A Russian blogger is on trial right now for writing, “God doesn’t exist” on his blog. The charge is “offending the feelings of religious people.” (That’s an actual crime in Russia. Offending the feelings of non-religious people is not considered a crime.) The crime carries a punishment consisting of a fine and a prison sentence of up to 3 years.
This is a country where only 2% of population practice a religion.
Last week, a single mother in Russia was brought up on charges of terrorism for posting a pro-Ukrainian cartoon on her Facebook page. She was found guilty and sentenced to having her laptop and computer mouse destroyed. Fellow bloggers tried to donate some money to buy the woman a new laptop but were threatened with being brought up on charges of assisting a convicted terrorist.
In unrelated positive news, President Obama prolonged sanctions against Russia for one more year.
Clarissa's Blog 
I wonder what Edward Snowden (and his defenders for that matter) has to say about this…
I mean, after all, according to him (and them) it’s the US that’s the worst when it comes to the rights of bloggers and that the NSA are all over the internet, ready to arrest anyone who says anything wrong in the US.
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I guess, Russian bloggers are perceived as a lot less valuable.
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What was the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the (officially atheist) Communist government during the USSR period? Did they “somehow get along”?
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Oh yeah, they got along beautifully. The priests snitched to the KGB on everything people were dumb enough to say in confession. There was no priest who wasn’t a KGB agent. And this collaboration never ended. Putin is still super friendly with the church leadership that worked for the KGB in the same years he did.
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\ A Russian blogger is on trial right now for writing, “God doesn’t exist” on his blog.
I checked and my compassion for Viktor Krasnov lessened somewhat (on a personal level, not as a political principle where I fully support him). Here in English:
“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairytales entitled the Bible is complete bullshit, that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote, adding later “there is no God!”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/russian-atheist-faces-year-in-jail-for-denying-existence-of-god-during-webchat
I am probably oversensitive to get some whiff of antisemitism here. The New Testament, which Christians believe in, is not Jewish. Why single out Jews and the Old Testament?
On another topic, Uri wrote about a new Israeli proposed law:
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1455894121
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Jesus was a Jew, so New Testament is as Jewish as the Old. Be that as it may, putting a person on trial over this is insane.
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