MYSTAGOGY — 9/21/2013
As tolerance towards Gay Marriage increases in the West, media sources are trying to understand the reactions of Russia and Georgia in the East to these same issues, as well as other issues of tolerance. The secularized mentality of the West, which more often values greater tolerance to minorities over the majority, is in clear opposition to the traditional mentality of the East, which more often values a certain tolerance to minorities, but not at the expense of the values of the majority. In the past 25 years this has been dramatically altering in Russia and Georgia, with the fall of communism and the rise of Orthodox Christianity. Russia and Georgia are more and more defining themselves historically from before the time of the Russian Revolution and Muslim Invasion, after decades and even centuries of repressing their identities as Orthodox Christians. Without this historical context, it is impossible for the West to understand Russian and Georgian identities and reactions against the secular West.
Below are two examples of how the West tries [and fails] to understand and evaluate Russia and Georgia outside of this historical context:
