RUSSIAN
ORTHODOX CHURCH DENIES LIBERALISM BENEFITS RUSSIAN PEOPLE
Interfax-Religiia,
18
October 2019
The
liberal idea is alien to the Russian mentality and does not
serve the welfare of the Russian people. This opinion was
expressed by the first vice-chairman of the synod's Department
for Relations of Church and Society and News Media, Alexander
Shchipkov.
"The
caste model of society and the possibility for some to survive
at the expense of the others do not agree with what is written
in the Gospel. We need the value-based traditionalism which
corresponds to our identity," Shchipkov declared on Friday in
Moscow at a session of the World Russian People's Council.
Today
he was elected vice-chairman of this public organization.
According
to Shchipkov, the Orthodox Church, along with other traditional
religions, defends biblical standards and values, and that means
they are the same for all, regardless of person, rank,
nationality, and social status.
"Liberals
in opposition and liberals in regional government are
ideologically an integral whole. The politician who says 'it is
time to stop building churches,' does not understand that in
Russia this sounds as absurd as 'it is time to stop dispersing
pensions' or 'it is time to stop having children,'" the church's
representative said.
He
noted that Russia needs a social model that will "save the
people," and therefore its foundation must cohere with the
cultural and religious values of the people.
The
World Russian People's Council is an international public
organization, created in 1993. Patriarch Kirill is the chairman
of the council. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 October 2019)
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