PUTIN WEARING A CHRISTIAN CROSS

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I saw Vladimir Putin wearing a Christian cross,
while riding a horse, on TV. He was a commie; KGB officer.

Commies were supposed to be atheists.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 10 • Views: 4,539 • Replies: 28

[+3] - Walter Hinteler - 08/06/2009[quote="OmSigDAVID"] Commies were supposed to be atheists. [/quote] In the USA. Not elsewhere. (Famous the films/episodes about [i]Don Camillo and Pepone[/i] in Italy.) In...
[+3] - George - 08/06/2009Vampires don't bite politicians. Professional courtesy.

@OmSigDAVID,

But was he wearing any clothing at all, above his belt?

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@OmSigDAVID,

Ha. That's not surprising. There have been a rash of rugged bare-chested shots of him in the press of late. (Again) I think this is as interesting as the wearing of the crucifix. What do you think he might be trying to convey? And why? Wink

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Various forms of the cross were in vogue long before the Christians adopted it as a religious symbol.

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That 's very plausible,
but that sure looked a lot like a Christian cross
hanging from his neck

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@OmSigDAVID,

Now I think that the swatstika is an interesting design. Indians used the design on their pottery long before Hitler came to power.

If I wore a swatstika I would probably be accused of showing sympathy to the Arian/Natzi segment of our society.

Now if I wear a cross, people would automaticly assume that I was a Christian.

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@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

Commies were supposed to be atheists.

In the USA. Not elsewhere. (Famous the films/episodes about Don Camillo and Pepone in Italy.)

In Russia, most "commies" were and are orthodox Cgristians. All the time (even during the Stalinist era).

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OK, here's my take on the wearing of the cross: there's been quite a resurgence of Christianity within Russia over the past few years. Wearing the cross could (Putin hopes!) win him acceptance (& votes!) from Christians.
As for the constantly bared chest: It appears that this sort of display goes over a treat with young Russians. Putin, man of action! Older, but sort of strong & "youthful" looking. (Apart from that, he may be suffering some sort of mid-life crisis & needs to reassure himself of his own attractiveness, virility, etc, etc, etc ... Wink

)
I think it's all part of a calculated PR exercise.

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

As for the constantly bared chest: It appears that this sort of display goes over a treat with young Russians. Putin, man of action! Older, but sort of strong & "youthful" looking.
I think it's all part of a calculated PR exercise.

If the bare chester PR style catches on, women might find themselves with the upper hand in future elections.

It would serve us right if the world of 2050 were run by female porn stars just because they got all the free press.

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@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

I saw Vladimir Putin wearing a Christian cross,
while riding a horse, on TV. He was a commie; KGB officer.

Commies were supposed to be atheists.

Atheists don't hold an allegience to any particular political system. Nor do many political parties align themselves exclusively with Atheists.

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First, Jesus was a socialist. He told his followers to sell what they had and give to the poor. When Jesus died (and rose to heaven) his followers set up a socialist community where no one had need and everyone gave what they had.

Second, the Russian Orthodox church is, and long has been, an important part of Russian society-- especially after the end of the cold war. Any politician who doesn't embrace the dominant religion of his country is an idiot.

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@msolga,

When my father was in Russia in 1940's, he went to mass in orthodox churches (I've that anecdotal knowledge from his letters to my mother).
The orthodox parish in Dresden (in Dresden, Putin was stationed as KGB-colonel for several) always wanted to belong to the Moscow patriarchy, but since the Weimar Republic they were officially part of the (US-based) Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR).
In 2003, those two churches reunited:

Quote:

Indeed, rather than first give thanks to God in his speech, the head of the ROC, Patriarch Alexy, paid homage to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Patriarch emphasized that the reunification could happen only because the ROCOR saw in Putin "a genuine Russian Orthodox human being." Putin responded in his speech that the reunification was a major event for the entire nation.

Source: Time

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So, yeah. Putin is a big, strong guy. If I had a chest like that, I'd run around without a shirt on too.

I saw his spokesman on TV, saying 'look at Obama and Sarkozy - plenty of topless pics of them on vacation!' Not quite so set-up as these, though.

Cycloptichorn

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@OmSigDAVID,

I saw a werewoldf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vics -- his hair was perfect. Werewolves of London again!

Seriously, the fact that you saw him on TV wearing a cross of some sort is proof of what? That he wears jewelry. Perhaps he likes wearing lucky charms or some bling? If he carried a rabbit's foot, would be guilty of being an Animist?

If he was a closet Christian do you sincerely think he'd have been appointed as the former head of the KGB and allowed to lead Russia? Not likely!

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@Walter Hinteler,

http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2007/12/times-interview-of-russias-putin.html

Quote:

TIME: Earlier you used the phrase, Thou shalt not steal. Have you read the Bible?

PUTIN: Yes, I have. And the Bible is on my plane. I fly frequently, you know. And on the plane I use, there is a Bible. I also have an icon there with some sewing on it. I fly long distances. We're a vast country. So I have time there to read the Bible.

TIME: I understand that you don't want to be public with your religion. But is there some way we can characterize your faith?

PUTIN: You could say that it is my deep conviction that the moral values without which humankind cannot survive cannot be other than religious values. Now, as regards a specific church or other establishment, that's a separate matter. As somebody said once, if God exists, he does know that people have different views regarding church.

TIME: Now the situation is emerging whereby the Russian Orthodox Church is apparently becoming a dominating force in Russia. It's the only church that has signed official relations on cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, law-enforcement agencies and the Foreign Office....

PUTIN: .... Our law recognizes four traditional religions in Russia. Our American partners criticized us for that, incidentally, but it has been defined by our lawmakers. These traditional Russian religions are the Orthodox Church, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1695787,00.html

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@ehBeth,

I learned something new here.

However, Putin is still a politician and plays at media interviews as would a politician.

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@Ragman,

Putin and "having religion" goes back to at least 2002 in interviews that I can find online.

PUTIN WEARING A CHRISTIAN CROSS

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