Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (February 21) lashed out at the Church of England while he also stepped up the attack on the United States and other western nations as the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow, which he ordered on February 24, 2022, is set to complete one year. "The Church of England is considering a version of a 'gender-neutral' God. They don’t know what they’re doing," he said. Earlier this month, the centuries-old institution had said that it would look into the use of gender neutral terms to refer to God in prayers. In his latest remarks, the Russian President said that the western churches go against bible.

"Christians have recognised since ancient times that God is neither male nor female. Yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship," a spokesperson for the Church said earlier this month, stressing that there were "absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise" authorised services. No changes would be introduced, the spokesperson added, without "extensive legislation". The Church of England has also come under attack from conservative over its decision to grant blessings to same-sex couples in civil marriages.
 
Questioning the observations by the institution, Putin said: “Their prime target is of course younger people and our young generation. And here, again, they lie constantly. They distort historical facts, they constantly attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religious organisations of our country."  

 “I’d like to say to them: look at the holy scripture, the holy books of all other world religions. It’s all said there - including the fact that family is the union of a man and a woman. But even those sacred texts are being reviewed now. As it became known, the Anglican Church for example plans to, just plans at this point, to consider the idea of gender-neutral God. What can I say? May God forgive them for they know not what they do," the Russian President said.

Putin's warning to West

A day after US President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, Putin issued a sharp warning. "The elites of the West do not hide their purpose. But they also cannot fail to realise that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield," he said. His comments come as the US has decided to send more weapons to Kyiv.

"I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty," Putin announced in an apparent retaliation. Some people in Washington were thinking about resuming nuclear testing, he said without any other statements in support of the claim as he stressed that Russia's defence ministry and nuclear corporation should therefore be ready to test Russian nuclear weapons if necessary.  "Of course, we will not do this first. But if the United States conducts tests, then we will. No one should have dangerous illusions that global strategic parity can be destroyed," the Russian President underlined.

Source: https://www.wionews.com/world/gender-neutral-god-putin-slams-church-of-england-they-dont-know-564414