Russia-Ukraine crisis complicates American white evangelicals' love for Putin
By: Anthea Butler (MSNBC. com)
Why would anyone support (and pray for) Vladimir Putin?
Billy Graham once said:
Back in the 1950s, white evangelical leaders like Billy Graham preached against the evils of communism and called then-Soviet states “godless” and a threat to Christianity and America.
Now Graham's son Franklin seems to love Putin:
A few days before the invasion of Ukraine, he asked people to “ pray for Putin ” but not for Ukrainians, creating a decent amount of backlash .
And since Donald Trump always praises Putin, many Trumpanzees support Putin.
WTF?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
March 2, 2022, 1:09 AM UTC / Updated March 2, 2022, 7:56 PM UTC By Anthea Butler, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
While the world looks on in horror as Russia's invasion of Ukraine unfolds, one group has been praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. It turns out Putin has a fan base in America's right-leaning evangelical politicians and pundits.
Putin has a fan base in America's right-leaning evangelical politicians and pundits.
At this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, which wrapped up over the weekend, Lauren Witzke, a GOP candidate for the Senate in Delaware, said: "Here's the deal. Russia is a Christian nationalist nation. They're actually Russian Orthodox. ... I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden."
This isn't an uncommon stance among some Republicans and white American evangelicals today, who have previously admired Putin because of the alignment of their beliefs with his about homosexuality, authoritarianism and fealty to former President Donald Trump. Many believe Putin's nationalism, coupled with their Christian belief, is the way America should be.
A few months ago, it's likely that not much attention would have been paid to a statement like Witzke's, nor would her support for Putin be so closely connected to her support for Trump. But in light of Russia's current actions, more pro-Putin American evangelicals are coming into sharp focus. Televangelist Pat Robertson proclaimed that Putin is "being compelled by God" to invade Ukraine — his take on Putin's motivations is questionable at best, but his support for Putin as part of a divine plan is notable.
As things escalate in Ukraine, evangelicals and Republicans alike are faced with a hard choice: How do they support the authoritarian policies of Putin while Ukraine and its evangelical population face the horrors of war? I suspect it will be difficult for evangelicals and Republican officials to continue to be as effusive as their idol, Trump, has been about Putin. Because if they indeed believe in the so-called family values of the church, the images we're seeing of Ukrainian parents' being separated from their children to escape Russian forces is much harder to justify.
Lauren Witzke, the Delaware GOP's candidate for Senate in 2020, has nothing but praise for Putin and "his Christian nationalist nation": "I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden." pic.twitter.com/oQ2nhlVGCR — Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 24, 2022
Evangelicals are a long way from how they historically thought about Russia and communism. Back in the 1950s, white evangelical leaders like Billy Graham preached against the evils of communism and called then-Soviet states "godless" and a threat to Christianity and America.
Fast-forward to the 21st century, and today's evangelical leaders, as well as Republicans, have embraced Russia — and, more specifically, Putin. In 2014, Putin made the cover of the evangelical magazine Decision in a piece in which Graham's son Franklin lauded his handling of the Winter Olympics and his protection of Christians. Franklin visited Russia in 2015, and ever since, has promoted Putin as a godly leader. A few days before the invasion of Ukraine, he asked people to "pray for Putin" but not for Ukrainians, creating a decent amount of backlash.
But whether or not American evangelicals try to distance themselves from Putin in this current news cycle, they have long gravitated toward the Russian president for his hard-line stance against Muslims and, most importantly, his anti-LGBTQ agenda. Putin's rhetoric about the nation, the family and the church (in this instance, the Russian Orthodox Church), has captivated many and spurred them to embrace similar kinds of political action here in America. Consider all of the anti-gay and anti-transgender laws that are cropping up in states like Texas and Florida. These laws are part of a constellation of family-focused conservative religious ideals also embraced by Putin and other Eastern European leaders who have clung to a hard line against any so-called "anti-family" ideology.
Franklin Graham puts Putin on a pedestal
March 19, 201401:04
For members of the religious right, alliances with these leaders present a new frontier in their hope to achieve a theocracy in America. According to journalist Sarah Posner, those on the religious right see Eastern European countries that embrace the Orthodox Church and its family values as the way forward. Because of these interactions between Eastern Europe authoritarian leadership and religious and political leadership of the GOP in America, clampdowns in the U.S. on abortion rights, trans children's rights and gay rights are therefore all coming back full force on the state level. We can't of course forget that Trump's consistent and solid support of Putin is also a significant factor.
Meanwhile, other faith leaders in America held a vigil for peace in Ukraine, and Pope Francis visited the Russian Embassy in Rome, a sign of the seriousness of the situation. As the conflict in Ukraine continues, admiration of Putin by some white evangelicals and Republicans may lead to more than they bargained for.
Anthea Butler
Anthea Butler is a professor of religious studies and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her most recent book, "White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America," was published in March.
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Mitt Romney says Americans who support Putin are ‘almost treasonous’
High profile media figures including Tucker Carlson have repeatedly stressed their indifference to the fate of Ukraine
almost? thumpers seem to require somebody to tell them what to do in this life, and their next imagined one...
Actaully at times I've seen him go beyond "mere indifference".
(His love of Putin and other dictators is quite obvious...)
Yep. Fucker Carlson said, "Putin has never called me a racist so why should I hate him." He also indicated his support for the Russian (then he later denied sayin that."
didn't this POS thumper relic also claim that god told him to run for POTUS a few decades ago?
Why would Putin call Lil Tucker a racist? They think along the same lines
Mitt also said that there are morons in his party. This is certainly a very true statement.
his party is dominated by morons, of the evangelical variety...
, Morons and such make up a party that they religiously follow, even when the Less Off s, will eventually become, More Ons, and since Divorced from real;ity and married to a Trump Mentality, Y shouldnt the Less Off become More On, and even marry more, n on that note , Y not be Moronic Mormon More Ons Married to Trumpisms that have difficulty going GOP and rarely are able to sleep through the night, without having to say G, i Oughta Go P
Trump, the swollen Prostate that just wont Go Away gland, till Putin him in office again in another time and day, again has his way with Trumpleforeskin in our game, with Putin putting it in, him again, cause whsat kind of a sick simpleton emulates to be singing lil' Kim praises ass again kissing the one who Putin him in office while holding grey skies and Golden baby Showers over all that Towers, over Trump, as Putin the meticulous mind fucks Trump up and over yet again, and simply, cause he can, and these gleeful ones lost, who believe Trump was stronger on a longer Put in him, inn office while pretty Russian Prostitutes provide a preponderance of precipitous poison potions that Putin dangles over Trumps empty empathy as skinned is his phathead like a kneed a bobbling wobbling Bobble head , warned, but couldn't heed, filled with ,manure, to feed the seed planted, like a bottle sucking baby Harp Sealed by the strike from Putins batted eye in a kiss enchanted, in a forrest wear Trump Gumped like a Pinky Tuscadaro Tupperware Walrus that broke his seal, cause to deal, prostitutes piss scares the bejeebus out of Trump and this, is for some so evident, while for others too dense in their closed doors not open to not chokin, as Putin gives himm two Dirty Fonzies cause tired of bangin Potssie and Pannzys, ass Trump Hamms it up like the squealing low life and dealing unappealing bag of strife that truly makes an Onion article of cloth, four toad sleuth who thought he was sleuth about his sloth cause Putin broke his Hyman Roth, IR A complished by praising a pathetic insecure little man, and
all because
he CAN
Putin is neither a Chinese communist nor a Democrat, which holds him in good stead with white evangelical Christians in America.
Top Republican says Ukraine no-fly zone could lead to 'beginning of World War III' (msn.com)
Why is there a picture of "little hands" Marco Rubio attached to the article?
Does anyone other than Marco think he's at the top of anything?
It's all understandable, Putin trashes the 'not sexually normal' and the christian right laps it up feverishly.
trump and putin represent today's conservative xtian values perfectly.
Although I had to do some digging, I discovered the denomination of the church I attend is Foursquare. That makes it an Evangelical Pentecostal church. I can unequivocally state that we don't love Putin. In fact, he's never mentioned. More, no political figures or even politics itself is discussed or preached on in my church. In fact, the closest to a political sermon I've ever seen in my church just happened to be today. The sermon was "What would Jesus have to say about politics?" Long story short, the answer was "Seek first the kingdom of God."
Same goes with other churches I've attended. I've never seen any of them do political sermons or endorse political figures. So I have to wonder why everyone says things like "Evangelicals love Putin." Seems to me, such people look for a few people who say what they need and then attribute it to the entire enchilada. Nice.
A Simeon Stylites Theme Park?
the kids will go ape...
its been some time now, since i got flagged ffrom Church, so im not up to date even while single, but handedly some of the therefore mentioned preachers mentioned in article would likely be what a few million out there are hearing , No ? I have not a clue as to how many , as never took a gander at what quantitative amounts these gaggling goobers get to flock up their flocks thoughts with, particularly perhaps these paradoxical teachings, cause its seriously overeachings, round for those who can't always see for themslves that possibly some preachers provide the wrong side, when they provide, their misinterpretations of the lessons that do not coincide with that which we would associate with one who teaches love, not hate but, my interpretation is rarely missed, but probably out of date
Not everyone says that, obviously.
For the people who do say that, liberal politics is their religion. It's how they decide right from wrong, good people from bad, who to love and who to hate.
Like most religious zealots, they need constant reassurance that the mindset that controls their life is the correct one, and superior to all other religions. So claiming that one sworn enemy...evangelical Christians.... is aligned with another enemy.... Vladimir Putin, helps shore up their own sense of moral superiority.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the vice versa of them all ... ?
i like this,
Point proven. Thank you.
Here's the stupid video again:
Wonderful video! I couldn't stop laughing. We should invite Pat onto NT to preach here-- he'd fit right in....
I don't think some people appreciate your humor
"Conservatives" don't know what humor is (especially satire).
Saving this for the next time somebody seeds a Babylon Bee article and the usual suspects lose their shit.
I dont object to conservative satire of the left, in general. The problem with the Babylon Bee is that their satire is second or third rate. Not even close to The Onion or Andy Borowitz.
It's not at all funny. Neither are those who think it's funny.
pffffhhhtttt.....
I don't bother with those seeds. The Babylon Bee needs to take a Satire 101 class.
We have an ongoing one right now.
Usual suspects. Knickers in a twist.
I have no idea what you're talking about
that makes 3 of us...
I wish people would remember I have a room temperature IQ and can't suss out hidden, vague meanings
And I'd add a few more names to that list (incredible sense of humour that is totally under-appreciated by most people on social media): amazing people such as Jon Stewart, John Oliver, al Jizzerror, and Cobalt Blue!
Which brings up another point-- not only is most "humor" from the right rather crude...but its so often extremely mean-spirited.
Crude?
Compare the Three Stooges (which to me exemplifies the style much of the right-wing would love-- crude slapstick with some basic mean-ness) to someone like Jon Stewart...or even the Marx Brothers...
And the constant repetition of phrases like "Let's Go Brandon"..."Getting their panties in a wad about"..."living rent free in their head"...for some bizarre reason, many of the far-right think that constently droning on with these phrases shows how witty (they think) they are...
Even if you think its funny the first time, after constantly repeating those phrases it becomes beyond monotonous..
But then again...that's really all they've got
There you go again...what's next?
Maybe repeating some tremendously witty memes* like "Babylon Bee Living Rent Free In Their Head"?
Or perhaps such great witticisms such as "Let's Go Brandon"...
_________________________________________
*"tremendously witty memes" In case anyone missed it, that was sarcasm
Well....my definition of crude is different from yours and I think I have a crude and crass sense of humor. I'm not above bathroom humor and I can get mean but then I'm not as funny when I'm mean.
I think the crux of the problem here is a misunderstanding of what is actually intended as wit.
Cobalt is funnier than the other 3 glued to a duck.
Putin has ruined Russia and is poison to its neighbors. He’s a dictator, a thief, a murderer, and all around global menace. I don’t understand why this is a mystery to anyone or even a controversial take. Even when they were negotiating a cease fire yesterday, I knew Russia would never live up to it. Why anyone listens to or negotiates with him - as if his word was worth a shit - is a complete mystery to me.
C;mon now, he told Trump he didnt do it, and Trump agreed, what kind of silly reason would Putin have to cause Trump to be appeasing, and Busch Boy looked intyo his dreamy eyes and saw his sole purpose was a little more complicated and say, sophisticated for those who thought they couldn't be played by a former head KBG mind fck
Do you remember what Trump's relationship with him was? What Trump said about him?
The point being that no matter what people think of Trump, and no matter the fact that he's no longer in office: many people (maybe about 1/3rd of the country?)-- still admire and respect Trump, and the things he said and did. And his attitude toward Putin was always very positive).
Up until fairly recent Fox News hosts were saying that the war in Ukraine was none of our business-- some even making excuses for Putin.
(Of course its all changed as they realized Americans were see evidence of Putin's atrocities daily on TV and online)
Like trumpturd.
Oh right, God is telling Putin to kill children. I am so sick of these false prophets and their bs.
And some people wonder why I am not religious.
it's no coincidence that the same lowlife scum that support putin in the ukraine also support those that attempted to over throw our democracy in DC 15 months ago...
Well, the overthrow of US democracy was orchestrated by Donald Fucking Trump.
Trump was/is a Russian asset. I'm not sure if it was if Trump was a witting or a half-witting Russian asset but he was definitely working for/with Putin. One of his first acts in office was to invite Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and "Ambassador" Sergey Kislyak to the White House. Kislyak was Russia's head of intel in the US. The US press/photographers were barred during the visit butt the Russian press/photographers were invited.
Trump revealed "code word level" intelligence (from the Israelis about ISIS) to Kislyak during that visit. Trump probably also arranged for back-channel communications.
Israel TV: Intel allegedly leaked by Trump came directly from Islamic State ‘capital’ in Syria
Source of info reportedly given by president to Russia said to be Israeli army’s Military Intelligence unit, whose chief happens to be in DC now
Highly classified intelligence concerning Islamic State activities that was reportedly divulged by US President Donald Trump to Russian diplomats came directly from the terror group’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa in Syria, Israel’s Channel 1 news reported Wednesday night.
According to the public news channel, the source of the information was the Israel Defense Force’s Military Intelligence.
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Trump had revealed “code word”-level intelligence — one of the highest levels of secrecy in the US — during a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak earlier this month.
IMO, Trump should have been impeached immediately!
Shocking.. although actually knowing many of the other things Trump has done it really should come as no surprise.
And I wouldn't be in the least surprised if in the near future more of Trump's treasonous act are exposed...
(So after saying this I'm expecting more attacks on me from the MAGA-cultists here. OMG-- Trump is living rent free in my head. OH-- the horror!
)
Or perhaps accusations that "I've got my panties in a wad" about Trump's traitorous behaviour"?
Or maybe a few chants of "Let's Go Brandon". (Yes, there are those who still feel that that's somehow extremely witty
)
Well, why not-- I could use a little mirth in my day!
Given what we know about Trump. that really shouldn't be much of a surprise!
Yeah, we're still waiting for your proof of that.
Did Trump state we should all go home ? or we should all meet me at the Capital and stop the Steal ?
Do you not know what "proof" is?
The pathetic part of all this is that Trump is STILL instigating people to make trouble over the election. He wrote a letter to news anchor Lester Holt just a couple days ago where he whined and whined about the election being stolen from him and what people were doing in Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to try and win it back for him.
16 fucking months after the election this douche is still crying about it. No evidence, no facts, no PROOF, nothing but his belief in insane conspiracy theories.
You have never proven a single thing on this forum but still have the fucking gall to demand "proof" when people give their opinion.
[deleted]
I don't have to prove I AM a DICK ! Cause you already know it tio be true, now see how that works....
He doesn't appear to. Has never supplied an iota.
show me where I said that. make your quotes more accurate. let's go darwin!
LET'S GO BRANDON!
PANTIES IN A WAD!
LIVING RENT FREE IN HEADS!
And naturally, you believed him. I mean...it's Donald Trump, right? Why wouldn't you believe everything he says?
What's really fascinating is the amount of free publicity he gets from people who can't stop talking about him.....
I bet she doesn't know that the Russian Orthodox Church is almost the same as the Roman Catholic Church. They like their iconography probably way more than the RCC