Russian Orthodox Church Calls for Legislative Ban on Advertising Witchcraft
Fr. Lukyanov says Satanism and advertising of witchcraft should be banned
Satanism as a destructive and misanthropic ideology should be declared extremist and banned in the Russian Federation, advertising of witchcraft should also be banned and the distribution of “instructions” for committing crimes on the Internet should be prohibited, said the chairman of the Patriarchal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church on family issues, protection of motherhood and childhood, Priest Fyodor Lukyanov, speaking in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
On Monday, he took part in a public hearing “On the implementation of the provisions of the fundamentals of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 9, 2022 No. 809, regarding the integration of the concepts of “destructive ideology” into Russian legislation. , "the ideology of misanthropy and family hatred."
“Destruction presupposes instructions, and the child finds it on the Internet - that’s the problem. Why can’t we select content according to this principle and exclude any things that suggest instructive behavior: this stage, this, the next, the next,” Lukyanov said.
In particular, he drew attention to suicide statistics. “According to our data, in the Russian Federation there are about five thousand suicide attempts per year. Suicide attempts are not [all] registered, because they may be unsuccessful. This is a figure we must work with. The scale is very large,” noted the priest.
He recalled that Patriarch Kirill said in 2021 that the problems of suicidal death groups and youth subculture lie in the pseudo-religious sphere — “we are talking about one of the forms of Satanism - a new interpretation of one of the old pagan cults."
"The ideology of Satanism is based on hatred of the human person, life as such. The devil is called a murderer. That is why Satanists are concentrated on promoting abortion. This terrible ideology has already penetrated into Russia, we see interviews and publications of people belonging to this subculture: propaganda of abortion and ritual sacrifices, suicidal and destructive ideology are combined with hatred of humanity and children,” Lukyanov said.
He added that all destructive ideologies are characterized by hatred of the family, since it can protect a person, “that is, their task is to destroy what protects and saves a person - the family, love in the family, and the individual himself.”
“We cannot afford to condone those who create, broadcast, and control such an ideology. It is important to build a system of protective measures, protecting families and children. The Patriarchal Commission insists that the concept of destructive ideology includes such concepts as “family and child hatred", and the "ideology of Satanism", which should be completely prohibited on the territory of Russia, should be declared extremist.
Damage to one's own nature, LGBT (the movement is recognized as extremist and is prohibited in the Russian Federation), sex change operations, violence against human nature, and propaganda for killing a person are phenomena of one chain that our country must destroy in order to create a healthy, productive, stable society based on traditional values, which are embedded in the Holy Scriptures, morality, law, and in our constitution,” the priest emphasized.
He also touched upon the issue of advertising witchcraft.
“Even at the UN, the problem of banning advertising of witchcraft is being raised. The massive scale of such groups shows that a huge number of people are involved in this area, people’s curiosity about the spiritual world is used — this is also fraud from the point of view of the state — extorting money from people… Involvement of young people leads to severe mental damage, which is noted by both priests and psychiatrists. This area also needs to be put in order. I support the proposal to introduce a ban on such activities, equating them with destructive types of ideology," concluded Lukyanov.
Source: RIA (Russian)
I hear your point on giving no space to what is evil. Yet the mechanism to do so 'calling it extremist' does not appear to be the rational path. Call a spade a spade and ban witchcraft advertising on the true grounds: witchcraft is evil.
I have never read of any Biblical basis for condemning the differently gendered. The differently gendered are part of the LGBTQ2S movement. I worry that in condemning this movement, you will throw the baby out with the bathwater, unjustly and blindly yanking the rug out from the differently gendered.
The Bible condemns both homosexuality and witchcraft.