Political expert: Public request for prohibition of the UOC does not exist

Bill No. 4511 is aimed at the introduction of direct state management over the largest religious organization of Ukraine – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while bill No. 4128 foresees the legalization of raider captures of the UOC temples, political expert Andrei Zolotarev wrote on his Facebook page.

"These bills seem at least strange, since there is no public request for their adoption in reality. As shown by the survey conducted by Ukraine Sociology Service, only 13% of believers support bills that stimulate transitions of the UOC believers to the Kyiv Patriarchate.

Only 8% stand for a "special status" for the UOC. Thus, there is no public request for any prohibitions or restrictions on the part of the state in relation to the UOC and to any other religious group. This means that believers categorically reject state interference in the affairs of the Church, and vice versa.

I want to remind the adherents of these legislative novels about one axiom. The essence of it is as follows: if the conflict in society is aggravated by a religious factor, then everything goes on much more rigidly, bloodier and longer. Proved by history.

In France, the wars between Catholics and Huguenots lasted for 36 years. It is well described in literature and cinema how hard they massacred each other. We know less about the Thirty Years' War, which in fact became a harbinger of world wars.

This one of the most atrocious, staunch, bloody and long-lasting wars in the history of Europe began as a religious war. The scale of losses can be judged from the fact that in the south of Germany by the end of the war, only a third of the population survived. It took Germany 200 years to recover from the consequences of an economic and social decline caused by the war.

Our government is looking for a "conrod"? Here it is – in the Rada, numbered 4511 and 4128," the expert stressed.