Narcissistic religious mother
How to Navigate Religious Narcissistic Parents
Growing up is tough. Every child has difficulties in relating to parents in many of the stages of growth, from preschool to elementary to junior high, and especially in high school. Even more common are adult children who still have difficulties relating to their parents. And honestly, parents can have just as much difficulty relating to kids. But what about when one or both of your parents are spiritual narcissists?
The older you get, the more you will be able to identify and figure out how to navigate religious narcissistic parents. Because it is your parents, it can be harder to work through. Especially if you are young, you cannot just leave. You must be able to recognize the hallmarks of narcissistic parents. You will need a counselor experienced in narcissism who can help you recognize the issues and work through them. Next, have a few safe friends you can confide in, learn how to handle gaslighting, and disengage when boundaries are crossed.
And finally, you must understand that your relationship with them will never have elements that “normal” relationships do.
Let’s take a closer look at the damage done by narcissistic parents and how to navigate your way through.
Table of Contents
How Does a Religious Narcissistic Parent Affect a Child?
I always wondered what aspects of myself were based on who I am and what aspects were based on how I was raised. Unfortunately, I was raised under a narcissistic mother, and then went straight from that home into a home with my narcissistic husband, where I stayed for 31 years before all was said and done. I am in my 50’s now, and for the first time I am living life out from under the thumb of a narcissist. And I am realizing that much of my behavior has been based on being under the authority of a narcissist. Let’s look at some of those behaviors in my growing up years.
The Child of a Narcissist is Shy
I was painfully shy. But I also felt invisible for the most part.
It was very hurtful that I was often not heard when I talked. So I stopped talking. To the point that when I did talk my voice would frequently crack and never quite worked right because of lack of use.
I became very comfortable hiding from people. There were times I actually felt sick if people gave me too much attention that I didn’t want to receive. I thought it was healthy to be alone in my room or in the corner of the party, where isolation became my friend. I had no idea what those childhood feelings of insecurity would cause difficulties well into my adult years.
The Child of a Narcissist Cannot Have Their Own Thoughts
As a child of a narcissistic mother, I wasn’t allowed to have my own opinion. I had to agree with everything she said or believed. If I veered from that, not only was I wrong in her eyes, I was also stupid.
Because a child can’t have their own thoughts, they feel used and manipulated by their parents. Their value is solely based on mirroring the parent, not formulating their own ideas.
And because of this, children of religious narcissistic parents don’t develop a sense of decision-making or autonomy. They are too busy living up to the image ideals of the parent. There is no true authenticity.
Speaking of image, my mother expected only the best out of me, not because she wanted the best for me, but because she needed everyone to see what a great job she was doing as a mother. It was all about how others perceived us. If I had the highest grades and the best behavior, then she was a success as a mom. If I veered from that, there was hell to pay. This goes right along with not being able to have my own thoughts. I also couldn’t behave or experience the things I wanted to. I had to live out the life that she wanted me to live.
The Child of a Narcissist Cannot Look the Way They Want
Interestingly enough, I wasn’t allowed to look the way I wanted to. I always wanted long hair. But after first grade, it was cut incredibly short and kept that way until I was 18 and said no more.
This one is odd to me because since she wanted my behavior to be so impeccable, you would think she would want my appearance to be its best too. But that was not the case. It was more about control than about looking my best. I was embarrassed by my appearance until the day I left my childhood home.
“No Makeup Allowed”
Another issue regarding my appearance was wearing makeup. It was taboo. When I got back from college at the age of 20, I was wearing makeup. My mother said I could not wear it as long as I was living in her house. But my father said it looked nice. My mother responded that if I continued to wear it I would have to leave the home. I told her I was 20 years old and would be wearing it because it was not wrong and it was a social norm at the time in the department store I worked in.
“You Can’t Wear That Dress!”
Soon after the makeup incident, I wore a dress to my soon-to-be in-law’s 30th wedding anniversary party. My mother didn’t like the dress.
But my father said it looked nice. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) I said I was going to wear it. She said if I left the house with it on my bags would be packed and on the porch when I got home. I didn’t respond. And I didn’t change.
When my fiancé’s mom came to pick me up for the party, we were in the kitchen getting ready to leave. My mother announced in front of my mother-in-law that if I wore that dress out of the house, my bags would be packed and on the doorstep when I returned. My fiancé’s mother looked at me, then said, “That is a lovely dress. If your bags are on the porch when you get back, you can come home with me.
That is exactly what happened. And I stayed there for the next 4 months.
Those were some of the tactics of control in the house I grew up in. The rules change depending on whatever the narcissistic parent wants to control. In someone else’s house, the rule may be that you need to wear makeup when you don’t want to. The rules are not based on the circumstances, but on the level of control that can be exercised against you.
The rules can change even with that one parent. If they can keep you guessing, you can’t keep any type of equilibrium. And it depends on how well you accept the change. If I hadn’t balked at my mother’s no-makeup rule, she would have probably insisted a couple of weeks later that I DO wear makeup.
How Does a Religious Narcissistic Parent Affect an Adult Child?
Many of the issues with the children of religious narcissistic parents are based on the authority of the parent. So, how do things change when the child is an adult and no longer under the authority of the parent?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to change very much. There is still very little support, especially in life choices. Many times, the narcissistic parent still believes s/he has the same level of authority as when the child was young and in the home.
Scriptures are Used to Defend the Religious Narcissist’s Views
Most of the other tactics of the religious narcissistic parent are the same as your garden variety narcissistic parent.
But this one is different. And it actually can make the power of the parent over the child much stronger.
Using Scripture, sometimes even in semi-right context, makes it impossible for the adult child to respond properly. Anything they say in response will be sent into a word salad of Scripture. The child will be left reeling. And the narcissistic parent will walk away, puffed up with the pride that they just beat down their child with the very wisdom of God and WON.
Except they didn’t win. They just frustrated everyone but themselves. And they grieved the heart of God.
Even if you came back with the perfect Scripture in response, it wouldn’t be good enough. They will have twisted all of the verses they use in order to make it impossible for you to reason with them.
The Religious Narcissistic Parent Will Claim to Know What God Wants Better Than You
Sometimes the religious narcissistic parent cannot come up with the perfect Bible verse to convince you they are right and you are wrong.
They will simply claim that they know what God wants for you because they are so close to God. They behave as though they have an inside line to God that nobody else has. And do you want to know what is even more maddening?! Many people will believe that they know what God wants more than them because they see the religious narcissist as more spiritual than them.
Religious narcissists tend to know the Bible really well. And many Christians simply don’t. The truth is that narcissists of all varieties are generally pretty smart people. They are good at keeping details of the things you have done “against them” completely straight, down to the smallest detail. But when it comes to them and what they have done to wrong you, all of a sudden they can’t remember anything.
And of course, the more accolades the religious narcissistic parent receives from others that they have fooled, the more they come down on the children. Over time, they know what makes people respond in positive ways and capitalize on mastering those things.
It doesn’t take long before they elevate themselves to a position that is actually higher than God. But they are still using the name of God to thwart any question of their own authority.
Adult Children of Religious Narcissistic Parents Can’t Pursue Their Own Career Dreams
Adult children of religious narcissistic parents often find themselves trapped in the home instead of going off to college or other career paths. Their parents insist that they are needed in the home. They need to contribute to the life of the family, and going to college will mean they are doing harm to the family. It is the worst kind of manipulation.
Some religious narcissistic parents will go as far as to say that women do not belong in college or out in the workplace. They need to wait until they can be married and move into the home and family life of the man they marry. It is hard to believe this mentality is still alive today.
Religious narcissistic parents can also prevent their adult children from pursuing their career just by refusing to support their dreams.
They may refuse to pay for a certain college degree because they don’t like it. Or they can say they will only pay for school if it is something they want their adult children to do.
While this point certainly makes life more difficult, it is something the adult child can work through. Finding other ways to get through school can be very difficult. But showing your parents that you can do it in spite of their refusal to help can give you the best sense of freedom and accomplishment. This is true both for your own sense of accomplishment as well as your sense of getting out from under narcissistic abuse. With that double reward, you should be feeling awfully good about yourself and your emotional growth!
How to Recognize Religious Parental Narcissistic Abuse
There are red flags that will help you recognize religious parental narcissistic abuse. But please realize no parent is perfect. Parents may do some of these things just because they mistakenly think they are the right things to do.
My point is that being an imperfect parent doesn’t automatically make you a narcissistic parent. The type of narcissism I am talking about here is not narcissistic tendencies, but full blown Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Here is a list of the most prominent ones:
- You feel like every idea or dream you have is shot down in favor of what they want.
- They use Scripture to convince you that you are wrong about something that isn’t necessarily right or wrong.
- The narcissist will tell you God told them what they are telling you. They will use God against you as their authority. They actually elevate themselves above God.
- You feel like they are not listening to what you are trying to communicate.
- They make overbearing rules for the sake of making rules.
- Children of any age will never feel like they measure up.
- The child will become a people-pleaser to prevent rocking the boat.
- Children will not set or keep healthy boundaries.
- Children will have a hard time making solid decisions due to cloudy thinking.
- The child will be expected to perform well to make the family look good, but can’t “look better than the parent.”
- Parents will control everything about the child’s life–even as they move into adulthood.
- Children will withdraw to stay under the radar.
- Children will have problems with trusting other people.
This list is just a start. I would love to hear some of what your experiences looked like in this realm. Feel free to share in the comments below!
How to Navigate Religious Narcissistic Parents
With all of the difficult hallmarks listed above, you can learn techniques to help you navigate religious narcissistic parents, whether you are a minor child or an adult child of a religious narcissistic parent.
Regardless of whether you are a child or adult, the first priority is to keep yourself safe! Confronting a full-blown narcissist on your own is rarely a wise thing to do.
If you feel like you are physically in danger, then get out now. If there has already been any physical or illegal abuse, then contact the police or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at Hotline.org or 800.799.SAFE (800.799.7233)
Even if you feel like you are physically safe, it is still not wise to confront a narcissist alone. You will always need someone there to support you. Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to navigate religious narcissistic parents.
How to Navigate Religious Narcissistic Parents as a Minor Child
As a narcissist’s child, navigating yourself to a healthy place is going to be more difficult than if you are an adult. You don’t have full autonomy to make your own decisions. But there are things you can do to make life better.
First, find someone you can trust in confidence. That may be a teacher, pastor, counselor, neighbor, friend’s parent, youth leader, scout leader, or any adult you feel safe around. Having two confidants is even better.
You can balance truth between them. BUT…make sure you can trust them! Not every leader will be someone you can trust. Unfortunately, many people will think they understand your situation but inadvertently give you destructive advice. This can do more harm than if you had never talked to them.
Second, find good books/resources to guide you! Check my list of materials here. You will find book recommendations as well as free printables. Most focus on learning to identify behaviors that put you in an unhealthy place and help you to learn healthy ways to deal with narcissistic issues.
Third, if you can get to a counselor that has experience in narcissism, you will be golden! They can help you form a support network that will literally turn your life around.
And fourth, if you can stay with someone else when things get too difficult, do it! It could be a friend, neighbor, adult sibling (make sure they are not doing the bidding of your narcissistic parent before considering them safe to stay with!), or anyone you know you can trust.
It may be difficult, especially when the narcissistic parent does not want to give up control. By the time you get to this point, you will need to have support in place so you are not going down this road alone.
Keep Your Cool When Dealing With a Religious Narcissistic Parent
Maybe one of the most important things you can do when navigating a religious narcissistic parent is to keep your cool when you find yourself in a confrontation. Know that you could have the perfect argument, explanation, or proof, but it won’t matter. They won’t hear it. They won’t apply it. And they won’t accept it. They will only hold on to whatever they want to believe. And they will continue to beat you over the head with it as long as you are responding to them.
The best thing you can do is understand that the only engagement you will ever get is word salad and circular reasoning. You will never be able to come to an agreement, unless you are fully agreeing with everything they say.
Don’t do that just to smooth things over! But also don’t let yourself get dragged in. Learn ways to engage and disengage that will not provoke them to escalate things. This is a very difficult lesson to learn, but one of the most valuable for the sake of doing more than surviving in your home.
How to Navigate Religious Narcissistic Parents as an Adult Child
While this road is certainly difficult, it is easier than trying to work through it as a minor. You will have more options in your own decision-making. You will have more opportunities to stand up for yourself. For starters, you can do all of the things mentioned above that apply to minor children.
Also, understand that even though you realize the damage that has been done and have gotten help, you still need to understand how narcissistic abuse has affected you as an adult. I was amazed to learn how much my childhood trauma had affected the way I did things as an adult. I cannot tell you how freeing it was to finally be able to think about things in a totally new way.
Many people I have known for my whole life have told me I am a new person.
As a child, you may not have been able to obtain access to a counselor experienced in narcissism. As an adult, you absolutely can! And you NEED TO! Someone who is experienced in childhood narcissistic trauma is absolutely necessary. They will have the experience to see some of the deep damage that was done. And they will know how to get you through it!
Next, give yourself some grace! I think my counselor talked about this every week for over a year. It was so hard for me to feel like I could be less than perfect, or that I could be the person that I wanted to be. It takes a bit to get out from under that thumb of the narcissist. But you can do it! Start intentionally thinking about (or, better yet, writing down) things that you want to be and do! And then make those things happen! Healing is already beginning!
If you liked this article, I think you will also love the following articles:
What Happens to the Soul of a Narcissist?
How to Heal From a Spiritual Narcissist
Can You Maintain a Relationship With a Spiritual Narcissist?
Can Narcissists Have a Spiritual Awakening?
How Will God Judge a Narcissist?
When the Church Says to Move Back in With Your Narcissist
What Can We Say to a Friend Who’s Divorcing
23 Reasons Why Narcissists are Drawn to the Church
When the Church Doesn’t Recognize Narcissistic Abuse
Will the Church Support Divorcing a Narcissist?
What Does the Bible Say About Narcissism?
Can a Spiritual Narcissist Heal?
Can a Narcissist Be a Christian?
What is Spiritual Narcissism?
What Does the Spiritual Narcissist Do When You Try to Leave?
15 Narcissistic Religious Abuse Tactics
Medically reviewed by Scientific Advisory Board — By Christine Hammond, MS, LMHC on May 19, 2015
If you suspect religious abuse, ask your clients this: is spiritual perfectionism demanded? Are you terrified of not being accepted? Does the narcissist in your life have crazily ridiculous implausible spiritual expectations?
There was a time when your religious beliefs brought you companionship and peace, but now you struggle with intimacy, insecurity, and comparison.
You used to find security in your faith, but now there is only sanctuary in ceremonies and rituals. How did you get here?
A narcissist uses their religious belief to manipulate, control and dominate you through fear. They systematically take the life out of your faith and replace themselves in the center.
It doesnt matter the religion. Major organizations such as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish or even minor sects such as Mormon, Taoism, Confucianism, New Age, or Rastafari can be used. Even those who do not profess a belief in God such as Atheistic, Agnostic, or Satanism can be included.
It is not the type of belief but rather how the faith is used that makes it abusive.
- It begins with dichotomous thinking, diving people into two parts. Those who agree with the narcissists beliefs and those who dont. Interestingly, only the narcissist is the judge and jury of who belongs on which side. Your opinion is insignificant.
- Then the narcissist makes fun of, belittles, and shows prejudice towards other beliefs.
This tactic is done to remind you that if you change your views, you will be treated likewise. - Suddenly the narcissist becomes elitist and refuses to associate with people or groups they consider impure or unholy. They prefer isolation and insist you do the same while condemning others who dont.
- Next, the narcissist requires that you completely adopt their point of view. There is no room for differing opinions or questioning their authority. Any voicing of opinions to the contrary are met with threats of abandonment or divorce. There is no free will for you.
- Demands of total submission without question follow. You are not free to question their authority and any attempt to do so is met with spiritual, physical, and/or verbal discipline. Name calling, chastising, and the silent treatment are common maneuvers into compliance.
- The narcissist is no longer satisfied with private dominion but instead needs the appearance of power in public. They expect strict adherence to whatever image they have created regardless of the accuracy of that image.
Even the slightest hint of challenging their faade is met with quick and cruel reprimands. - To further intimidate, the narcissist labels people who dont comply with their beliefs as disobedient, rebellious, lacking faith, demons, or enemies of the faith. This is done in front of others to reinforce their opinions and instill fear inside and outside the family.
- There is huge emphasis on public performance. They demand perfection and happiness at all times. Religious activities such as attending church have extreme demands, excessive expectations, and rigidity. No allowances are given even for grieving over the loss of a friend or relative.
- Strict adherence to their rules and regulations are commanded with absolute statements about insignificant issues such as hair color or style. Non-compliance is met with severe discipline and even excommunication.
- To further segregate, the narcissist uses secrecy or withholds information to a few select worthy individuals.
Sometimes they require proof of advanced spirituality or some deeper level of commitment before they will share. - Questioning the narcissist is worse than questioning the religion. Blind obedience to the narcissist is expected as their opinion is more important than the religion. In essence, they have replaced your religion with themselves and you are expected to worship them.
- The narcissist frequently uses their religious position of authority to connive for their own personal benefit which is often financial. They will justify this behavior by saying they deserve it because they are better than others. You, however, will not be included because even your best is not good enough.
- For the narcissist, the end justifies the means. They may engage in criminal misconduct or cover up the transgressions of others in the name of their religion. This includes covering up sexual abuse, physical abuse, financial felonies, and misdemeanors. They believe they are above the law and therefore can subvert it.
- To complete the isolation, estrangement from extended family members and friends outside of the religion is mandatory. This includes shunning, alienation, or persecution. You are completely alone now with only them as the voice in your life.
- At the end of this, you find your own beliefs have lost their vitality and your religious growth is stagnant due to the constant abuse by the narcissist. It is not unusual for you to question you faith and even abandon it due to the sadistic behavior.
You dont have to be subject to religious abuse. Study these steps and refuse to be part of any organization that encourages this behavior. Your faith is far too precious to be destroyed by a narcissist. Dont let them steal your joy.
What is a religious belief? The rise of religious beliefs. Religious beliefs of primitive people. Religious beliefs of the Slavs
Religion is an integral part of human history, and contrary to the statements of many ideologues of atheism, religious beliefs are far from a relic of the past.
They largely shape modern reality and influence the course of history. We will talk about what religious belief is, how it arose and how it developed in the world, and in particular among the Slavs, in this article.
The dawn of civilization
It is not known for certain where and when the representatives of ancient mankind first manifested a religious feeling. Archaeological finds, while shedding some light on this question, nevertheless leave many mysteries behind them. Attempts to find answers to them led to the fact that several schools were formed in the religious studies community, which postulated certain views.
Mythological school
For example, the mythological school, which once had a huge weight, claimed that the ancient savages, not knowing the true causes of natural phenomena, began to deify certain phenomena, such as the sun, moon, wind, and so on. Further. Over time, however, scientists have come to the conclusion that this view presents an extremely simplified and generally incorrect picture.
To explain the emergence of religious beliefs from this position is now considered bad form and a manifestation of ignorance.
Alternative views
The mythological school has been replaced by many others that cling to various aspects of human life in their attempts to find answers. Someone proceeds from the fact that religion was a consequence of the development of agriculture and crafts. Others try to find an answer to the question of how the religious beliefs of primitive people appeared through psychological functions. Some are looking for an answer in myths, the second - in ancient artifacts, and others - in the human psyche and DNA. But as yet there is no unified theory that could explain what religious belief is. That's how complex this phenomenon is. It is only known for certain that religion appeared before humanity itself remembers. There is irrefutable evidence that at least thirty thousand years ago the tribes that inhabited Europe and Asia had fairly developed cults.
The Great Mother
Almost all religions, even the monotheistic ones of the Abrahamic persuasion, retain echoes of the cult of the Great Mother. The spirituality of this goddess is considered the most ancient in the world, as evidenced by the numerous vocative, that is, prayer statuettes found in abundance in different places. Their age is thousands of years, in some cases we are talking about tens of thousands of years.
Today we are accustomed to the fact that according to the religious ideas of most creeds, God is at the head of the world. But the religious beliefs of primitive people were focused on the worship of the female divinity, personifying all nature, which gives birth to and absorbs back everything generated. In general, the archetype of the Great Mother is quite complex, since it includes both the earth and the underworld, as well as the moon. Probably, all other goddesses in various pagan pantheons were the result of the development and differentiation of a single image of the mother goddess.
Obviously, such a high role played by the figure of the divine woman is associated with the matriarchal structure of the ancient tribal communities leading a nomadic lifestyle.
Emergence of patriarchal cults
The most ancient religious beliefs, as we have already found out, had a matriarchal character. Gradually, however, they began to fade away, giving way to a male deity. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the tribes began to switch to a sedentary lifestyle, because of which private property appeared, agriculture, trade, and the economy began to develop. As a result, the role of a man has increased - a warrior, a protector, a breadwinner. The role of women, on the contrary, began to fade into the background. So the figure of a male deity came to the fore.
What is a religious belief based on the worship of a god? It is worth saying that the supremacy of the god did not abolish the worship of the goddess. On the contrary, they began to be thought of as a single married couple, which gives birth to the whole world and people.
Since men began to play the dominant role in human families at that time, the god began to dominate the goddess, but not replace her. This divine syzygy began to have offspring who become gods, who are in charge of individual areas of human life and the life of the world as a whole. The mythologies of all peoples tell about this in one form or another.
Emergence of monotheism
In some cultures, the role of the man began to prevail over the female role to such an extent that a significant upheaval took place in their doctrine - the goddess completely lost her identity, her face. This is how monotheism was born. What is a religious belief based on the worship of a single god? This is a creed that insists that there is only one god who surpasses all and rises above all. The rest, in comparison with him, are not gods, but something like service spirits. They are not worthy of worship. However, monotheists most often simply deny the existence of any deities other than a single creator.
Unbalanced by the spirituality of the goddess, the monotheistic cult was expressed in various unpleasant psychological costs. Therefore, they began to balance it, introducing some feminine elements, such as the Divinity and the Holy Spirit in Judaism - the most successful attempt to create a monotheistic cult. As for modern Christianity, this balance is achieved thanks to the figure of the Virgin Mary, who is revered in no way less, if not more, than God himself.
Religious beliefs of the Slavs
Originally the beliefs of the Slavs were pagan and came from a common Proto-Indo-European source. They included many gods and goddesses and were patriarchal in nature, that is, they were headed by a male god. Then, however, at the suggestion of Prince Vladimir, the East Slavic tribes began to actively become Christianized, as a result of which Eastern Orthodoxy is now considered the traditional religion of Russia. As for the Western Slavs, they, being pagans, also underwent Christianization at different times.
However, they were more influenced by Western Roman Catholicism than by Greek orthodoxy.
Religious espionage of the US and Russia
InoSMI materials contain only foreign media assessments and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editors
Putin became the second president of the new Russia. And he showed enviable ingenuity. He sent almost all the oligarchs to jail. And in foreign policy, he acted where it was least expected of him. In religion. Why in religion? “Only one religion can stop another, only our traditional Orthodoxy can prevent Russia from repeating the fate of Africa,” he probably told himself.
Many mistakenly believe that the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. They are unaware that this war has become even fiercer than before, and that religion has become its main geostrategic tool. Let's see how it happened.
Who is the main enemy of the United States of America, a deeply Christian country where the president takes an oath on the Bible? Who is the main enemy of Russia, another Christian country? The answer suggests itself: Islam, the Muslim world.
But this, of course, is fundamentally wrong. Islam has never been an enemy of the US because, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, they have consistently worked to promote Islam everywhere in the world where Christianity has failed to gain a foothold. The main enemy of the United States of America, as the defeated in the 2012 presidential election Mitt Romney said, is Russia. Christian State. The same applies to Russia, whose greatest enemy is the United States. The Cold War may have ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall at 1989, but in 2013 it still continues, albeit in the form of a religious war. And the espionage of classic secret agents of the past has turned into religious espionage.
But why are these two Christian countries so distrustful of each other? What are the differences between their Christianity? It is worth noting that the Russian Jesus is completely different from the American one. Therefore, the accepted type of Jesus should also determine the military alliances of countries.
Read also: Moscow in clashes with the Catholic Church
Orthodoxy is hardly known in Africa, because apart from Egypt and Ethiopia, African Christianity is a product of colonization. That is, the choice was made depending on the Christian model of our European predators. This explains the fact that, unlike in the Syrian case, Russia will rarely use its veto power in the United Nations to come to the aid of an African country. Because if today you call yourself a Christian, it essentially says nothing. You need to clarify whether you are a Western or Eastern Christian. The same is the case with Shiites and Sunnis in Islam.
Why can atheists support spirituality? And what about the Russian Orthodox Church?
If you look at the picture of the incredible spread of atheism in the world, which was painted by the education department of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, almost all countries that do not believe in God are very rich. The first prize here goes to Sweden with almost 90% of atheists, despite the fact that about 70% of all citizens are officially members of the Church of Sweden.
The situation is exactly the same in Denmark, where we see similar figures: 80% atheists and 80% members of the Church of Denmark. In other words, religion becomes a cultural rather than a dogmatic tool that serves as a kind of glue that holds national unity around the customs of each country. A similar situation emerges in Russia. As Kathy Rousselet writes on page 65 of her book The Russian Orthodox Church and Territory (L'Eglise orthodoxe russe et le territoire), only 6% of Russians believe in God, yet 60% are members of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is such Thus, it has about 100 million parishioners.
Looking at all this, the question inevitably arises in my head: how can 94% of non-believers be members of a church that presents God as the founding creed? The thing is that, as in Sweden or Japan, spirituality is primarily a concept of tradition, an instrument of territorial oversight and national defense, and not a proper church service. The Russian Orthodox Church is the basis for social unity in the face of external destabilizing factors and the most effective way to combat espionage in the world's largest country (17 million square kilometers, almost twice the size of the United States).
Related: Pope to China's New Leadership: Appreciate Religions
With the rise of communism in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917, churches were converted into libraries and theaters. The state advocated complete atheism. In 1930, that is, three years before Hitler came to power in Germany, Stalin created the association "Union of Militant Atheists" and, in order to further distance himself from Christianity (it blamed the Jews for the murder of Christ), appointed the Jew Emelyan Yaroslavsky as its chairman. Just three years later, Stalin realized that he had made a huge mistake when he began to fight religion: Hitler teamed up with the Vatican-backed Center Party and launched a crusade against the Soviet Union. For many years he was able to win even the Americans to his side, because it was a fight against a common enemy, Russian atheism, Satan. Therefore, in particular, they did not intervene until January 19For 43 years, the USSR did not win the battle of Stalingrad at the cost of a million lives.
This battle marked a turning point in a war that cost Soviet Russia 27 million dead. All of them were killed by the Germans, who were pushed forward by the fire of the Christian faith, which is slightly reminiscent of modern Islamists. In order to go on the offensive and drive the Germans all the way to Germany, Stalin needed a country with a solid religious foundation. On September 19, 1943, he held a meeting in the Kremlin with three metropolitans of the Orthodox Church. He released all the priests sent to the camps. At 19In 44, he restored the patriarchy, and in 1945 he convened a council, which noted that in the war against Hitler, Stalin was guided by the holy spirit. This was the beginning of the patriotism and nationalism of the Orthodox Church in Russia. The communist state offered recognition to the church, which 45 years earlier, in 1901, had condemned and excommunicated Tolstoy for questioning the dogma of the virginity of the Mother of God. At the end of the war, the Soviet Union defeated Hitler, because it was the Soviet troops who entered Berlin, and not vice versa.
Then Khrushchev came to power. He began the de-Stalinization of Soviet society, and he no longer needed religion. She was pushed away by a shadow. For strategic reasons, the authorities appeal to religion, and for ideological reasons they renounce it.
See also: The largest Orthodox church in Spain will be built in Costa Daurada
Yeltsin's Russia: a fallen titan Renaud (Victoria Renaux) and François Roche (François Roche) tell us in great detail how the offensive of the so-called "democracy" in Russia turned into a criminal plunder of the country's natural resources and the transfer of state enterprises into the shameless hands of the Yeltsin family. But the main thing, of course, was this very "democracy", because unlike the evil communists of the Soviet era, Boris Yeltsin could rightly call himself the first elected president of Russia. Thus, the advent of democracy proved to be extremely painful for the people and the country, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, where the new power circles very quickly turned into a real mafia.
Members of the presidential family in record time turned into billionaires and began to be called oligarchs. One of the most revealing cases of this robbery was the privatization of the first Russian oil company called Yukos, which in 19In 1995, for just $360 million, she got a friend of the authorities, a certain Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Moreover, President Yeltsin allowed only two people who sponsored his campaign in the presidential elections in Russia to participate in the auction.
In the United States, they rubbed their hands contentedly and called President Yeltsin a courageous and democratic politician who strictly observes human rights. Before the Russian nouveaux riches, all the doors were cordially opened, without thinking about the origin of their money. Those were happy times for Washington, because the age-old enemy fell into a democratic trap and cheerfully moved along the path of self-destruction. And no matter how strong the Russian private sector may be, it would never have been able to resist the all-destroying American ice rink.
The Russians realized this very quickly. The American company offered to buy Yukos for $40 billion, 111 times the amount received by the state. This was the first gap in the US offensive against the Russian oil sector since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Related: The Orthodox Church and its Kremlin guardian angel
At the same time, Russian intelligence officials in China reported to Moscow that Western intelligence services were flooding Chinese printing houses with orders to print millions of copies of the Bible for Russia. Parallel to this, the West waged another campaign: it tried to bring the former satellite countries of the Soviet Union under American control by joining NATO and the European Union. Moscow felt surrounded. Russian strategists set to work. It was necessary to give the Americans an answer to the bible avalanche that was about to fall. But they only vaguely understood what to do. “Religious weapons are harder to counter than bombs,” Boris Yeltsin was told, who preferred to let things take their course to please the West and establish his “democrat” image.
Yeltsin did not listen to the KGB either on privatizations or on openness to the West: he did not trust the Russian secret services and felt the vulnerability of his position due to the disastrous results of his tenure in power. He even changed the name of the organization from the KGB to the FSB, but in the end he still chose the former KGB officer under the code name Platov, that is, Vladimir Putin, as his favorite.
Yeltsin's mafia winter gives way to Putin's religious spring
On December 31, 1999, Putin became the second president of the new Russia. And he showed enviable ingenuity. In domestic politics, he sent almost all the oligarchs to jail. In foreign policy, he acted where it was least expected of him. In religion. Why in religion? Vladimir Putin graduated from the law faculty of Leningrad University and in 1975 he defended his thesis on American policy in Africa. In it, he described how the United States used the religious levers of Islam in the north of the Sahel and Christianity in the south of the Sahel to undermine the positions of the Soviet Union and China.
In addition, he explained how the Americans used Catholicism and Protestantism to subjugate the African peoples.
See also: Controversial plans to build a Russian church in Paris
When Putin became president, he knew that thousands of bibles were already moving to Russia, as they had already done in Africa. To stop them, he needed another religion. “Only one religion can stop another, only our traditional Orthodoxy can prevent Russia from repeating the fate of Africa,” he probably told himself. He was able to win over to his side the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, who in the past was also a KGB agent (these are not my inventions: the Orthodox priest Gleb Yakunin spoke about this back in 1990).
With the advent of Putin, the Russian state began to buy Orthodox churches, which in some countries formed a single entity with the consulates of the Russian Federation. During the years of the two Yeltsin mandates, the Americans pursued a strategy of penetrating Russian territory based on the magical concept of human rights.
The task was to create and build a so-called "Russian civil society", which had ambitious goals: to ensure the primacy of democracy and respect for human rights in Russia. But, as I have said more than once, if this democracy was so wonderful and would allow Russia to become much stronger, why would the US need to give such a dangerous weapon to its main enemy? The truth is that she was able to weaken the state, create several kings who only sought to plunder the country. Moreover, it confirmed that democracy is just an ordinary illusion, a cheap trick that diverts the attention of the people from the lewdness going on behind their backs.
Nevertheless, it was not so easy to deceive President Putin, who decided to clean up the country with the support of the overwhelming majority of fellow citizens. He is well aware that the non-profit organizations that spawn like mushrooms after the rain are actually the tools of Western spies in Russia: when he was a KGB agent, he headed the House of Soviet-German Friendship in Berlin.
The Orthodox Church also took center stage in Russia's counterattack. In April 2006, Moscow hosted the 10th World Russian People's Council, which was attended by priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, high-ranking officials, parliamentarians, youth and representatives of various professions. It adopted its own Declaration of the Rights and Dignity of Man, which deprived the West of the exclusive right to lecture everyone in the field of human rights.
Related: What if Obama wants a woman to be Pope?
According to RIA Novosti journalist Vladimir Simonov in his April 7, 2006 article, all of this called into question Western liberal values imported into Russia and offered its own interpretation of human rights in Russian society. In his speech at the closing of the cathedral, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk emphasized that Western liberalism blurs the line between good and evil. “Liberal philosophy declares any behavior legal if it does not prevent other people from expressing their own freedom,” said the first theorist of the Moscow Patriarchate about Western democracy.
“In other words, legal laws must be respected, but moral imperatives are not at all necessary.” It's no secret that he, in particular, had in mind US President George W. Bush, who started the war in Iraq under the pretext of establishing democracy.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, noted that the Americans control and direct the Islamists, and then try to put all the blame on them and require Russia to choose which side it is on. According to him, all this is aimed at subordinating Russia to the United States. “They are trying to provoke our country to “self-determine” on the side of Western civilization in its, as they believe, inevitable conflict with Islamic civilization. In this I see a threat not only to the vital interests of Russia's international position, but also to its internal development as a multinational and multi-confessional country. Our commitment to Christianity is also being tested, as we accepted it 1000 years ago,” he said at the closing of the cathedral.
On May 11, 2011, a new step was taken in the strategy of religious struggle. To combat the growing activity of more and more American churches, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the construction of 200 Orthodox churches in the Russian capital alone. He stressed that the Russian Orthodox Church had already been allocated 15 plots for churches in 2011, that in the near future it was planned to transfer another 80 to it. According to Sobyanin, it is the thousand-year-old religion that can help Russia achieve national unity and repel the penetration of enemy countries hiding behind spirituality.
Read also: Reduce Curia or the church will perish from Vatileaks
Mormons and the American administration?
I have often wondered why the American government places such trust in one of its many religions, the Mormons. I came to the conclusion that, unlike other Christian religions that came from Europe (with which America fought for its independence), Mormons call American land their homeland.
Their Jesus is not like the others. All their prophets were Americans, not Romans. This lays the foundations of patriotism that are strong enough to stand the test of time and even space. Mormons do not believe in the version of the gospel approved by the Roman Emperor Constantine. They start from the revelation of the American farmer Joseph Smith, to whom the angel Mormon appeared and gave the scripture of the prophets who lived on the American continent about 600 BC. Thus, the roots of this religion go back to the pre-Columbian past of America. And her Jesus is older than the Jesus of other Christians by at least six centuries.
All this, of course, can cause a smile, but if you do not dwell on the caricature side of the matter and try to understand the symbolism, it is easy to understand that these Americans were best able to interpret the problem of conflict and achieve independence from their European ancestors. And it would be impossible to achieve this independence without cutting the spiritual umbilical cord that could keep them in a subordinate position to Europe.
This little detail seems to be extremely important for the US administration, both on the left and on the right, although Mormons traditionally vote for the Republicans. Their presence in the economy allows US intelligence agencies to keep abreast of many strategic issues.
For example, as the Russian publication Voice of Russia reported on October 10, 2012, they control all key sectors of the economy, industry and finance, as well as the army and special services. In particular, they control the Marriott hotel chain, American Express, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Crédit Suisse's management of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the largest Wall Street banks. They are widely present in the American intelligence services, military structures and the Treasury Department. “That is, we can say that they already today largely determine the foreign and domestic policy of the United States,” the Voice of Russia concludes.
Related: The Church must be renewed to bring faith back into the world
In the United States of America, the Christian religion plays a vital role in mass control.
The danger of social unrest due to simply blatant inequality is skillfully reduced to nothing with the help of the ubiquitous religion. Although the federal state is secular and therefore should not favor one religion, presidents behave like real prophets: they take an oath not on the Constitution of the country, but on the Bible, and bless the American people at the end of every speech in public. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the US domestic (FBI) and foreign (CIA) intelligence services are built around the religious pillar of Christianity, which is formed by various churches, and in the first place - the Mormons. This church has created the largest card index in the world with the most detailed information about more than a billion people. It serves as the basis for the work of the CIA and the FBI, and it is because of such an incredible tool that these two intelligence services have no worthy competitors in the world.
How was it created? Thanks to the representations of various churches around the world, which receive funding from the United States.
How it works? The American creed is to promote democracy and human rights as the last instrument of religious freedom. Here you need to understand that the United States sincerely considers its political, economic, social and legislative system the best in the world and considers it its duty to spread this model around the world. The best proof of freedom and democracy in any given country, of course, is the absence of any kind of control over the American churches, which are gradually entering politics in order to field their own candidates and quietly take power into their own hands.
On April 24, 2012, the American media informed us about the decision of the White House to build in Utah (the capital of the Mormons) the world's largest cyber-espionage center (the complex should occupy as much as nine hectares) with the latest server and a total cost of two billion dollars. It should start working in October 2013. Its main goal is to track all activities on the network of Internet users from two countries: Russia and China.
This center will reportedly be able to intercept all emails and all requests to Google. The Americans are not yet talking about how they are going to follow the Chinese, who mostly use Baidu as a search engine, and instead of Facebook sit on their own social networks. Although, what's the difference? The American people are still glad that they can fight back against the evil Russians and Chinese.
Read also: Is the Church Evangelizing Islamic Europe?
But why did the choice fall on Bluffdale, a town of 8,000 in the middle of Utah's lost region? It is there that the think tank of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as the Marmons officially call themselves) and Brigham Young University, which is also called the “Mormon Harvard”, are located. The university's 35,000 students are all polyglots preparing to conquer the world with a mixture of religious proselytism and powerful patriotism that often goes hand in hand with voluntary espionage.
That's why Brigham Young University students are the first to be recruited into the new FBI facility.
How does Russia react?
Russia will have to experience all this in its own skin, because the Mormons have long chosen it as their target. In 1991, America's beloved President Yeltsin opened all of Russia to these religions: in the first year, the Mormon Church had 750 members, while 11 years later, their number reached 22,000 in 120 congregations across the country. When Russian counterintelligence learned that upon returning to the United States, most of the young Mormons who had spent two years in Russia entered the service of the FBI and the CIA, the State Duma adopted a law signed by President Vladimir Putin on November 21, 2012 banning foreign funding for organizations that operate on Russian territory. . If the organization does not wish to follow these instructions, then it is obliged to indicate in all documents and correspondence that it is a “foreign agent”.
This phrase sounds in Russia by no means innocent: it recalls the sad history of the Second World War, when traitors who went over to the service of Nazi Germany were called that.
The law applies to all organizations that in one way or another try to influence public opinion, because in this way they are involved in politics, and in Russia a politician cannot receive money from abroad. A few days after the passage of the law, activists from the pro-Putin youth movement Young Guard (which is trying to counter the activities of American churches in Russia) booed Mormons and their supporters (they call them religious spies), brandishing a huge ticket to Washington with the logo of the CIA.
Related: Western Europe against religious freedom
In this environment, three girls from the punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for desecrating an Orthodox church in the heart of Moscow: they staged an action against Putin in it when he was also a presidential candidate.
As follows from the results of a Levada Center poll conducted shortly before the verdict, only 17% of Russians supported the accused singers, while about 80% believed that they deserved exemplary punishment, or did not answer the question at all, since it did not cause they don't have the slightest interest. Obviously, if the action had taken place in the temple of another church, then, most likely, there would have been no trial at all.
On Western Christmas Day, December 25, 2012, we saw the epilogue to this story: a mysterious theft was reported at the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in Los Angeles. The attackers, apparently, were trying to find correspondence between Moscow and the local clergy.
What lessons can Africa learn?
Of course, you can not believe in God, but when the highest interests of the people require it, you should still try to forget about your own preferences and think about what the people need for their own protection and unity before seeking independence.
Everyone understands this very well4% of Russians who do not believe in God, but believe that their traditions serve as the best protection for them from an increasingly cruel world. When you don’t like the faith of your parents, instead of improving and strengthening it, you sell yourself to the faith of predators or, like a monkey, imitate the faith of those who subjugated us by force ... And after this you sincerely believe that someone will take you seriously? Maybe on Jupiter, but certainly not on our planet. At least not today. The whole point is that by doing so, you do not exist. And something that does not exist or exists on loan cannot be respected in any way. You can't respect emptiness.
Read also: The Church is building a new great Russia
Even the most hardened atheists among world leaders in the past returned to the traditional religion of the population in order to restore national unity. Africa sorely lacks such unity: the elite has become so dumb as a result of the influence of the dominant system that they cannot imagine life without seeking the recognition of European or Arab masters.
In this regard, she makes every effort to demonstrate to the owners that she has nothing to do with primitive savages who still believe in the cult of the dead. Some are trying to acquire the spirituality of the great Egyptian antiquity, others are trying to prove the unthinkable African monotheism. Still others gather in Masonic lodges in order to show the owner even more clearly that we have remained faithful slaves and are proud of this position.
However, people in this tiny world do not understand that when a person is ashamed of his parents, their food, their simplicity, customs and spirituality and tries to please the owner, copying his behavior like a monkey, then in the eyes of this very owner, who perfectly owns the weapon of hypocrisy, he looks even worse than his parents. The fact is that they, at least, could follow their own spirituality, live in a society created by themselves, eat food prepared by themselves.
The development of modern African thought would have to start from this germ of social organization in the cult of ancestors.
