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Elaine Wilson on Russian Orthodox Christianity as Weaponized Culture
July 14, 2024

Elaine Wilson (Slavic Ph.D. ’23; currently Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Jordan Center) published an essay, titled “Holy Warheads: Russian Orthodoxy as Weaponized Culture,” in Canopy Forum: On the Interactions of Law and Religion (July 11, 2024).

In an interview at the beginning of 2024, the far-right Russian ideologue, Alexander Dugin, sought to justify Russian military aggression as a mission of redemption. In fact, he likened Russia’s so-called “special military operation” to the Passion of Christ. He said, “Our God was crucified …. Was that the failure of our God, Jesus Christ? No, that was the sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. The beginning of this special military operation is a kind of religious act.”

Dugin frames Russia’s war on Ukraine as a “holy war” to justify the possibility of nuclear war: “Eschatology is present in [Russian] minds and influences our decisions,” he says. “I see no reason why we should not use [nuclear weapons] or why Putin will hesitate to use them if Russia starts to fail.” Russian military and political policy reflect Dugin’s belief that Orthodox Christian Russia “plays the part of Katechon,” or the “Restrainer” of the Antichrist.

 

 

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