How Vladimir Putin engaged in 'obvious projection' by accusing the West of ‘outright Satanism’: author

17 October 2022

In the old Soviet Union, Communist Party leaders often attacked Christianity as a tool of oppression used to oppress the American working class — failing to mention that Christianity played a key role in the liberationist ideology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and other civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s. But in modern post-communist Russia, President Vladimir Putin and his allies in the Kremlin are far from atheists and have weaponized a right-wing version of Christianity that they use to demonize their opponents. Some far-right White evangelicals in the United States’ MAGA movement view Putin as a symbol of Christian piety.

Putin drew on religious imagery when, during a September 30 speech in defense of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he accused the West of practicing “outright Satanism.” In a biting think piece published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 17, author Matthew J. Milliner lambasts the Russian leader for evoking Christianity in defense of that invasion.

The author opens the article by discussing his October 1 visit to Salem, Massachusetts, the Boston suburb where Halloween isn’t just an October 31 event, but a month-long celebration that attracts tourists from all over the northeastern United States. Milliner recalls his conversation with a Satanist from Salem’s Satanic Temple; although Milliner identifies as a “traditional Christian,” he found the Satanist more amusing than anything.

“It turns out this ‘outright’ Satanist was less of an exponent of Occult beliefs and practices and more of a macabre entertainer working his beat,” Milliner recalls. “Lord knows, the streets of Salem are quite profitable for members of his profession during the high unholy month of October. But while members of the Satanic Temple don’t really believe in Satan, as a traditional Christian, I do. Moreover, I believe Satan’s disguises are much more subtle than our social imaginary — the one that gives rise to kitschy walking tours where participants wryly chant ‘Hail Satan’ to passersby — would suggest.”

The author continues, “Whether conceived of in the traditionally individuated form or more abstractly as a symbolic aggregate of human evil, the Devil is serious business. His deceptions might take the form of a world leader concealing his naked territorial ambition with a thin cloak of Christianity, sending tens of thousands of his people to their needless deaths. The Devil’s deceit might even take the form of an Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow using the divine liturgy not to kindle true piety, but to fan the hellish flames of war…. It is far better to live in a country where someone can lead a silly Satan stroll than to live in one where someone can be arrested for protesting a genuinely devilish draft.”

Milliner goes on to stress that while Putin views Christianity as a weapon to be used against Ukraine and its European and U.S. allies, other Christians identify with Ukraine’s resistance to the invaders.

“Putin’s words are an obvious case of projection: His militarized Mary is repulsive, the Devil in disguise, a stratagem for duping the faithful into supporting his hideous cause,” Milliner warns. “Despite these attempts at cooptation, the true Mary — so well represented by the Virgin of the Passion icon — is undiminished in her luminous sadness and beauty. She identifies with the victims of war in Ukraine, makes her entreaties to those who feel the burden of their freedom in America, and to those Russians who have brought destruction upon their neighbors, she issues a mournful summons home.”

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