Russia and the Rule of Law

[Pravoslavnik]

Admittedly, U.S. citizens have little right to express outrage about other nations violating international laws--in the aftermath of the Bush-Cheney years--but has anyone seen this latest New York Times article about the U.K. and Russia in the Litvenenko murder case? I wonder what our American MP-ROCOR (Laurus) apologists --Fathers Alexander Lebedev, John Whiteford, David Moser, et. al.-- have to say about the Putin regime's response to London's request for the extradition of Mr. Lugovoi. Do the ROCOR-Laurus hierarchs--now unofficial subjects of Mr. Putin and Patriarch Alexey II (Ridiger)--still profess that murder is, in fact, a sin, as the British government and Moses insist, or does Mr. Putin have a special MP-ROCOR dispensation from Patriarch Alexey to murder those who criticize his administration?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/world ... ref=slogin

[TomS]

I wonder what our American MP-ROCOR (Laurus) apologists --Fathers Alexander Lebedev, John Whiteford, David Moser, et. al.-- have to say about the Putin regime's response to London's request for the extradition of Mr. Lugovoi.

"Render Unto Cesar..."

[Pravoslavnik]

Tom,

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   Indeed, Christ God has commanded us to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's," but what is the ROCOR-MP to do when their new Caesars (Putin and Alexey II) presumably speak for God and their "church?"  Recall that Mr. Putin, now an accused murderer, himself, initiated the unification of the MP and the ROCOR, and personally attended the MP-ROCOR unification/ concelebration ceremonies in Moscow two months ago. Should they (the MP-ROCOR hierarchs) grant a dispensation to Caesar (Putin) to commit a political murder, or will the MP hierarchs and clergy properly call upon Mr. Putin to extradite Mr. Lugovoi to London on charges of murder? 

   This case, and the conduct of the MP hierarchs, has important implications for the entire Orthodox Church, and for those of us who have been trying to make sense of the recent history of the Russian Church.  To phrase it more directly--[i]Does the MP-ROCOR "church" truly serve God, and uphold the law of God, or does it serve Caesar, i.e. the Russian Federation? [/i] (For an ecclesiastical precedent, consider what St. Ambrose of Milan did when the Emperor Theodosius murdered spectators of the Ludi in Thessalonica.)

[stumbler]

Speaking from a strictly political point of view, there is no reason for Putin to extradite anyone to the UK, considering the fact that the UK has not extradited anyone to Putin.

Maybe the UK will be willing to trade Lugovoi for Berezovsky?

Even if they were willing to do so, the Russian constitution forbids such extradition, just as the Israeli law forbids extradition.

I suppose that in terms of the church, since Laurus is now beholden to the statement concerning church (purposely lower case) and state, all that must be determined is whether upholding the Russian constitution is a good initiative of the state, and the MP can safely and comfortably support Putin's position.

[Pravoslavnik]

Stumbler,

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   We can hardly compare Berezovsky's fraudulent pyramid schemes to Lugovoi's deadly use of polonium in a British restaurant--a carefully premeditated act of murder which, incidentally, also endangered the lives of many innocent bystanders.  But your point is correct regarding the Russian constitution and extradition treaties--list or otherwise--with Britain.  The entire case says much about the nature of President Putin and the modern Russian Federation, who apparently have little compunction about committing murder to silence any open discussion of political events and practices within modern Russia.  If I am not mistaken, Alexander Litvenenko was murdered for talking about the case of the murdered journalist who had criticized Mr. Putin's regime.  (I don't know whether the Russian government also considered Litvenenko to be guilty of [i]treason [/i]against the Russian Federation.)

    It is probably good, in any case, to think about murders committed for political ends on this day when we commemorate the Royal Martyrs--Tsar Nicholas and his family.  The American CIA has a shameful history in this regard, and, as I mentioned, we Americans are probably the last ones in the world who have a right to criticize the methods of Mr. Lugovoi and the FSB.  On the other hand, it may not be much of a leap for a nation state to move from sanctioning murders of political expedience to adopting Joseph Stalin's view that "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic."

[stumbler]

I agree with much of what you say, but I would point out to you that financial crimes result in true human suffering, as in the case of the pensioners here who invested all their savings in Enron.

My gut tells me that, assuming that Berezovsky did what he is accused of and that Lugovoi similarly did what he is accused of, Berezovsky destroyed and cost more lives.

It is not a contest though - My main point was to show that MP-Laurus is now obliged to support the refusal to extradite Lugovoi to answer for a murder.

Shame! Kak tebe ne stidno?

If that violates the rules of the board, then "Kak vam ne stidno?"

[Pravoslavnik]

Stumbler,

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 No argument, but one point, which was also the central moral question of Dostoevsky's novel [i]Crime and Punishment[/i].  Is there a legitimate "utilitarian" calculus that we can apply to a murder?  Of course, Godless scoundrels like Berezovsky, Kenneth Lay (and many other American CEO's) have defrauded millions of their pensions and savings, causing great suffering.  But when can we, as Orthodox Christians of any nation, say that a murder is acceptable, even to achieve a positive "utilitarian" end?  I would ask the same question to Mr. Putin or to Mr. Bush.