Author: Max

Templars in Transcarpathia: traces of the order that are not written about in textbooks

Posted on by Max

The Templars: How the Order of the Knights Templar became the most influential in Europe

Templars, or warrior monks, are a bit of an unusual combination. But in the Middle Ages, there was an Order of Templars who took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These knights wore white cloaks with a red cross, which became their symbols. The most interesting thing is that the order was not created to expand empires or conquer. It was created after the First Crusade to protect pilgrims on the dangerous journey to the holy city of Jerusalem.

The idea of the Order: how the history of the legendary Templars began

The history of the Order dates back to 1119. It was then that the French knight Hugo de Payne, together with his brothers, decided to found a brotherhood to protect Christian pilgrims. They chose the name “Templars” for themselves not by chance, because it is dedicated to the Temple of Solomon, which once stood in Jerusalem. At the beginning of its activity, the order was quite modest. It consisted of nine knights who had no property, ate simple food, and slept in military gear.

King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem
King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem

History has preserved their names: Hugo de Paine, Godefroy de Saint-Amand, André de Montbar, Geoffroy Bissol, Payan de Montvidier, Arshambault de Saint-Amand, Gondemar, Rosal, Godefroy.

In 1128, 9 years later, Pope Eugene III officially approved the order. St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote the charter for it, as he saw the Templars as the perfect combination of military strength and spiritual service.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux inspired the Templars
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who inspired the Templars

The Templar Order itself consisted of three main groups:

  • knights – people of noble birth, warriors with weapons;
  • sergeants-armor bearers, stewards, guards, and ordinary servants;
  • priests – spiritual advisors of the order, subordinate to the Grand Master.

Absolutely all members of the order-even servants-took monastic vows. The Templars had a special motto: Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam, which meant “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.” The Order’s coat of arms depicted two knights on one horse, symbolizing brotherhood and poverty.

the coat of arms of the Order of the Templars
coat of arms of the Order of the Knights Templar, 2 knights on 1 horse.

Warriors and monks: the uniqueness of the Knights Templar

The Templars had not only a military mission but were also monks. They lived in austerity, did not own property, and spent many hours of the day in prayer. They did not seek wealth at all, but paradoxically, their order became a symbol of financial strength and unrivaled power.

The reputation of defenders of the faith, as well as the patronage of the Pope, became the basis for receiving large donations from monarchs, nobles, and ordinary believers. In this way, the Templars acquired land, castles, vineyards, etc. They were exempt from paying taxes and duties. Thus, gradually, the Templars turned from poor pilgrims’ protectors into a powerful international community that possessed enormous resources, political influence, and advanced economic tools.

Development of the international network and logistics

The Order created special fortified centers called commandories. They functioned as military bases, administrative centers, and financial institutions. Gradually, they began to appear throughout Europe, including in its eastern part. This created a powerful network that greatly facilitated military movements and financial transactions.

Templar fortress, commandery
One of the Templar fortresses or commandery

Each commandery was an independent unit. However, it was subordinate to the central leadership of the Order. The task of the commandery was to ensure the coordinated work of the entire network.

The influence of the Templars on the development of the modern banking system

Interestingly, the Templars were the driving force behind the development of the deposit system. For example, a pilgrim who decided to travel to the Holy Land could deposit his money at the Templar commandery in Paris or London. In return, he would receive a special check or bill of exchange. It was with the help of this check that he could return his money in gold or silver at the commandery in Acre (the Crusader capital in the Levant) or any other city where the Templars had a representative office. The revolutionary system eliminated the risk of robbery on dangerous routes.

Acre, the capital of the Templars in the Middle East
what remains of Acre, the former capital of the Templars

However, the Templars provided not only deposit services but also lending. They lent money to kings (French and English monarchs), aristocrats, and even the Pope. This activity allowed them to gain enormous political influence, as their debtors were dependent on the financial capabilities of the Order. The Templars possessed a huge capital, which allowed them to finance the construction of fortresses and some crusades.

The fall of the Knights Templar

The influence of the order was constantly growing: the Templars had not only political weight and wealth, but also large land holdings throughout Europe. Of course, this could not but irritate the monarchs. That is why the French King Philip IV, who owed the Order huge sums of money, decided not only to get rid of the debt but also of the Templars themselves.

French King Philip 4 and the Pope
King Philip 4 and the Pope

In 1307, he arrested its members, charging them with Satanism, heresy, and immorality. Under brutal torture, some of the Templars admitted their guilt. In 1312, the order was officially dissolved, and two years later, in 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master, was burned in Paris.

execution of Jacques de Molay, the last master of the Order
The burning of Jacques de Molay in Paris

The Templars and Ukraine: How the Order and Transcarpathia are connected

There are many historical references and local legends that the Templars were present in Zakarpattia. According to numerous references, it was here that the Serednyansky fortress was located, dating back to the twelfth or thirteenth century. According to legend, it was not just a castle, but a full-fledged monastic center of the order. Its location was partially justified by control over the important salt route from the Carpathians to Western Europe: the knights provided protection and took a corresponding share from each trader.

Serednyansky castle, Transcarpathia
the remains of the Serednyansky castle in Transcarpathia

In Serednyansky Castle, however, the Templars not only devoted their time to patronage, prayer, and spiritual improvement. Here they were also actively engaged in farming: they grew various fruits, including apples, and made natural cider. They used the drink as part of their diet and also sold it to the public. Today, this heritage has been preserved. Nowadays, Ukrainian craft cider Monbarnamed after one of the first masters of the Knights Templar, André de Montbar, wins the hearts of millions of Ukrainians.

Montbar cider on the grass
Monbar cider made in Transcarpathia

Medvedchuk’s revenge: OPFL agent and pseudo-veteran Serhiy Byzov seizes the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine

Posted on by Max

On July 1, 2025, a new chairman was elected at a meeting of the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTU). It was Serhiy Byzov. “An ordinary event,” most readers will think. But in reality, this is political nonsense. It opens a Pandora’s box filled with complex questions about Russia’s revenge and the lost struggle for one of the most powerful assets in the country.
In case the reader is not aware, the FEU is not some kind of “public organization”. It is a gigantic structure that receives funds from 4 million working Ukrainians every month. It owns dozens of sanatoriums, hotels and office buildings across the country. The total value of its assets is estimated at billions of hryvnias.

Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine
Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine

And now this structure is headed by a man with a shady past, to put it mildly, whose biography is closely linked to the pro-Russian party OPFL. We have found out who Serhiy Byzov is, how he got the top position in the FPU, and what risks this poses to the state.

Sergey Byzov is an honorary “bathhouse veteran”

One of the key elements of Serhiy Byzov’s public image is his status as a combatant and a military man. In times of war, this is a powerful tool for gaining public trust. However, the documents at our disposal paint a completely different picture.
According to an official response from the Main Directorate of the National Guard, Serhiy Byzov was enlisted for military service under a contract on May 3, 2024. His position is purely logistical: “head of the bathhouse – electrician” in military unit 3057.
After serving for more than a year, Byzov was discharged on May 19, 2025. At the same time, as noted in the documents, there is no evidence of his participation in hostilities or stay in the areas of their conduct.
Moreover, during his “service” Byzov was active in trade union and political activities. He organized rallies in Kyiv (in particular, on March 26, 2024, near the Druzhba Hotel), continued to lead the All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Defenders of Ukraine, and even served on the Supervisory Board of Ukrproftur. There are many military personnel among our readers, and they will understand that the real work of a defender cannot be combined with another job, especially with such active social activities.

Serhiy Byzov FEU
pseudo-veteran Serhiy Byzov

Moreover, this is a direct violation of the law:
Article 11 of the Law “On the National Guard of Ukraine” requires military personnel to suspend their membership in trade unions for the duration of their service.
The Law “On Joint Stock Companies” prohibits military personnel from being officials, including members of supervisory boards.
These facts became the basis for the SBI investigation. As follows from the documents, the SBI received a report of a crime committed by Byzov as a military officer. The case has been registered and is under investigation.

Byzov – Medvedchuk’s agent and hybrid Kremlin soldier

“Military career” is not the only controversial page in Byzov’s biography. His political path leads directly to the pro-Russian forces built up in Ukraine by Viktor Medvedchuk. It was Medvedchuk who, following the direct orders of his godfather, led all anti-Ukrainian work in Ukraine: at the political, cultural and social levels.
It is known that Byzov worked for a long time in the ranks of the Opposition Platform – For Life party: he served as deputy head of the executive committee of the Dnipro regional organization.
According to the Clarity Project, in the 6th and 7th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada, he was an assistant to MP Dmytro Shpenov, known for his work with the Party of Regions and the Opposition Bloc. Shpenov, in particular, voted for the “dictatorial laws” of January 16, 2014, and supported the occupation of the Donbas territories.
It is very doubtful that with such a background, Bykov suddenly “re-educated” himself, changed his political beliefs and became an active pro-Ukrainian activist. The Putin-Medvedchuk “needle” is too tight, because everything is based on money and clan ties.
Therefore, it will not be surprising if the largest trade union organization in Ukraine “suddenly” begins to be used to spread pro-Russian narratives and influence labor collectives within the framework of Russia’s hybrid operations. Unfortunately, Russia is very skilled in such cases and generously funds them.

Serhiy Byzov and Medvedchuk
Byzov is Medvedchuk’s agent of influence

The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine is a billion-dollar resource in the hands of Medvedchuk’s man

To understand what the struggle was about, it is worth looking at the assets that Byzov now controls. This is a huge material base:
56 sanatorium and resort facilities owned by the FEU through its subsidiary Ukrprofozdorovnytsia JSC.
20 hotels and tourist centers.
About 50 office buildings in each regional center.
Huge contributions. For example, the railroad workers’ union alone collects about UAH 38 million a month.
This empire has been a source of corruption schemes for years. Byzov’s predecessors, who, according to our sources, lobbied for his election, are a prime example. Among them, for example, is the former head of the FPU, Hryhoriy Osovyi. He is currently under house arrest in a case of illegal alienation of trade union property worth more than UAH 20 million.

The second influential lobbyist is Volodymyr Sayenko. On May 23, 2025, he was sentenced by the High Anti-Corruption Court to 4 years in prison for attempting to bribe judges for $150,000. The verdict also mentions the illegal alienation of a balneotherapy building in Kyiv.
Byzov is fully in line with his “predecessors”, as he himself is a defendant in a case of raider seizure of a trade union organization. This proceeding is combined with the case of his associate Sayenko.
New and old political allies
Interestingly, Byzov’s activities are supported not only by the old staff of the FEU, but also by well-known political forces. The Batkivshchyna party and its leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, became a key ally.
It was Tymoshenko who created the Inter-Factional Association for the Protection of Veterans in the Verkhovna Rada, which included about 40 MPs, mostly from opposition parties. Byzov’s trade union became the informational and organizational backbone of this association.
This alliance uses “veteran” rhetoric to exert political pressure, organize protests and block government initiatives. An example is the blocking by Batkivshchyna MPs of draft law No. 12374-d, which would have allowed the ARMA to transfer seized property (including the sanatoriums of the Ukrainian Military Service) for the rehabilitation of military personnel and veterans. Thus, while publicly speaking “for veterans,” this political group blocks real mechanisms to help them by protecting corrupt interests around the FPU’s assets.
And these are just the facts that lie on the surface. But how many “agreements” and political connections are hidden from the public eye? Therefore, the election of Serhiy Byzov as the head of the FEU is an alarming signal. A man with a past in the OPFL, a fictitious military biography and criminal proceedings in his background has become the head of one of the most influential structures in the country.
There are many risks. And we are not even talking about creating corruption schemes worth billions of hryvnias. We are talking about threats to national security. After all, let’s not forget that millions of employees – members of trade unions – are a powerful mobilization resource. And the FEU, through its functionaries, can directly influence their thoughts, vision of the situation, and actions. In these circumstances, the enemy can turn trade unions into a powerful tool to destabilize Ukraine from within.

That’s why it’s important now:

  1. Immediately provide a legal assessment of the facts of falsification of military service by Serhiy Byzov, the legality of his receipt of the status of a combatant and his ties to pro-Russian forces.
  2. Convene an extraordinary congress of the PFU to cancel the election results, which were held with violations and under pressure from corrupt clans.
  3. To publicly condemn the use of the status of a defender of Ukraine by “dressed up” and impostors who discredit the real heroes of the war.
  4. To stop any cooperation with Byzov’s puppet structures and condemn attempts to politicize the veterans’ movement for their own interests.

If we don’t stop this process now, tomorrow we may get a powerful internal front controlled from Moscow and repeat the scenario of 2013. But this time it will be on a much larger territory of the country.

Kyiv Equality March 2025: Why is it a direct threat to national security?

Posted on by Max

On June 14, 2025, an event, the so-called Equality March 2025, took place in the center of Kyiv, which led to an escalation of geopolitical risks for Ukraine. The attempted LGBT parade, known as the Equality March, lasted only about 30 minutes. But its negative consequences will be long-lasting. Let’s analyze what happened this weekend in the capital.

The 2025 Equality March lasted half an hour

Despite the military administration’s ban, the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) somehow gave permission (although it had no right to do so) to hold the rally. A large force of Kyiv police was deployed to ensure order in the area of the Teatralna metro station. According to eyewitnesses, Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street was blocked with heavy machinery (more than 100 units), and the perimeter was guarded by several battalions of equipped local law enforcement officers. The metro station itself was closed for entry and exit for ordinary citizens.

Kyiv police guard the LGBT parade in Kyiv
Several police battalions were involved

As a result, about a hundred LGBT activists (including representatives of foreign embassies) were able to take to the streets. But the 2025 Equality March was short-lived. Young people, veterans, wounded soldiers – young representatives of traditional communities in Ukraine – actively opposed this action and prevented a full-fledged “rainbow” march in the center of the capital.

Equality march in masks
Many LGBT activists were wearing masks

However, even in these 30 minutes, the participants of the LGBT Equality March 2025 managed to do the main thing – to create a large amount of photo and video content. And this greatly helped Moscow’s propaganda, which distorts the image of Ukraine in Western media and social networks.

“Innocent” photos of the 2025 Equality March have become an information weapon

The materials created during the LGBT event were instantly spread on Western, particularly American, social media. The picture they saw there differed significantly from the reality: a short local event was presented as a massive and large-scale LGBT parade that covered the entire capital of Ukraine.

As a result, the Kremlin has the perfect material to promote its false theses. Spending billions on disinformation, Russian intelligence services convey messages to the conservative part of American society and politicians that Ukraine is a “leftist Biden project” with “LGBT flags in every window” and that the Armed Forces are allegedly made up of mostly LGBT people.

Participants of the 2025 Equality March in Kyiv wearing masks
Typical participants of the Equality March wearing masks

Already, bots hired by Russian special services are actively leaving comments under photos and videos. The main message: “russia has many shortcomings, but it definitely does not have this.”

Many Ukrainians find it difficult to imagine the consequences of this. The United States seems like a distant country, and we don’t seem to be interested in the opinion of the average American.

However, the situation is much more complicated. Through such materials and the peculiarities of their presentation, Moscow’s special services continue to shape the image of left-liberal Ukraine: “communist”, “artificial”, “filled with gays and opponents of traditional families”.

Why is it dangerous?

Further military and financial assistance to Ukraine largely depends on the position of conservative and Christian circles in the U.S. Congress and Senate. Information about such actions, presented from the right angle for the enemy, strengthens their doubts and makes it more difficult for us to make vital decisions. The result is fewer weapons, less intelligence, and more casualties at the front.

Therefore, the actions of the Kyiv City State Administration and the Kyiv Police are not about equality or tolerance. In this light, their indulgence in LGBT propaganda can be seen as short-sighted or even provocative. The people who allowed the so-called LGBT Equality March 2025 to take place in Kyiv pose a direct threat to Ukraine’s national security. A logical question arises for the Kyiv authorities and the Kyiv police: were they aware of these risks?

Not a “fight for equality” but a dangerous political force

The contemporary LGBT movement is not so much about protecting the rights of homosexual people as it is about promoting a radical leftist political order. This movement, often funded from abroad through a system of grants, aims to radically restructure society.

participants of the lgbt parade in kyiv 2025
Many LGBT participants wore masks

And it is not about equality of all people in society. Instead, the LGBT community wants to be “better” and more privileged. For example:

  • They demand tolerance for themselves, but they are often intolerant of those who disagree with them. If someone expresses a different opinion, they try to silence them and ruin their reputation (this is called the “culture of cancellation”).
  • The LGBT movement deliberately attacks what is the foundation of society: family, religion, patriotism, and culture. They say that their main goal is to convince everyone that biological sex (whether you were born male or female) is not important, but is only a role that can be chosen.
  • This is not a social movement, but a political force with large grant money, its own symbols, and influential people in the government and media. Their goal is to set their own rules and control what society considers normal in relationships.

Therefore, it is quite possible to expect that the ultimate goal of this ideology is to reduce the birth rate and depopulate. This is impossible to realize in countries with a strong national government and healthy social traditions. But in a situation where there are many open collaborators among the authorities, it is quite possible to implement such a model. And we see active attempts.

Therefore, the LGBT Equality March 2025, which took place on June 14 in Kyiv, is an alarming signal. Due to the short-sightedness of local officials and the activity of a small group of people greedy for grants, Ukraine risks serious problems in the international arena. In a full-scale war, when every shell and every dollar of aid is worth its weight in gold, such “information gifts” to the enemy are an unacceptable luxury.

March of Tradition in Kyiv 2025
Christian youth raise their fists in the air

We should thank the youth and veterans who, through their decisive actions, prevented the situation from developing into a full-scale procession, as it would have had even worse consequences. And society and the government need to draw the right conclusions. Because the price of mistakes on the information front is measured in the lives of our soldiers.

Trump and Ukraine. Maksym Sitailo explains what`s really happening in the U.S.

Posted on by Max

Trump and Ukraine: Possible scenarios for the future

The ongoing developments in the U.S. have sparked reactions among Ukrainian and European leftists. The controversy was fueled by The Atlantic`s article `Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows`. Once again, the topic of Trump and Ukraine is making headlines in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian leftist experts, The Atlantic article has revealed all the ongoing processes in the U.S., exposed a major conspiracy, and held those responsible accountable. But what is really happening? Let`s take a closer look.

What accusations do leftists make against the U.S. ruling elite, led by Trump and Musk?

  • They aim to strengthen the influence of Christian communities and leaders in the country`s political decision-making.
  • They seek to expand capitalist principles and promote a freer market;
  • They are working to downsize bureaucratic institutions and limit their functions.

What aspects of the U.S. system does the European left believe should be preserved-both in the U.S. and in Europe, including Ukraine?

  • Churches and Christian communities should be confined to rituals Bible reading in their free time, while real decisions are left to the bureaucracy, which operates ” beyond religion.”
  • “Render unto Caesar” is interpreted as allowing the bureaucracy to impose and allocate taxes at will, justifying its actions under the principles of “equality” and “social justice.”
  • Bureaucratic positions control financial flows and wield real influence, regardless of who occupies them.
Trump vs. Europe`s Left

This is the “worldview gap” between us – the European left and the American right-wing establishment. You may ask: “what do Putin and the Muscovites have to do with this, and which worldview are they closer to? In my view, in this context, the Muscovites worldview is irrelevant. We`ll delve into this later, but for now, let`s focus on Trump and Ukraine.

So, the new American elite aims to:

  1. Enhance the influence of the church in public life;
  2. Dismiss the misleading and flawed principles of `equality` and `social justice` in favor of expanding capitalism and the free market;
  3. Reduce the dominance of unaccountable bureaucracy.

This is deeply unsettling for European and Ukrainian elites, as such a “right-wing revolution” threatens to strip them of both power and real influence.

Why do European elites oppose Trump?

  1. Why does bureaucracy clash with the Church? The Church operates based on the Bible and Christian principles, while bureaucracy resists being bound by any principles, let alone a book written a thousand years ago. Even if agreements can be made with church leadership on profitable yet morally questionable actions, there is always the risk that a “righteous monk” might emerge and start `stirring things up`, reminding everyone of the Bible and the Commandments. This creates significant discomfort and obstructs policies related to inclusion, abortion, tolerance, and more. Most importantly, it dispruts access to funding for all these `programs`.
  2. The free market and capitalism also pose challenges for bureaucracy. In a capitalist system, wealth is distributed through voluntary agreements, reducing the need for excessive bureaucratic structures. As officials often say: ` We understand that lowering bureaucracy and taxes would make life easier for entrepreneurs ans boost business activity, but would we (bureaucrats) do then? We would lose control. Socialism provides the ideal environment for bureaucracy. In socialist systems, material wealth is redistributed through coercion, with government officials and institutions controlling the process. Unlike in capitalism, where economic outcomes depend on individual effort, socialism centralizes decision-making within bureaucratic structures. Naturally, bureaucracy justifies its dominance by promoting the ideals of `equality` and `social justice`. But is true or social justice even possible in practice? Efforts to enforce equality often lead to even greater inequality and injustice. Ironically, those who advocate most for these ideals are often the ones who benefit from them the most. Interestingly, Ukraine`s 500-hryvnia bill features Hryhorii Skovoroda along with his famous phrase: `Unequal to all equality`.
  3. In the United States, Elon Musk’s team identified 2.2 million bureaucrats and over 6 million contractors, many of them were engaged in redistributing taxpayer money, creating unnecessary projects, and inventing new roles for themselves – such as fighting climate change or promoting gender equality. These officials were dismissed, cutting off their access to public funds, which naturally sent shock-waves through the European bureaucratic system. Ukraine, too, has over 1 million bureaucrats, though only 160,000 are officially registered as civil servants. This vast bureaucratic apparatus is controlled by anonymous ministers, deputy prime ministers, and European commissioners whose names are easily forgotten because the hold little real significance. Their positions, however, come with power, infrastructure, and access to public budgets – regardless of who occupies them.
Donald Trump is reshaping the United States

Trump aims to disrupt the status quo for Europe and Ukraine, much like Milei in Argentina. This has escalated tensions between left-wing Europe (which includes us) and the right-wing forces in the United States. It was precisely this challenge that U.S. Vice President Vance referred to in his Munich speech when discussing internal threats within Europe. In other words, this is not merely a Trump-Ukraine issue – it`s a broader geopolitical shift.

As for the Muscovites, I doubt anyone in the United States seriously consider their ideology. The are largely seen as a menacing horde, tasked with punishing those who deviate from the `reghteous path` and align with leftist movements.

Leftism and atheism are seen as sources of weakness, and if we fail to embrace a source of strength, we risk being consumed by the advancing horde – first Ukraine, then the rest. Perhaps this is their strategy to exert influence over Europe, which they view as drowning in leftist ideology and morel decay. Only when confronted with an existential threat can true purification occur.

We cannot be certain of the true intentions of the current U.S. leadership regarding Europe and Ukraine – whether it seeks their destruction or transformation. However, if Europe chooses the path of strength, if can overcome all threats even without U.S. support.

Maksym Sitailo

Telegram: @maxsitailo

founding member of the Christian Patriotic Platform,

entrepreneur, conservative economist

Posted in Uncategorized

Sergey Ivanov on the natural and the surrogate. Why is the world “shifting to the right”.

Posted on by Max

 

Today, the phrase “the world is shifting to the right” is heard more and more often. While it`s not entirely certain that this observation can be stated as a fact, one cannot ignore the evident “right-wing” trends prevailing in most countries of the so called free world. Freedom is very important, because this shift can be seen as a natural response to the numerous totalitarian manifestations of neoliberal society, which many perceive as a threat to their personal freedom and identity.

At the same time, people are not always able to clearly define or articulate these threats for themselves, which is quite understandable within context of semantic disorientation characteristic of the postmodern era. However, the absence of clear definitions does not negate the ability of a person to feel threatened at other levels of perception and respond accordingly. Therefore, a person who is quite loyal to the external surrogate values that are offered to him or her or inculcated by propaganda unconsciously rejects them as soon as they come into conflict with his or her natural values. And it doesn’t matter how long this “loyalty regime” lasted. What comes from nature cannot be replaced by a surrogate. The immanent always wins.

Modern man is a homo mediaticus, a product shaped largely by the consumption of narratives dominating the media space. Their worldview is a syncretic plateau, littered with the secondary. Many of these narratives are in sharp conflict with human nature. The most famous are anti-natalism, perversion, censorship of political correctness, cultivation of intersectionality, secularization, and relativism. Rejection or insufficiently inspired approval of most of them involves repression-condemnation, bullying, “undoing,” etc. These practices are increasingly perceived as totalitarian and raise a fair question: “Why do I have to obey these laws if they are not?” The moment this question arises is also the moment when a person falls out of the narrative frame, followed by a period of conscious observation, critical analysis, then selective acceptance, and finally sabotage or open protest. Hundreds of millions of such pointed “epiphanies” form the ground on which worldview and, consequently, political changes, including the ones in question, grow. In parallel, there is a realization that liberal concentration camps are no different from illiberal ones. All concentration camps look alike and serve the same practical function: to hold and exterminate those who do not please their owners. It also becomes obvious that escaping from conditional loneliness into all-encompassing nothingness is not a good solution.

The world’s most sensitive organism, the market, has already realized this, and in addition to right-wing political outbursts, we are witnessing a gradual reformatting of the mainstream, from the blogosphere to Netflix, which no longer seems to see the evil in normativity and is not so picky about intersectional quotas. And this is also evidence of the victory of the natural over the surrogate.

So, strange as it may seem, killing the human in a human has proven to be much more difficult, despite the enormous global impact on it. And it is clear why: a person is not a demographic unit, but the result of continuity. Continuity is ensured by processes that are not subject to revision, and revision with obvious lethal consequences is even more so. The attack on the immanent has failed. There is not a lot of good news these days, but this is it.

Sergey Ivanov

Publicist and interviewer.

Andriy Lozovyi on the US elections and who does Trump depend on?

Posted on by Max

What really happened in the US? Who is Trump really dependent on?

 

Transgender strawberries have become a marker of world politics. A man for the ban on abortion, a woman – vs. LGBT -The intelligence officer lost the internal backroom power struggle, having the best starting position. The adherent of artificial insemination became the main global media lobbyist for his opponents. The manwho has been accompanied all his life by scandals with women of difficult fate but easy virtue, is becoming a major icon of conservatives around the world. Sorryfor talking so much about strawberries at the beginning, but otherwise you wouldn’t have read on.

Behind the big victories and big defeats, there are no small defeats and small victories, no matter how important and revealing they may be. People usually just don’t pay attention to them, focusing their eyes and minds on global processes. However, history teaches us that tactics sometimes defeat strategy. Sorry for the boring digression, but otherwise you won’t understand what I’m talking about, and I promise it will be interesting.

 

So, what happened in the world’s main power. And the United States of America, let me remind you, still remains so. The largest economy (albeit weakened in recent years), the most powerful army (at least in terms of weapons), the most influential culture in the world (Bollywood in India and Nigerian Nollywood still cannot escape the grip of their large, but geographically limited audience), and, perhaps, the strongest faith. Faith in God, faith in yourself, faith in your country, faith in your mission in this world.

 

A global victory for radical Christianity as an ideology and a global victory for Donald J. Trump as a person. At the same time, it is a painful tactical defeat for radical Christians, to which Trump is indifferent – at least he does not comment on it. At the same time, Trump’s painful tactical defeat is not something that radical Christians are indifferent to, but perhaps they can gloat over it, because they have shown the world’s key politician that he is as dependent on them as they are on him. And probably more.

 

For the first time, a tactical defeat for radical Christians. The state of Missouri repealed the abortion ban during a referendum on the same day as the election. We must understand that Missouri is the heart of America. The heart of right-wing Redneck America and the heart of America as a whole. The birthplace of the first president, George Washington, the founding father of this political nation. The birthplace of Mark Twain, who for many Americans is something like Taras Shevchenko for us. A state in the middle of the continent that is the only one that borders as many as eight other states at the same time. It was originally a French colony sold to the Americans under the Louisiana Purchase. It was colonized by ethnic Germans, who even now mostly identify themselves as Germans rather than Americans (about 70% of the population). However, these are not Catholic Germans who fled persecution, but Protestant Lutherans who traveled halfway around the world in search of a better life. That is, adventurers by nature. They were mostly farmers, as this region is still agrarian. Missouri is the state where most of the battles of the Civil War took place. As we remember, the North won that war, but the Missouri farmers who stood on the right-wing positions of the South defended themselves so heroically that they were allowed to legally use the slave system for a long time to calm the situation. Missouri is also the birthplace of the extremely influential and popular Christian movement of charismatics. The concept of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the corresponding energetic worship. By the way, it did not originate in the Pentecostal denomination, as is commonly believed, but first in the Lutheran Church. However, it spread throughout the world thanks to the Pentecostals. Nowadays, many Americans declare themselves Charismatic Catholics or even Orthodox Charismatics, but more on that another time. So, an ultra-Christian Republican state is lifting its abortion ban. To put it mildly, it is strange. Trump is silent. Obviously, it doesn’t hurt him. Moreover, his wife, Melania Trump, who is once again becoming the first lady, said in a recent interview that she is not actually against abortion.

 

Trump’s tactical defeat. North Carolina. A wealthy state on the Atlantic coast. One of several “swing” states, which is more often “swinging” towards the Democrats. It is also an ultra-Christian state. There is really nothing surprising about this. First, the personality factor. Probably the most influential preacher of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Billy Graham, was born, lived, died, and buried here after an honorable farewell at the Capitol in Washington (the first time in U.S. history that such a ceremony honoring a religious figure was held). He spent virtually all of his time here, except for his tours calling people to dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ, which Graham himself called nothing less than “crusades.” For most of his life until his death, Billy Graham was a member of the Democratic Party. However, he did not support its presidential candidates twice. He supported the Republican Richard Nixon, but even earlier he opposed the candidacy of John F. Kennedy, saying that he was a Catholic and that a Protestant country should have a Protestant as its president. After the victory, Kennedy did not take revenge on the authoritative opinion leader who prevented him from winning, but rather invited him to play golf together. Later, they became friends, Graham admitted his mistake, and for the rest of his life (he lived for 99 years) he was an ardent lobbyist for interfaith dialogue between different denominations of Christians. In other words, he was a fighter against schism.

 

Returning to the topic of right-wing Christianity and political culture in the United States of America – this is the name of this state in Ukrainian in the pre-Post-Soviet spelling that Iryna Farion hated so much, so I will call it that in her memory. And ZSA sounds almost like the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is also nice. Initially, it was the Democratic Party, not the Republican Party, that stood on more right-wing positions. The first slogan of the Democratic Party was: slavery is the basis of democracy. However, nothing is permanent in the world, because, according to Anaximander, it dries up and is flooded with water… The Democratic Party of the United States has become completely left-wing only since Barack Obama won the 2008 primaries. So it is not surprising that Graham was a Democrat.

 

But Billy Graham deserves a separate conversation, so let’s go back to the long-suffering North Carolina. While the last election there was won by Joseph Biden, and this was one of the keys to his victory, this time it is the other way around – a brilliant victory for Trump and the Republicans in the Congressional and Senate elections. However, this is one of the 11 states where gubernatorial elections were held at the same time. And the Republican candidate, Mark Robinson, a longtime Trump ally for whom the new old president campaigned fervently, is losing this election in a landslide.

 

Why? Radical Christian groups not only in North Carolina, but across America, publicly called on Trump to withdraw his support for Robinson. First of all, because this candidate does not support a complete ban on abortion – he used to, by the way, but changed his position shortly before the election, apparently to please left-wing voters. In addition, on the eve of the national vote, Robinson was involved in a terrible sexual scandal. Strangely enough, in the world’s most powerful country, people are so old-fashioned that they still use forums to communicate with each other. On the most popular forum in North Carolina, the account @mlsoldr (I don’t know what it means, soldier is spelled differently) constantly promoted pornography with transsexuals, including writing that nature is not perfect, and the most beautiful people in the world, according to him, are men who have lost their genitals. All this rhetoric caused a sharp indignation on the part of the clergy and parental committees (everyone understands that it is impossible to restrict children from viewing 18+ content in the modern world). One of the parents noticed that the date of birth in the @mlsoldr account and the years of his service in the army (yes, not everyone in the army is a saint) coincide with the corresponding years in Mark Robinson’s biography, and told journalists about it. And the fact that it was him was actually proven. The gubernatorial candidate claimed that it was a fake, sued CNN, among others, but was unable to prove the opposite… Robinson was also reminded of how ten years ago he himself (!) called himself a “black Nazi” and in an interview this kind black man told how he dreamed of “buying a few white slaves.” And right-wing Americans are mostly white people, after all. Nevertheless, Trump did not disown his old ally. Radical Christians have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with: they demonstratively defeated this candidate, while voting for Republicans in both houses of parliament and for Trump as a presidential candidate in opposition to the leftist agenda of Kamala Harris.

 

If we look at all these processes more broadly, we should not forget that radical Christians at the stage of the Republican Party primaries were more sympathetic to first Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and then to the former governor of South Carolina (these are neighboring states with the aforementioned North Carolina, in case anyone does not know) Nikki Haley. Partly without hesitation, they made various statements about Trump regarding his adventures with prostitutes, his friendship with gay men who declare it (more on this later), etc. But the situation was such that radical Christians had no other candidate. Either the enemy or a situational friend would win. In the last election of 2020, the Republicans did not have primaries, because according to the political tradition of the United States, primaries are not held if the incumbent president of this party is running for a second term, which was Trump. And the year before last, in 2016, when he was first elected, radical Christians supported Ted Cruz, now re-elected senator from Texas, until he lost the primary and became the second. Ted Cruz is a radical Christian himself, who was later persuaded to support those who dropped out of the primaries, having taken fourth and third place in them – Jeb Bush (the younger brother of the same) and Marco Rubio.

 

Yes, the same Marco Rubio who will now head the State Department, a key structure in the US hierarchy (even the vice president has less power). And here again, sorry, we are talking about sex. Or rather, about its role in politics. Two days before Trump’s announcement that Rubio would head the State Department, the media, referring to the old president’s entourage, called Richard Grennell, Trump’s longtime and close ally, the head of the National Intelligence Agency during his first presidency, the main contender. But there is a nuance that radical Christians did not like. Grennell is gay. This is not about his personal life (it is not customary to look in bed there), but about the fact that he declares it and often talks about his civilian husband in interviews. And Trump is actually betraying his old comrade-in-arms, because he has the sad experience that he has nowhere to go from radical Christians. He clearly understands that he would not have won without them. He remembers the sad experience of the aforementioned North Carolina. And the parallel process: John Thune became the leader of the Republican majority in the upper house of parliament with the support of ultra-Christian communities, although Trump personally supported another candidate, John Corwin, another old ally.

 

Therefore, it is now clear that the president of the world’s main power is absolutely dependent on radical Christians and their worldview concept. And this will play a key role not only in American but also in world politics. This is probably a marriage of convenience. However, even such marriages can be surprisingly reliable and last for many years. But we don’t know how it will go further. Everything is God’s will. I forgot about artificial insemination, which is also a toxic topic for many radical Christians. Its ardent adherent and practitioner is the incredibly influential, at least at this stage, Elon Musk, a father of twelve children, one of whose sons recently made a transgender transition. Musk has condemned his son’s behavior, at least in public, because he realizes that without the support of radical Christians, it is no longer possible to be a real power in the GCA.

 

Andrii Lozovyi,

artist, writer, MP of the VIII convocation, member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2015-17)

Dmytro Korchynskyi – why did you create the Christian-Patriotic Platform in Ukraine?

Posted on by Max

Dmytro Korchynskyi on the goals of the Christian Patriotic Platform in Ukraine and the world.

The national liberation war of the Ukrainian people is also a war for faith, because it is waged against the Muscovite hypocrites who are monkeying with the church. We know from the Gospel that hypocrites are greater enemies of God than pagans. From our own experience, we know that hypocrites are worse than the atheists. The activities of the Moscow “church” have pushed more people away from Christ than communist propaganda. Of course, there is a lot of hypocrisy in the right churches, but for the Moscow “church” hypocrisy is the foundation of its existence, and the FSB is its roof. If the Moscow pseudo-church is to be destroyed, then the correct churches must be corrected. In fact, the whole history of the church is a constant correction. The church is not made up of angels, but of sinners who seek salvation. Sinners often fall into darkness, but the righteous, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Name of the Lord, bring them out into the light again and again. It is now obvious that only the church can save Ukraine, all of Europe, and European culture. To do this, the church must once again reject compromises with the prince of this world (which have become too many lately) and become militant (according to the Doctrine of Faith: The triumphant church is in heaven, the militant church is on earth).

Korchynskyi Christian and Patriotic Platform
Dmytro Korchynskyi

Our task is to create links of the militant Church in all denominations and denominations, as well as in the Defense Forces and government agencies. So far, the only noticeable Christian militant link in the defense forces is the Brotherhood unit, which is part of the Timur Center of the GUR. This is not enough. It is necessary to create Christian units in the Armed Forces and the National Guard. Christian leaders who are militant are now more numerous among Protestants, but still very few. Most do not want to attack the devil, give the people to him and hope to hide from him in their denominations. There are worthy and courageous people among Orthodox and Catholic priests, but they are not the leaders of their denominations. We hope that participation in the Platform will help them learn leadership. The goals are clear, the tasks are defined. Let’s get to work, brothers!

 

Dmytro Korchynskyi, playwright, national awakener, co-founder of the Christian and Patriotic Platform.