Old Tyrannia wrote:Nationalist State of Knox wrote:No-one is suggesting that the Church would advocate violence against homosexuals; rather, the teaching that "homosexuality is sin" (based on the popularity of the Russian Orthodox Church) underlies these general discriminatory actions towards homosexuals, i.e. homophobia.
I believe that horrible people will always find a way to be horrible, whether or not they can use religion as an excuse. Note that National Socialism as it existed under Nazi Germany used Christianity for its own purposes at best and brutally suppressed it at worst. Hitler himself was quoted as being of the opinion Christianity would die out naturally in the next century.
I'm not saying anyone is using a religion as an excuse, I'm saying that the homophobic attitude that exists today in Russian society has developed because of the Church's influence.
Even today 74% of Russians belong to the Orthodox Church, and that's not taking into account any prior cultural impact.