Russian priest tells soldiers to die as 'sacrifice to God' - CNN

[TexasTowelie]

A Russian priest from the orthodox church told Russian state television that he is telling forces on the front lines that they "came to war not to kill but to die."

[Deuxcents]

1. Good grief.

[Astraea]

2. He should come to this side of the pond

And recruit some Russophile ReTrumplicans.

[Warpy]

3. They tell their guys it's their duty to die

while we train our guys so that they have a chance at staying alive. And they wonder why most of their troops stay blotto?

Putin is not going to last anywhere near 10 years. Russian resistance is growing. It's not only recruitment offices, it's railroad switch controllers, war factories, even a jet fighter sitting on the tarmac. It's getting to the point that nobody knows if Ukrainians or Russians are hitting some of the stuff that's gone up in flames.

[Duncan Grant]

4. "Holy War" -- my favorite oxymoron.

I have seen some evil sh*t in my lifetime but the “die for god” perversion is at the top of my list. Quentin Tarantino are you listening? Please make this movie.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. Most people think religion was invented as a tool form mass social control

And I think there's a lot of truth to that.

But at the same time, I think EVEN MORE ... it was invented as a means to get 'lesser' men to fight and die for the interests of rich/royal people.

You had to be REALLY brave to go out and fight back in the day, basically hand to hand in most cases, to risk being run through with swords and lances and arrows, etc, and possibly suffering a long, slow painful death.

So you tell men that if they die (for you) in battle, they're going to 'a better place', where they actually don't die, it's a paradise, etc.

I think if there's a *primary* reason this whole god/heaven afterlife thing was made up ... it's to manipulate/steel the hearts of men into fighting for you ... without fear of death.