Chaotic Orthodox history, the Ukraine war, and more

Besides being wrong about remarriage after divorce and now on contraception, the Orthodox communion of churches is in bad shape, at the same time the Catholic one is breaking up. For one thing now it's at least two communions, two THE Orthodox Churches, with two big autocephalous (self-headed, independent) churches, Constantinople and Moscow, no longer in communion for the past few years because the liberal pro-Western patriarch of Constantinople has hitched his wagon to the global American empire, political correctness and all, and barged into the Ukraine, Moscow's church turf, to set up a literal schism, bishop against bishop in the same territory. By the way, most Orthodox in America are Greeks under Constantinople. Anyway, the Orthodox handle these rifts by still absolving and communing laity on both sides; the other independent churches are trying to stay in communion with both churches.

• The patriarchate of Constantinople, "the Second Rome," was even more chaotic around the 1890s, when the Turkey that ran it was still the Ottoman Empire. Bulgarian Orthodox had declared their political and ecclesiastical independence some time ago and, according to their old patriarchate, Constantinople, were outside the Orthodox communion. Usually a mother church grants independence (autocephaly).
• Abusing religion to spite: during America's proxy war with Russia, Moscow, "the Third Rome," the Constantinopolitan/American puppet church is encouraging the Ukrainians in its dioceses to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, switching to the Western calendar, for a wrong reason. This war is really the first armed crusade of Christianity's elite daughter, wokism, to destroy Orthodox Russia, Eurasia, simply for existing, raising the flag of many colors over the Kremlin. Kiev today, Moscow tomorrow, then the world. But the American puppet Ukrainian government (since 2014) will lose. Russia, an invincible land empire, will have the Russian eastern and southern Ukraine back. That and the Western aggression of militarizing a country on the border ("Ukraine" means "at the border") are why Russia has been doing this "special military operation," not to take the whole Ukraine back. The Uniates, in old Polish Galicia in the far western Ukraine, latinized sons of Bergoglio, are on board the American train too, referring to Vatican II on religious liberty and enthused about "democracy," full of Cold War anti-Russian nostalgia, a big part of Ukrainian nationalism. The West's muddled message: "Let's consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary so we can help Jews and Nazis work together for trans rights." What? Finland and Sweden aren't neutral anymore, joining NATO?! Switzerland is no longer neutral?! Weird. There is something wicked worldwide including ecclesiastically, what with a heretical Pope. But as I say, chances are the Ukrainian army will lose, the Americans will end up at the negotiating table with Putin, Europe, America's dependencies since World War II, might revolt when they don't have heating oil or natural gas this winter, and a new set of powers — Russia, economic powerhouse China, India, Brazil, and some Near Eastern countries — end over 75 years of American hegemony. You don't keep an empire spanning 11 time zones for centuries by being, as the Z-Man describes the American narrative about Russia, dumb drunks running a gas station. Putin is popular in Russia: when the country was in freefall, ruled by gangsters after Communism fell, he saved the people.
• Further, there is a bill in the Ukrainian government to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in the Ukraine.

Finally, if you're a frustrated traditional Catholic considering converting to Russian Orthodoxy, thinking "Orthodoxy is an alternative to Catholicism" with "valid orders," don't convert. Because you wouldn't really be converting, just using the Orthodox while keeping a Catholic point of view. Every ancient high church including the Catholics and the Orthodox claims it's the true one. Orthodoxy believes only it has sacraments. So it reserves the right to receive you by baptism and believes the traditional Latin Mass has been fake for 1,000 years. Respect all that.

No matter how strict you are otherwise, if you get remarriage after divorce and contraception wrong, your church is still part of the modern problem in Christianity.