
As  the West  continues the march into secularism; shedding its  religious  identity and insisting upon absolute “separation of church and state”,  Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, is experiencing a  revival  and return to  its religious “ roots”.
 
 Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the  assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his family, Russian Church and  State were intimately entwined.
 Today, throughout Russia, evidence of a Russian revival of state  religion, along with old-world style military expansionism abounds.
 
 In Russia past, the two were inseperaable.Large parcels of land  and people were conquered by the Tsars and annexed into the Russian  state in a bid to reestablish the long dead Byzantine Empire under the  religious tutelage of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church.
 
 In some Russian circles, this is quietly being encouraged again,  although, for obvious reasons’ is not widely publicized, according to  Marisa Martin, in a recent WND article. 
 Following 70 years of Marxist Atheism, some Russians are returning  to a “spiritual” veneration of Tsar Nicholas II. He and his family are  now all considered religious martyrs, murdered only for their faith.
 
 Also, the Russian Supreme Court exonerated the Romanovs in 2008,  and they were canonized along with an assortment of Russian saints and  soldiers.
 
 In recent year’s veneration for Tsar Nicholas II has included  statements such as the following by Bishop Alexander of the Russian  Orthodox Church Abroad: “[Nicholas] was an earthly symbol of the  Heavenly King, the protector and upholder of the Orthodox Church in  Russia, and the heir of Byzantium. … He too was the head of Russia’s  Eastern Orthodox Church. Under Nicholas II, Moscow was still seen as the  new City of Constantine, the ‘Third Rome’ (since the 15th century).”
 
 Russian Orthodox religious icons are also, making a comeback in  popularity after being hidden for decades. The” Kazan Lady”, Russia’s  National icon, embodies Russian nationalism and militarism. The “Kazan  Mother of God “is a religious icon, used for centuries by Russian  generals and Emperors.
 
 The “Kazan” icon is considered imbued with miraculous power to  help in military matters. Her aid is attributed to fending off Napoleon  and the Turks, Persians, Swedes, Poles and Germans.
 
 Recently recalled to duty, the Kazan Lady, dispatched by President  Vladimir Putin, went on a trip to Crimea in February, shortly before  Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and military actions in Ukraine.
 
 In 2007, the important icon was also sent on a highly politicized  journey around the globe by the Orthodox Church, and endorsed by  Vladimir Putin, with the goal of “reconciliation among Russians at home  and abroad.”
 
 Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Eastern Orthodox  Church, and Vladimir Putin, are both promoting the reunion of Church and  State, and seem to ‘be joined at the hip “in this endeavor.
 
 However, the Western press doesn’t seem to notice, as they  continue the quest to dismantle all vestiges of Christianity in the  West.
 
 Nevertheless, Putin and Kirill are aligning Church and state in a  pre-revolutionary union. Could the ultimate goal be a revival of the  Russian Empire?