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Diana Butler Bass's avatar

IMPORTANT contribution to the conversation: A comment that refers to several posts -- It is more than possible - and is historically true to say - that one doesn't need to be personally religious to lead a religious crusade. Rules and leaders have done this for centuries. Putin probably doesn't believe in anything other than himself and money, but he's still conducting a religious crusade. And it may also be the case that his religiosity is caught up in self-aggrandizement and the longer identity of being Russian, so, in that alternate sense, he is religious. "Religious" =/= nice, kind, compassionate or any of those positive virtues.

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Diana Butler Bass's avatar

I linked two articles in this thread about Russian Orthodox global ambitions. The pieces are from a blog called "Public Orthodoxy," which is very informative and thoughtful.

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