I haven't understood that anyone's sentiments were that they would prefer to live in Russia. The U.S. is probably still one of the best places to live in the world, though there are many, many things that concern me lately...

Anyway, getting back on topic, I think that what posters are saying is that they admire the way our Eastern Orthodox/Catholic faith is being embraced in those countries.

I agree, although with the restrictions upon freedom of conscience being imposed upon Catholics by the federal government it may not be such a great place to live in the future.


Once again I agree with you; and at least for me this is what I find hopeful about Russia. For example, efforts pressing for legal recognition of homosexual marriage are not going anywhere in Russia; while the opposite is true here in the United States.

Substitute "north" for "West" and "global south" for "East" and I'd say you were spot on.



With regard to my President, my prayer is a first person adaptation of one of my favorite phrases from the prayers of Lucien Deiss:

"Convert his heart, and mine".

I agree that my opinion may not be backed by a lot of facts, but I've been to Herzegovina, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, not in the tourist traps, but in guesthouses amongst the people. Generally, rather than classing by nationality, the more agrarian the people are the more moral and appreciative of God's gifts they are.

But if you go by trends, which I tend give more weight to, the West is becoming less Christian and the East is becoming more Christian, or at least holding its own. In material terms the East is less decadent and more disciplined.

I don't think there is any reasonable argument that in the future the West will evangelize the East; the opposite is more realistic. Don't you agree?

The Cold War is over. The new war is internal, the givers vs the takers.

Herzegovinia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland (of which I have been to two) are not really Eastern Europe. Poland, for instance, considers itself (and is) fully part of Western Europe. Hungary likewise. But even Poland and Hungary have rampant problems with corruption (Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Index gave Poland a score of 5.5, Hungary 4.6, Slovakia 4.0, Bosnia-Herzegovinia 3.6 out of 10.0. Granted, that looks really good in comparison to Romania (3.6), Bulgaria (3.3), Serbia (3.3), Greece (3.4), Kosovo (2.9), Albania (3.1), Ukraine (2.3), Belarus (2.4) and Russia (2.4). But in contrast, Sweden leads everybody with a 9.3, Germany is 8.0, the UK is 7.8, France is 7.0, and even Estonia is 6.3 (the U.S. is rated 7.1).

So, let's start with the premise that building a just and civil society requires more than just nominal adherence to a religious faith, but strong civil institutions, social trust, and rule of law--none of which are possible where everyone and everything is for sale. Bribery, corruption, embezzlement and theft are considered everyday activities throughout Eastern Europe (the real Eastern Europe), a necessity in order to get by, even to survive. You can wait weeks to save up enough to buy some shingles from a local building supply store, or you can pass a few hundred rubles to a guy who works at a warehouse, and he will get you some shingles that "fell off the truck". Similarly, you can wait weeks to get that tooth extracted, or you can pass a little something to the dentist's receptionist to get moved to the front of the line. I nice young woman working for an American company in Warsaw was very up front about this: "We have been conditioned for fifty years to take any opportunity that we see". Just joining the EU doesn't change that sort of ingrained behavior.

Corruption extends beyond the business world. Eastern Europe is a center for the human trafficking trade, which is carried on openly and with the connivance of the civil authorities. Prostitution and pornography are rampant--more so than in the fleshpots of Hamburg (and that's saying something)--again, with official connivance. All of this is traceable to the absence of rule of law and personal accountability in the political system. Look at the situation in Russia, in which political dissent is stifled through a combination of selective legal persecution combined with targeted violence against opposition leaders in different sectors of society (journalists, artists, intellectuals, media, big business, small business, politics, etc.). It was Stalin who said, "Kill one to silence a thousand"--a policy in effect today.

The problem is not confined to Russia, but also exists in Ukraine (where Yanukovic is merely a tool of the Russian government), Belarus (where the Iron Curtain never fell) and most of the other former Soviet Republics. Similar problems exist in some of the former Warsaw Pact states as well, notably Bulgaria, Moldova and even Romania. It won't go away until some of those decadent Western notions like representative government; transparency; rule of law; personal accountability; and honest dealing take hold.

The Orthodox Church ought to be leading that movement, but, with few exceptions (Albania, Romania) it is not. Rather, it is in danger of falling back into the old habit of deferring to the civil power and not holding it to the standard that Christian governance demands. Throughout the history of the Byzantine Empire, the Church was no tool of the Emperors, but held the Emperors to account when they transgressed the teachings of the Church. Similarly, numerous Russian bishops and metropolitans were not afraid to speak out against the abuses of the Tsars. Unfortunately, after the demise of St. Filip of Moscow, that moral voice largely fell silent. The long captivity of the Church--first to the Russian government under the procuratorship created by Peter the Great, then under the oppression of the Soviets--seems to have made the Church in Russia believe its survival depends on being the lapdog of whoever is in power. Until that changes, the Church's moral authority to lead the regeneration of Russian society will remain limited at best.

Why should I accept the "ratings" put forward by "Transparency International"? After all the "ratings" supplied are simply a reflection of the subjective opinions of the group that produced them? Does "Transparency International" hold that the HHS health care mandates are a form of "corruption" or restriction of freedom? I saw nothing on "Transparency International's" website about religious freedom or the lack thereof. Perhaps that NGO finds religious freedom to be unimportant, but it is a central concern for me. Like all NGO's it seems to have its own political motivations, which I suppose is normal.

That said, in what part of the world are we seeing religious freedom attacked (on a daily basis)? Western Europe, North America, and China.

Yes, constant attacks are being made on religious freedom in the once free nations of the West. I continually see reports about attacks upon Christian practice in Western Europe (e.g., the wearing of crosses in public is made illegal, public display of crucifixes forbidden, ringing of Church bells prohibited, etc.) and yet supposedly the EU is a beacon of light for freedom. At the same time that religious practice is under attack, I see the constant promotion of so-called homosexual "rights" in the EU, the United States, and Canada, with people being forced to accept immoral practices are clearly contrary to the natural moral law. Of course the promotion of these so-called "rights" in the Western world is not enough; instead, the morally sick Western nations feel compelled to promote this distorted view of life in other countries, and they use their wealth to get their way. As my 73 year old mother said to me not too long ago, "The United States of today is not the country I was born and raised in," and she is right about that, as we see the ongoing moves by the federal (HHS mandates on contraceptives and abortifacient drugs) and state (Connecticut trying to take control of Catholic parishes, physician assisted suicide laws passed in Oregon, Washington, and Montana, Catholic adoption agencies forced to close in Illinois, etc.) governments to restrict religious freedom. Let's face it, we are moving beyond warning signs of a coming persecution of religion in the United States to active persecution itself.

And Russia, and Ukraine, and Belarus--unless, of course, you don't think that Mormons, Pentacostals, Jehovah's Witnesses and various Evangelicals are worthy of religious freedom. Let's not be silly.

Amen x3

Stuart, once again, your hatred of everything Russian is growing old. Lets look at this objectively. Why just yesterday, president Obama came out in support of Gay marriage. President Obama wants to force the Catholic Church to pay for abortions. His healthcare bill would have ensured the death of the elderly from fixable conditions. He has chided us for "clinging to our guns and religion". And while our "good" president leads us to perdition, "bad" President Putin has reintroduced Orthodoxy into every classroom, has funded the building of thousands of new churches, dedicated the Russian Space Program to the Holy Trinity, broke the back of organized sodomy and the list goes on. Archbishop Averky was spot on when he stated "Truly never before has the cross of each person who wants to be a true Christian been as heavy as in this time of the triumph of falsehood which we are experiencing. Never before on this earth has there been such a huge number of people who freely and easily, without any shame, without any pangs of conscience 'call evil good, and good evil' ! (Is. 5:20)" Methinks some on this board cannot differentiate anymore between good and evil.

Wake up already. America no longer wears a white hat. The cold war is over. What I see is America becoming what the Soviet Union was, only worse, and Russia becoming what America once was. Admittedly Russia still has a long way to go, hopefully culminating in the establishment of an Orthodox Monarchy, but they are headed in the right direction. What direction is this country heading in?

My hatred of everything Russia. A good laugh that gave me.