After the usual disparagement of religious signs and symbols, especially those involving Christian statues or Icons or such,
the New York Times finally got to one useful point at the end of its article on the projected large statue of St Vladimir planned to be placed on one of Russia's few hills.
The statue will be 82 feet high and in my opinion has no more sinister implication than a wish to commemorate the great St Vladimir in Moscow. There is a wonderful statue of the baptizer of "Rus" in Kiev, which I have seen. It's really inspiring.
No wonder that the Muscovites want their own version.
But no, it's got to be twisted into a grab for attention by Vladimir Putin or geopolitical aims by the cynical NYT. No mention made of the fact that Vladimir is one of the most common names in all of Russia. It's not like Putin is the only bearer of it !
The second paragraph below succinctly explains the historical side of why such a statue is relevant for Moscow.
"Turning to history, the culture minister said that in converting to Christianity, Vladimir had determined the entire pattern of development of the Russian state, whereas Kiev had lost its independence.
“The Moscow princes are the direct descendants of Prince Vladimir, even at that time when Kiev was part of the territory of Poland,” he said. “Vladimir has a greater connection to Moscow than to Kiev.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/world ... .html?_r=0
The print version appeared May 29 under the title "A Giant Statue Comes with a Fierce Debate"
The article seems to be working overtime to fan the flames of a significant controversy where probably only a fairly mild one currently exists. The protestors are highlighted out of proportion, it appears.
There are no interviews with the faithful opining that the statue could help in protecting Moscow from God's wrath or any such silly ideas....or less controversially, asserting that people will gaze upon it, remember who they are, from where their heritage derived, and possibly feel moved to pray piously.
Appropriate material for the week leading into All Saints of Russia, anyway.