Current State of Freemasonry in Russia

[Hervé]

Freemasons boss sues pro-Christian Russian lawmaker for defamation

RT
Published time: 7 Sep, 2018 10:10
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Table of Masonic Lodge officer. The exhibition "250th Anniversary of Freemasonry in Russia" in the State Russian Library © Oleg Lastochkin / Sputnik

The head of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Russia has taken a federal lawmaker, known for his staunch pro-Christian and anti-gay stance, to court, seeking material compensation over alleged public insults to the brotherhood.

In his lawsuit the head of Russian Freemasons, Andrey Bogdanov, wants MP Vitaly Milonov (United Russia) to refute the “false and insulting” statements about Freemasonry and also to pay 1 million rubles (about $14,700) in compensation for moral damages.

Life.ru news website quoted representatives of the claimant as saying that Bogdanov has attached with his lawsuit a conclusion of independent linguistic experts who had agreed that Milonov’s statements about Freemasonry could indeed be seen as humiliation and insults.

“In March 2017 State Duma MP Milonov gave several interviews in which he spread false information that damages honor, dignity and business reputation of Andrey Bogdanov and the Grand Lodge of Russia,” reads the lawsuit.

Bogdanov wants Milonov to refute his statements on the lawmaker’s official website and also on his page in Russia’s most popular social network, Vkontakte.

The claimant stated that even the headlines of mass media articles were insulting:

“Freemasons are not as cute and picturesque as they are painted,”

“Freemasons recruit civil servants of low rank in order to promote their interests” and

“Milonov declares war on Freemasons.”

In the articles, Milonov accused the masonic brotherhood of interfering with Russia’s internal politics, undermining Russian democracy and servicing the interests of foreign states, that host the headquarters of all major Masonic organizations.

Bogdanov’s legal action against Milonov can be seen as defense because in March 2017 the lawmaker proposed to launch an investigation into all Russian Freemason lodges to check their compliance with the Russian Law on Foreign Agents, which restricts the political activities of foreign and international groups.

The first court hearing into the case is scheduled for October 10, Life.ru reports.

The Grand Masonic Lodge of Russia was founded in 1995 and professional spin doctor Andrey Bogdanov has headed the organization since 2007. In 2008, Grand Master Bogdanov, ran for Russian presidency and came last of four candidates with 1.3 percent of the vote.


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[Kryztian]

Without knowing all the Russian laws on what constitutes slander or the specifics of the factual claims being made, it is hard to say if there is a good legal case here or not, but it's interesting to see the Church and the Masons bringing their age old conflicts into the visible public realms again. No doubt these conflicts between and the church and masonry have been occurring in backroom and out of view of recorded history.

The Roman Catholic church banned Freemasonry in 1738 (only a few decades after it supposedly began in England) and has continued to speak out against it as active freemasons are not eligible for communion (at least officially). But Masonry seems to have flourished through much of Russian History.

I have to laugh at the Wikipedia entry on History of Freemasonry in Russia. It begins with a summary:

Russian Freemasonry pursued humanistic and educational purposes, but more attention is given to ethical issues. It was a spiritual community of people united in an effort to contribute to the prosperity of the Motherland and the enlightenment of the people living in it.

The rest of the article contains zero evidence to support any of those claims. But then it goes on to detail about how Masons tried to assert their power through political figures and how Emperor Paul I, who temporarily banished Masonry in Russia, was mysterious assassinated after irregularities in the treasury were found.

No doubt there is a deep and long history about Masons and other secret societies vying for political power in opposition to the Orthodox church and very active from the Decembrist Revolution in 1825 to the big revolution of 1917, and that all these groups were quashed or at least driven deeply underground by the Soviets until glasnost in the 1980s.