Re-Erecting the Wall

In 1989, I wrote a piece (published in World magazine and no longer in my electronic files) regarding the fall of the Iron Curtain and the need for Christians to make their influence known before it was re-erected. It would seem that cinder block by cinder block, that wall is going back up – at least in Russia.

The recent Russian law blocking Americans from adopting Russian orphans certainly seemed unfriendly enough, but there is much more involved. The Kremlin is now embarked upon a campaign to block funding and recognition of all NGOs (non-governmental organizations. For a quick primer on the work and evelopment of NGOs look here. Unfortunately the entire article requires a fee, but there is a good bit of info in the extract.) which are not “Kremlin-friendly.” Among the requirements being placed on NGOs is that they label themselves as “foreign agents” – or be shut down. This is a reversion to Soviet era language.

According to an article in the Moscow Times, “A huge special operation involving the Kremlin, State Duma, Prosecutor General's Office, Justice Ministry and other government agencies is underway to eliminate all independent NGOs.” Although NGOs (think of the as “non-profits) can get political, they do the bulk of the heavy lifting in underdeveloped societies and formerly communist nations.

This looks like a beginning of the return of communist-inspired repression in Russia. Especially Christian-run NGOs will undoubtedly be targets of this thrust. Christians should be praying (and working, where feasible) for Russia.