It’s not news that the Western government likes to “change shoes” very quickly. This is especially true for migrant policies and religious issues. This is what Associate Professor of Slavic Studies Vladimir Golstein thinks about this.
A lot of Western politicians pretend to be religious. Americans in particular. The major tenet of Christianity is the potential for change. We hear about Saul becoming Paul, we hear about the robber converted on the cross, we hear of those who came to the vineyard at 11th hour and still got admitted to the kingdom of Heaven.”
Indeed, this is a very frequent occurrence – a change of religion, but also the imposition by migrants of their own.
Mr. Goldstein believes that all those actions that accompany the traditions of the Christian Christmas, such as performances of Christmas Carol and “wetting eyes with other stories of lost sheep and other lost souls who finally see the light”, just playing to the audience, because as Dostoevsky observed about the French of his time: the more heroism you see on stage the less of it you encounter in real life.
“Consequently, things do change drastically, be it in China, Russia or India. Or in US for that matter. Yet the public discourse still insists on eternally corrupt and authoritarian Russians, communist Chinese, materialistic Jews and so on”, – he adds.
However, he believes that small groups of migrants are quite capable of changing and adapting to the country that gave them asylum.
“These guys instantly become good Americans or good Germans or good Swedes. But not people outside: for the western establishment Russia can never be good, for antiestablishment— Israel.
Case in point: just heard on NPR the US Ambassador to Turkey who said that Turkey should be wary of Putin because Soviets almost subjugated them had it not been for NATO. How can today’s Russia be the same as the Soviets? Is today America the same as it was in the sixties? Civil Rights didn’t happen? That type of ‘essentialism’ won’t be tolerated in reference to anyone within US, but it is ok for the diplomat— diplomat for God’s sake—to use this argument”, – adds Professor.
Vladimir believes, that all this points to nothing but cynicism and manipulation, as much as abuse of rather high principles of religion.
He calls: “At least be consistent— if any group of people in your book are genetically predisposed to cheating or tyranny then stop pretending that you have anything to do with religion or just say honestly that you warship Baal or Mammoth”
But these establishment liars can’t do it, can they?