[Asec] "The Grave Sin of Fratricide": Russian Believers Step Forward with Anti-War Appeals

[Mark Elliott]

<https://religionunplugged.com/news/2022/3/29/the-russian-believers-boldly-issuing-anti-war-appeals>
[image: The Russian Christians Boldly Issuing Anti-War Appeals]
<https://religionunplugged.com/news/2022/3/29/the-russian-believers-boldly-issuing-anti-war-appeals>
*Father Ioann Burdin, Church of the Resurrection, Karabanovo, Kostroma
Diocese, may have been the first Russian Orthodox priest to have been taken
to court and fined for publicly opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. In early
March Putin signed legislation prohibiting Russian media from calling his
invasion of Ukraine a war. Instead, it is supposed to be called a “special
military operation.” Having none of that, Fr. Ioann says he cannot find
“special military operation" in the Bible, but he does find there  “war.”
In a courageous Meduza  interview he continues:*
<https://religionunplugged.com/news/2022/3/29/the-russian-believers-boldly-issuing-anti-war-appeals>
*“You cannot allow hatred into your soul toward Russians, Ukrainians,
Americans, or brothers nearby who do not think the way you do. If someone
else’s pain and tears do not touch a person, then (that person) is not a
Christian. … Right now, both Ukrainians and Russians are perishing there
(in Ukraine). All of them are people. … Life is very short, but there is an
eternity where borders, nationalities, (or) who you were during your
lifetime … will have no meaning. What will have meaning is whether you were
human or not.”*

*Also distressed over Putin’s war against Ukraine, one Russian Evangelical
church official writes:*

“My heart is breaking into pieces. I wake up in a warm bed and cook myself
a hot breakfast, and somewhere in Kiev (Kyiv) and Kharkov (Kharkiv),
civilians die. I want to cry and weep, and somewhere in Moscow they are
discussing how much the latest iPhone has become and how we will now live
without Apple Pay. I am overwhelmed with sadness and anger, shame and
guilt, and someone is gloating at what is happening in Ukraine.”

For the rest of this tragic story read  April L. French and Mark R.
Elliott, “The Russian Christians Boldly Issuing Anti-War Appeals,” *Religion
Unplugged*, March 29, 2022; religionunplugged.com.

-- 
Dr. Mark R. Elliott, Editor Emeritus
East-West Church Report
Asbury University
One Macklem Dr.
Wilmore, KY 40390
859-858-2427
emark936 at gmail.com
www.eastwestreport.org
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