Baphomet by Eliphas Levi, public domain, courtesy of wikimedia.

Matthew J Milliner, writing at at The Bulwark, on Putin’s “Outright Satanism.”  Excerpt:

The very day after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of “outright Satanism” in his war-justifying tantrum, I met a Satanist. I was exploring downtown Salem, Massachusetts when a black-robed man with dramatic eyeshadow and waist-long tresses announced a “Satanic Salem” tour.

…

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. While my flip tour guide mildly piqued me, 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. “Outright Satanism” notwithstanding, America affirms the right of its citizens to protest their government’s policies, past or present; Russia has responded to the protests of its citizens by brutally repressing them, and it has done so with an infernal randomness meant to inspire fear in the hearts of would-be protesters.

…

To Putin’s Christian supporters, the freedom of religion Americans enjoy may seem paltry compared to the religious vision that Putin marshals to fuel his war. One of his most effective tools is the powerful symbol of the Virgin Mary. For example, at the recently constructed Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces, Putin attempts to make Mary his lackey.