Terrorism: Christian and Secular
At 5 A.M. in Moscow one more house was exploded - 9 stores, so the number of victims
will be about 100 people, like in the case of the explosion in Moscow on 8.9.1999.
In both cases it is almost for certain that this is Chechenian terrorism. I think
that such catastrophes are very unproductive in a sense that Christian cannot
say anything new, but must only remind that it is in such cases that we must be
peacemakers and call not for the revenge, but for something opposite.
The reaction of the official prapaganda (and now practically all media express
only one, official point of view) is very Soviet: Chechens are beasts, terrotists,
we must exterminate them and severely restrict civil freedoms of Russians to prevent
other cases of "terrorism." But actually this not a terrorism, this is a typical
Eastern revenge. And the chain of revenge was created by Russian generals, who
waged the war in Dagestan in Chechnya by the most barbarous and inhuman ways,
without observing any rules of wars.
The reaction of survivors and of those whose apartments
in the neighboring houses have been severely destroyed seems very interesting:
most of these people expressed great joy that they will receive new, better apartments
"from the mayor Luzhkov." In Moscow there is now private property on land, not
real private houses or condominiums and people�s psychology seems to be very infantile.
Interests are restricted with food and habitation. Even patriotism can be
(and is) only artificial in such circumstances, and there are no signs of any
anti-Chechen feelings among people, who are too tired.
Maxim Shevchenko and Yekaterina Stupina (NG-religii, 8.9.1999) write about
Yevgeniy Morozov. Morozov was the parishioner of Fr.
George Kochetkov, on 17.12.1997 he was ordained a deacon and send to the village
in Moscow region. When Kochetkov was suppressed, Morozov had been suppressed by
metropilit Yuvenaliy Poyarkov under the pretext that
his wife came out to be divorced. Actually, many people during last years have
been ordained, although they had more than one marriage (not to mention their
wives). Most interesting example is Fr. Vladimir Vigilyansky, whose second wife
is journalist Olesya Nikolyaeva, who himself was a typical Communist journalist,
became priest after Perestroyka and now is the official head of "Russian Orthodox
journalists."
Morozov was not only defrocked. He went to some tine village in the Russian
North and began working there as a missionary on his own risk (having four children).
But bishop of the diocese of Viatka Chrisanf Chepil
(b. 1937, bishop from 1978) 29.7.1998 issued the letter to the head of administration
of the region telling him that Morozov has no permission ("blessing," "blagosloveniye"
of the bishop) to be a missionary. Morozov was arrested on March 15, 1993 and
on August 16, 1999 he was sentenced to three years of prison. The verdict stressed
that he had worn the cassock "without right" and received money from the inhabitants
of the village. The inhabitants of the village wrote an official letter stating
that they�ve lent these money on their own free will and have no pretensions to
Morozov, but this letter was not even read by the judge.
This a nice case of how far is Russian life from democracy. When Western politicians
states that due to their efforts there is liberty in Russia they try to ignore
such cases (which are very numerous). Moscow Patriarchy is not the state church
in the full sense of the word, but this case show she becomes dangerous not only
for Protestants or Roman Catholics, but for her own members also. Morozov was
put in jail absolutely illegally under the ridiculous pretext of wearing the "church
dress" � which is incredible in secular state. |
