This was posted a couple of pages previously. I offered some context then.
I won't use one of Tucker’s favorite accusations, that he is "lying." I'll simply say that he apparently is misinformed or what is most likely, merely overstating an issue to further his own narrative about Ukraine - one that has become more difficult now that he has had to abandon McGregor and ilk whose assurances that “Ukraine has already lost this war” militarily are proving ever more add odds with events on the battlefield. What he has left is to undermine Zelensky and the Ukrainian government.
So let me offer some context. Two-thirds of the Ukrainian population is Eastern Orthodox - the Ukrainian church historically subordinate to Moscow is now a essentially a separate entity. No one is interested in or foolish enough to ban the nation’s primary religious institution.
A Russian Orthodox sect has remained and retains loyalty to the Patriarch Kirill in Moscow who has close personal ties to Putin whose tenure he calls "a miracle of God." He has argued that Ukraine is not a truly separate nation, that Russia has a legitimate claim on lands beyond its borders, and that the invasion is a justified defense against Western liberalism. One of his prelates argued that even genocide was legitimate if ordered by the Kremlin, because Putin was serving the "will of God." Most societies would agree that divine right passed with the middle ages.
Ukraine has claimed that some of the churches and monasteries of this sect are being used by the Russian FSB to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda and to hide agents and saboteurs. Is this true? I do not know. But I think we can make a fundamental judgement with respect to Carlson's premise and Ukraine's actions.
First of all, the notion that Zelensky has banned a "whole religion" is clearly at best an exaggeration, and at worst a deliberate misstatement designed to influence Carlson's audience. The Eastern Orthodox church is alive and well in Ukraine.
So let's focus on the reality of the Ukrainian government's actions. I always find it useful to use historical precedence rather than current circumstance when evaluating such things. Certainly from a perspective of the 21st century United States, investigating religious groups or political parties is something we don't do. However, and it is a very big however, we have not been in an existential war since 1945 - perhaps we could extend that period through the sixties during the height of the Cold War. It is useful to look at Ukraine's actions through that lens.
During WWII the US banned all sorts of organizations that appeared to be in any way supportive of the Axis powers. The pro Nazi American Bund was probably the most prominent. This was its rally in Madison Square Garden in 1939.
We even went so far as to "ban" a whole segment of our population, Japanese American citizens of this country, and throw them and their families in what were essentially concentration camps. Many, perhaps even most, lost their businesses and livelihood in the process. We did this solely based on race - not even belief.
Lincoln during the Civil War, the other great existential conflict in our history, took equally aggressive measures against internal threats to include suppressing many newspapers and arresting journalists. Several times Federal troops were used to destroy printing presses of Northern papers supportive of the South's right to secede or even simply those overly critical of the administration. He even suspended the right of Habeas Corpus in spring of 1861 for the duration of the war. People considered a threat were simply locked away for the duration without a trial.
With respect to the Cold War, try to have obtained a meaningful job in this country, join the military, or serve in government as a member of the Communist Party.
Obviously, Tucker Carlson is an educated person. I am not sure it is worse that he deliberately ignores such relative history, or that he assumes his audience won't be informed enough to be aware of it themselves or to apply critical thought to his editorial comments.
Last edited:
