, clothes and domestic items for the victims of the wildfires, she said. Gaziyeva said she had received dozens of calls every day from Russian Muslims offering to help people affected by the fires across the country. “They want to show that Muslims, as a large part of Russian society, also feel involved,” she said. Smog clouds over Moscow have caused many residents to engage in grim thoughts about the Apocalypse, the end of days, or what you will, but not all appears to be lost. As people from different faiths prayed for rain, weather forecasters began predicting that a new cyclone would cover European Russia by midweek, bringing relief to smog-choked Moscow. And lo and behold: on Wednesday, the heavens opened. “Muslims in Russia have been praying for the Lord’s mercy since the end of July,” Gaziyeva said. “We rejoice now, because our prayers have been heard.” In a multi-faith country such as Russia, natural disasters often bring members of different faiths together. In response to this year’s wildfires, Russia’s Buddhists have joined Orthodox Christians and Muslims in praying for rain. Buryatia’s president, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, has said that Lamas at the holiest shrine in his republic, Ivolginsk Datsan, were praying around the clock for relief from the fires. Other Buddhists said that, while according to their faith the temporal world is merely a dream, they had also been praying for rain. “We don’t just sit down and say our mantras, we also lead normal lives, unlike some would have thought,” said Alexander Koybagarov, head of the Karma Kagyu Russian Buddhists Association. By meditating positively, Buddhist mantras can change how disasters are perceived in people’s minds, Koybagarov said. “It’s certainly difficult to do so since the world is only a projection,” he said. “But if we concentrate hard enough we can build a positive picture.” Representatives of Russia’s Jewish community said they too were praying for rain, but as part of their normal religious rituals. “We didn’t pray for rain [specifically for this season,]” said Andrei Glotser, spokesman for Russia’s chief rabbi, Berl Lazar. The Torah has special prayers for rain and all “good Judaists pray every summer for God to grant the dew and for everyone’s good health.” The Jewish community in Moscow has pitched in with two minivans of aid to the Moscow region village of Beloomut, he said. “It is the personal choice of every person to pray and to help financially or in any other way,” Glotser added. Environmental scientists, meanwhile, tend to belittle the idea that the fires are some kind of divine punishment, but admit that prayer could help to generate some positive vibes. “When a large number of people begin thinking positively this certainly can be a good thing,” said Nikolai Shmatkov, head of the forestry programme at WWF Russia. “Still, I think these fires were not God’s judgment. God, if he exists, has simpler ways of punishing people.” Perhaps predictably, atheists said organised religions were simply trying to cash in on naturally-occurring phenomena. “Of course it will rain eventually,” said Mikhail Stepanstov, co-chairman of the Runet Atheist Council. “But the church will claim it as their achievement, of course.”
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|