Bohdan: We need freedom, not domination and lawlessness of "patriots"

Olena Bohdan, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience in 2020-2022, believes that Ukraine needs freedom, not domination and lawlessness of "patriots".

In an interview with dialogtut.org, Bohdan said that "while some are holding back from speaking publicly about problems, others in Ukraine believe that in the maelstrom of war tragedies, it is possible to disregard the rule of law, ignore one of the key commandments ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’, humiliate and harass their fellow citizens - and pass it all off as patriotism".

According to her, some Ukrainian citizens "feel no dissonance when priests run for political parties and chair the land commission in local government".

"And really, is it so hard to think about soul-pastoral care, liturgy and... sharing land with pine trees near Kyiv at the same time? And is anyone embarrassed by the pre-election photo where the priestly vestments are coupled with the name of a political party?" asks Olena Bohdan.

She is sure that "today, further silence is already felt as a harm to one's country, not as a concern for it." Moreover, she says, "When we make no effort to overcome the stupidity and dishonesty in our society, we become their silent accomplices."

"What we need in Ukraine is freedom and truth under the blue-and-yellow flag, not domination by people who, playing on the patriotic feelings of Ukrainians exhausted and wounded by war, fill our country with lies and legal outrage," the former head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience stressed.

She believes that the conflict situations around churches should be returned to an adequate legal field, as this is "one of the steps to bring Ukrainian Orthodoxy into a reality where truth and law, real rather than seeming patriotism, matter, and this, in turn, is an integral part of national security".

As earlier reported, Olena Bohdan believes that the UOC will not strengthen national security if it leaves the Lavra.