William Blake meets Mother Russia

A combination of William Blake’s The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun and St. Basil’s Cathedral of the Kremlin . This collage reflects on my impressions of Russia’s historical occultist perversion of religious traditions (not just Christianity) in order to subvert them and achieve their political ends. Since at least the reign of Ivan IV (beginning in 1547),  through the time of Nicholas II, and quite likely to Putin today (beginning in 1999) – the sectarian and schismatic Orthodox Church with the “Tsar” as its dubiously-declared protector has seemingly employed such strategies.

“Unlike in the Soviet period, the state does not act as the official sponsor of anti-Semitism. Yet anti-Semitic literature that includes accusations that Jews engage in the ritual murder of Christian children is sold in the Russian State Duma building. The Russian Procuracy has not responded to complaints that such literature violates Russian laws against incitement of ethnic and religious hostility.” p. 4/16 (2007 report)

“Since 1991, when several monasteries ceased praying for Patriarch Aleksi 11 after his conciliatory speech before American rabbis, ROC leaders have not dared to speak directly against the antisemitism which serves as a major component of Russian ideological  nationalism. There is no mention of antisemitism in the document Foundations for a Social Concept for the ROC (Osnovy sotsial’noi kontsepsii RPTs) adopted at the Jubilee Council. Meanwhile openly antisemitic literature, including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, is frequently to be found on sale in Orthodox churches.” p. 1/13 (2002 report)

In fairness, Putin has since apologized for some of this behavior. But there is just as much evidence that it clandestinely persists; and they have now heaped their nationalist religious delusions onto the demonization of Islam as well.