Ukraine and Pakistan: How are we different?

Christians in Pakistan. Photo: BBC

They fabricate blasphemy charges against Christians and then imprison them. Over the recent period, at least 450 such cases have been reported, with five people dying in custody.

During court hearings, Islamists shout slogans in the courtroom to pressure judges into convicting innocent individuals. Moreover, after guilty verdicts are delivered, Islamic leaders make statements against the victims in mosques, inciting local residents to turn against their families.

Why are we writing about this? Because if you replace Pakistan with Ukraine and Islamists with certain local denominations, you get an almost identical picture. The only difference is that Pakistan's Islamists haven’t yet started forming “religious communities” in local clubs or “converting” Christian churches into mosques. Perhaps they just don’t know it’s possible. Proven by Ukraine.

It seems we are striving for Europe, but on the way there, we’ve made a small detour of 4,000 kilometers.

Read also

UOC vs. OCU numbers: pollsters count, social media recount

Official polling suggests Dumenko’s structure has an overwhelming lead in the number of parishioners, while social media polls paint a very different picture. Which should we believe?

Who is working for the Kremlin in Poland? OCU, Uniates and Catholics versions

Who in the conflict between Poland and Ukraine is "an agent of the Russian Federation"? Zelensky, who gave the UPA name to an AFU special operations center? Nawrocki, who stripped him of an order for it? Polish MEPs?

Can we judge those who joined the OCU from the military commissariat?

There are many known cases where priests and deacons of the UOC, detained by TRC officers, were offered a simple way to secure their release – to switch to the OCU. Most refused.

On Rivne Metropolitan's excuse for service in Jerusalem

If today we consider it possible to make excuses for concelebrating with the ROC, what will we have to justify tomorrow?

UOC isn’t banned, just ‘de-Russified’? Neither was UGCC under Stalin then

By Shevchuk’s logic, Stalin never banned the UGCC or curtailed freedom of conscience – he merely “freed” the souls of the Uniates from Bandera ideology.

A dip in the Jordan on “one – two – three”

Well-known OCU blogger in “holy orders” Oleksii Filiuk has come up with his own theological formula on the banks of the Jordan. It goes like this: “One – two – three.”