Orthodox celebrated the anniversary of the "Silver rain"

Archpriest Dimitri Smirnov, rector of the Blagoveshchensk Temple in the Petrovsky Park, bursting with the “accompaniment” for the holiday of “silver rain” and arranged a brawl there, always acted in the spirit that pacifism is not a method. He called for a beat of the "sectarians", for example. It was possible to consider it some incontinence. Or a rhetorical exaggeration: he said in connection with the attack of September 11 that there is no need to fly on airplanes. But the attack on the concert of "Silver rain" is no longer a rhetorical exercise.

I don’t know how law enforcement agencies will appreciate this story. No way, most likely. But in the description of Fr. Dimitri looked like this : they were unhappy with the noise, went to understand, and then "they were forced to break through the cordon, but they didn’t beat anyone in the face, their hands did not break." They broke into an event where they were not called and where they did not buy tickets. They broke through already onto the stage, applied force to the presenter and in an organized manner retired.



There is no analogy with Pussy Riot, which some draw, but there is definitely an analogy with violent penetration into a private space (I don’t know what the legal status of the concert is the legal status). In other countries, this in itself is criminal. And in any country, this is an unconditional violation of the norms of the hostel. If my neighbors are noisy, I do not burst into their apartment, but I will call (if you really bake) the police.



In principle, sometimes people can express their protest, transgressing the face of the law. And supporters about. Demetrius can also. But two conditions are presented to me here critically. First: do not use violence. And they applied. Second: to be prepared to be punished for their choice, but they definitely do not threaten it, and they know it in advance. By the way, they know that the crowd, led by priests, will not dare to give such a rebuff that should have been given, for example, a crowd of freezers who decided to break into a concert.

It is one thing - the hooliganism of some violent lanes, the other thing is the protection of them by the priests, but when the head of one of the departments of the patriarchy leads the column breaking through the guard, this transfers the discussion about the militant Orthodox conservatism into a slightly different plane. Because this is no longer an excess (which always has a place), but an important metamorphosis of the most official subject of this social course. I would not want to bring offensive analogies yet, but there is something to think about. Everyone is from liberal opposition to the high authorities.

Photos of Alexander Plyushchev / plushev.com