From “Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies” by David P. Gushee
Vladimir Putin and his regime have received crucial support for their authoritarian rule from the Russian Orthodox Church, “now a fully assimilated part of the Kremlin’s domestic and foreign policy machine,” according to observers. Putin justifies his repressive rule, in part, by claiming to be the defender of traditional Christian values, a posture that gains the support of the Russian Orthodox Church. Russia analysts Jeremy Lamoreaux and Lincoln Flake observe that “as early as 2000, when ‘spiritual renewal’ was highlighted in the National Security Concept as well as other government policies…Putin intended to cloak his regime in a type of Orthodox nationalism.” That strategy has only accelerated in the last two decades. Here is how the Economist summarized the situation in November 2021:
Russia’s securocrats assert that traditional values of family, culture and history are being corrupted by the liberal and licentious West and that only they can defend them. Fighting back against the West lets the Kremlin portray all those who oppose it – journalists, human rights lawyers and activists – as foreign agents.