This is the last thing I expected to hear from him given the current war and international situation....

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/putin-accuses-c-of-e-of-perversion-in-rant-about-gender-neutral-god


In a tirade against the west, Vladimir Putin has mocked the Church of England for having discussions about using gender-neutral terms for God.

The Russian leader said western leaders were heading for a “spiritual catastrophe,” and cited the debate as an example of the west waging a culture war against the values of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During his speech, Putin said: “The Anglican Church is considering a gender-neutral God. May God forgive them for they know not what they do.”

“Millions of people in the West understand they are being led to a real spiritual catastrophe,” he added.

The C of E has committed to exploring the use of gendered language when referencing God following a written question at General Synod earlier this month.

Whilst no one is suggesting the current language be abolished, there has been talk of the potential to include alternative language for those wishing to use it.

The denomination has not suggested they will do away with the traditional “he/him” pronouns, or the reference to “our father” in the Lord’s Prayer.

Putin also condemned the recent decision to allow same-sex blessings in C of E churches.

During the recent General Synod, the House of Bishops and the House of Laity both voted in favour of allowing the blessing of same-sex couples, in lieu of allowing same-sex marriage.

It’s a decision that has frustrated Christians on both sides of the debate – those that believe in the orthodox view of sexuality have co ndemned the decision to “celebrate” homosexual relationships, and those in favour of same-sex marriage have accused the C of E of presenting LGBT+ people with “crumbs” instead.

Putin continued his barrage against the C of E, saying: “They distort historical facts, constantly attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religions of our country.

“Look at what they do with their own peoples: the destruction of the family, cultural and national identity, perversion, and the abuse of children are declared the norm. And priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages.”

In response, a spokesperson for the Church of England said: “As we have repeatedly said, there are absolutely no plans to consider a gender neutral God.

“It is simply wrong to say that the Church of England is considering stopping using any particular terms for God and there are also absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise currently authorised liturgies and no such changes could be made without extensive legislation.”

When you need to stir up people and use them politically, use their religion! Tell them the bad guys are attacking their god. Tell them cultural values of the religion are being attacked.

THEN...

Use take their sons to die in war and money so you can gain power.

Religious people, STOP being manipulated by politicians like this! No one cares about how you worship. The only reason your religion makes changes is so it can compete and retain its own power.

This is so out in left field that it has to puzzle even the members of the Russian Orthodox church, which up until now has had zero difficulty in practicing Christianity as it sees fit.

Male, Female, neutered: in all cases God is a deadbeat that doesn't help his children and seems to love watching them suffer. How about reference to God as careless piece of _ _ _ _.

Seems to me that Putin pays more attention to the Church of England than the English do.

Exactly. He is counting on stirring up the English who care about their church (kind of like being mad when your mama is insulted). I hope they see through it.

Contributing to culture wars is his specialty.

My point is that those in England who care about the C of E are few and far between. If it were not for its connection to the establishment and its financial holdings it would likely be dead. As it is it has little relevance in people's lives.

Putin's not appealing to British believers, who neither like nor care about what Putin says.

He's appealing to Russians and their sensitivities. He's portraying himself as the guardian of true Christianity against the infidels of the West.

Exactly my thoughts. This was for internal consumption. Any effect it might have on the outside world is coincidence.

Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church are very enthusiastically using each other. At least in Utah the legislature is a tiny bit more discrete. OK, a very tiny bit.

And then there is Governor DeSanctimonius, wanting to institute a Christian SAT for Florida. He's not discrete at all. In fact, he hasn't even announced for national office yet, and he is already in danger of turning into a bloviating buffoon, trying to find a shark to jump.

Orban in Hungary, Modi in India, and any number of leaders in the Middle East are all well practiced in the art of employing their god to their political benefit.

How many CoE types, sitting in their lounge chairs watching telly through their bifocals, are going to take to the streets in agreement with Vladimir Putin?

Since everybody customizes their own God why can't Putin do the same and be as fervent about it as the Non Gender Task Force is? I'm with Dagny. Time to quit giving Putin the reaction he is seeking.

Call your God whatever you want. Call yourself whatever you want. And don't kill people when you think they got it wrong.

How does his rant apply to Finnish, which is a gender neutral language? My mother, when ever she was speaking English, would always confuse him and her when talking about someone as Finnish was her native language. She never absorbed English gender pronouns in her speech. I was used to it.

I, personally, consider it genuinely of concern that this is (evidently) such a problem for Putin.

There are huge problems on his plate right now (most specifically: an ongoing war with Ukraine), and for him to concentrate his attention on whatever the Church of England does (or does not), is (in my opinion) insane.

Which may actually be an affirming, but totally unexpected, indicator of what many global experts have been saying for some time about Putin's mental, and his physical, condition.

He's trying to deflect public attention from his defeats in Ukraine and focus on areas where Russian chauvinism is strong. It's like Stalin, the grand atheist, embracing the Russian Orthodox vision in his struggle against Germany.

It's a traditional Russian rallying cry.

I thought god's pronouns are thou, thee, thy, thine.....which are gender neutral.

Putin: "They distort historical facts, constantly attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religions of our country. That's *my* job!"

And I'm no theologian, but wouldn't killing civilians and claiming it's what God wants be considered *worse* than using non-gendered language?

Putin just went back to the pre communist Russia. He became a czar and the Russian Orthodox Church became the state religion. He’s just saying Russia’s state religion is more with God than the Britain’s state religion.

Putin sees the west as spiritually inferior and he will sell Russia on this concept.

A lot of members of the Church of England agree with what Putin has said.

The laity is very upset, but the COE leadership doesn't ask them for their opinions, they only ask for the opinions of the paid officials/activists, not even asking the vicars/parish priests for their opinions.

They are actually losing a lot of members with this.

Matt, they have been losing members for years and the potential change will only add oil to the flames. Is the decline of the CofE talked about inside the church? Are possible solutions talked about? What are the feelings of members on the empty pews?

Mr. Putin ought to be more Careful, he might be about to lose some cred with others…

just sayin’

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which represents churches in 24 countries and provinces including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, said the Church of England’s new stance “goes against the overwhelming mind of the Anglican Communion”.

The Africans have left the building.

Wow. An undefinable thing called god must have a penis or else they leave. Guess what this is really about, ladies.

The patriarchy is jealously held by those who pee standing up. Every male member (pun intended) is well-endowed (again) with power over his wife and children. This power is absolute, and is not to be questioned. It just doesn't appeal to me, and I think the guys who insist upon it are dicks. That's Putin it lightly.

Agreed.

Imaginary critters can have any pronouns you want.

It shouldn't be surprising.

He is rather IRREVERENT, not to mention vulgar, hateful...
Just like sTump

Don’t take the culture war bait.

That man spent all the political capital he had entangling his nation in a “special military operation” that ended up being a war actually, a costly one both in terms of Russian lives and cultural access to the broader outside world. What for? Well, now he has to invent reasons, and he’s taking a leaf out of Trump’s book on that front. He’s holding rallies and talking out of his ass about subjects that would make Murdoch feel like a proud daddy.

A lot has changed culturally in the world in twenty or thirty years. The rural mindset and the older mindset are only just now feeling the threat of its inevitability and reacting to it. Russia is a whole country on the margins of 1st World society. They always have been. They always will be. Something about geographic determinism. Some of the younger Russians embrace change where they can, but almost everybody looks at this new gender stuff as a form of insanity. It at least gives pause. So Putin’s gonna use that to bolster his case for Russian nationalist isolationism, especially against the West.

Religiosity was suppressed for a long time under the communist regime in Moscow. Go figure 30 years later a pull towards God or maybe towards tradition for its own sake was lurking in the hearts of old Russians this whole time. Go figure politicians would exploit that sentiment. It must be very jarring at a time when Russians feel like they’re waking up from a communist stupor and reawakening to their oldest shared spiritual sentiments with the West that the West is twisting itself in knots over what gender God is after two thousand years of previously not wondering. Russia has always wanted to belong to the project of civilization, whatever that happens to be, but they’ve always been behind the curve and never really accepted. They Christianize and still remain weird to the rest of us. They communize and we make them the boogeyman. They live on a flat plain. It is fertile: there have always been plenty of Russians. But it’s also indefensible: from mongols to the French to the Nazis, millions of Russians tend to die and their nation is never really secure from invasion. Even with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, respect is hard to come by amongst the great powers of the earth. Cold as Russian winter, forever and always.