The Baton and the Cross
Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin
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The Baton and the Cross
Buy Now for £15.38
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Narrated by:
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Lucy Ash
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By:
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Lucy Ash
About this listen
For more than a millennium, the Russian Orthodox Church has shown astonishing survival skills—from the Mongol yoke, to tsarist demagoguery and enlightenment, Soviet atheism, the chaotic 1990s and now two decades of Vladimir Putin.
In this provocative new book, Lucy Ash reveals how, under Putin, religion is being stripped of its spiritual content and used as a weapon to control the population in a way never seen before. Orthodox clerics and their acolytes are trying to drag Russia backwards into a new Middle Ages.
Combining historical research with vivid present-day reportage, The Baton and the Cross explores the impact the Church is having on millions of Russians' lives - from the tower blocks of Moscow and the big cities to far-flung villages in Siberia. Delving into the underbelly of politics, state security and big money, Ash shows how these forces have formed an unholy alliance with Orthodoxy.
Despite persecuting Christians and totally destroying the church in the decades after the revolution, Stalin realised he needed to use religion to persuade people to fight in WW2. Putin has built on this, making the current Russian orthodox church one of his most important political mouthpieces and a great filter for his propaganda. The fusing of Government and church authority and power is one of the keys to his success. Traditional church teachings on male supremacy, downplaying domestic abuse & oppressing people who identify as LGBT are key parts of Putin’s ideology, the so-called “New Medievalism”. Frightening stuff and a great listen.
Harnessing the church
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