From a sociological point of view alone, this is fascinating.
The Russian Orthodox Church has coexisted with the Soviet Communist party and regime, despite the torrent of persecution that the Soviets unleashed upon it that resulted in many thousands of churches and monasteries being destroyed, and many millions of people being murdered, including, as we know, many New Martyrs and Confessors.
Communism was and is very "moral" in terms of sexual morality and civic duty. But it was so from its own perspective.
For communism, the ten commandments and biblical morality are largely a "bourgeois" creation that was designed to maintain class distinctions and promote class interests. Therefore, for communism, biblical morality is "immoral" and cannot be their standard of behaviour.
To be as charitable as possible in this instance, the Moscow Patriarch appears to be awarding this communist lackey for his service to country etc. He is not awarding him for being a communist or for his service to militant atheism. In other circumstances, that same communist would have thought nothing of murdering Orthodox priests and bishops and he certainly would never repent of his own previous regime doing the same.
The Soviet Union did sign a compact with Nazi Germany to basically divide Europe between themselves - Soviet communism didn't see anything "immoral" in that. It was only when Nazism attacked the USSR (out of its great hatred of communism itself and, in the same instance, of Slavs in general) that Staline was faced with the dilemma of having to promise certain religious and other freedoms to the peoples of the Soviet Union in exchange for their loyalty against Hitler.
In fact, had Hitler treated the peoples of the Soviet Union with any degree of humanity, which he did not, it is estimated he would have had up to five million of the USSR's subjects fighting against Stalin on his side. ROCOR to this day honours the memory of a Russian general who did just that - fought with the Nazis against Stalin.
In fact, information is only now surfacing that shows how certain Red Army commanders became commandants of Nazi death camps - it was a myth that the Red Army was categorically against the Nazi holocaust machine.
Politics makes for strange bed-fellows, it is said. Even stranger when religion is thrown into the mix, it would seem.
Alex
Last edited by Orthodox Catholic; 07/03/14 08:21 AM.
