Attitude toward TRCs: When people united in support of a “Moscow priest”
On September 11, local and national media reported a sensational incident in Cherkasy: enlistment officers tried to seize a “Moscow priest,” but he fought back with a bag holding an axe and sprayed the “manhunters” with pepper spray.
The journalists, as usual, painted the UOC priest in dark colors: “Look, good people, see what these enemy agents are doing to our noble enlistment officers.”
But the reaction in the comments – both on news sites and social media – turned out to be completely unexpected. People almost unanimously sided with the priest, despite his belonging to the “FSB church.”
Here are a few examples:
• “Now this is a Priest with a capital P.”
• “God will forgive the priest! The enlistment office belongs in hell!”
• “He did the right thing. One must defend oneself.”
• “He’ll make a fine military chaplain.”
• “A holy axe!”
• “I’ve absolved him of his sins.”
• “Legend!”
• “They lie on purpose to make everyone angry at the clergy.”
So here we have two possibilities: either the government is failing miserably in its effort to incite hatred against the UOC – or Ukrainians’ dislike of the enlistment offices is simply too strong to be hidden.
