Why do Western Conservatives love Putin so much?

In 2020, I came across a video of Vladimir Putin on the conservative website, lifesitenews.com. In the video, Putin stated, “We will have mama and papa, not parent 1 and parent 2”^[1]. As a conservative Catholic, I was shocked to see comments from my fellow believers praising the dictator. They called him “the only Christian president” and said things like “We should have politicians like that” and “Russia is the last hope of Christianity.” I felt like the only sober person in a bar – “Wake up people! This guy is a mass murderer and heir of Stalin. He kills political opponents, destroys independent media and democracy, and wages bloody wars on weaker countries. This was all before Putin’s full-scale invasion of my native Ukraine.

I couldn’t help but wonder why so many conservatives in the West love dictators like Putin. This includes numerous politicians and intellectuals such as Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Jordan Peterson, and Viktor Orban. It’s not the first time this has happened either; similar sentiments were expressed before and during World War II.

The bloody dichotomy

In the 20th century, the political spectrum swung heavily from left to right. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Western society watched with a mix of horror and admiration as the Bolsheviks built a new world order. Zealots of modern ideas such as Marxism and Freudianism were the first in Europe to introduce abortion, public nudism, legalized prostitution, and open sexual communities. Orphanages for children with living parents were established under the supervision of communist feminist Alexandra Kollontai.

“Indissoluble marriage based on the servitude of women is replaced by a free union of two equal members of the workers’ state who are united by love and mutual respect. In place of the individual and egoistic family, a great universal family of workers will develop, in which all the workers, men and women, will above all be comrades.”

Alexandra Kollontai (1920), Communism and the Family

However, after this short-lived period of “sexual freedom,” came waves of purges, artificial famines like the Ukrainian Holodomor, the enslavement of peasants in the Kolhoz system, and sending political enemies to Gulags. People in Europe were terrified that communism would spread to their countries and bring with it the horrors of Bolshevik Russia.

This fear was not unfounded. In 1926, Mexican President Calles tried to limit and destroy the Church through Article 130, leading to the Christeros Uprising^[2] where Catholics fought against the leftist regime. In Spain, when the leftist Popular Front won the election in 1931 and began persecuting the Church ^[3]– taking ownership of Church property, outlawing the Jesuits, forbidding religious orders from teaching, and burning churches around the country – it’s no wonder that Catholics chose to side with Franco when the uprising began in 1936. During the Civil War, 12 bishops, 4184 priests, 2365 male religious, and 283 female religious were killed by Republicans. Atrocities were committed on both sides. Hitler and Mussolini supported Franco by sending troops; on April 26th, 1937, Luftwaffe used terror bombing tactics to destroy ¾ of the Basque town Guernica which was on the way of the Nationalist army. Around 300 civilians were killed. ^[4]

“The tragedy of the Second Spanish Republic was that it abetted its own destruction; the tragedy of the Church was that it became so closely allied with its self-styled defenders that its own sphere of action was severely compromised. The Church, grateful for the championship offered first by José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones and then by Franco, entered into a political alliance which would prevent it from carrying out the pastoral task it had itself identified.”

Mary Vincent, Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic

The Church had already experienced heavy blows from the forefathers of the modern left. The Jacobins and other parties that played a vital role in the French Revolution, which led to the destruction of the monarchy and the devastation of the Catholic Church, were seasoned Freemasons and part of the Enlightenment movement. (read Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism by Abbé Augustin Barruel^[5]).
Garibaldi (another Freemason and anti-catholic) who saw “The papacy, being the most harmful of all secret societies” tried to capture Rome, which was a Papal state, several times during Risorgimento. In 1870 this became possible only when French troops abandoned the city. Pope Pius IX proclaimed himself a prisoner of the Vatican and since that time Holy See was unsympathetic towards Italian state authorities.

Like many other conservatives, Catholics have historically perceived leftist movements as a threat to their existence and values, and this continues to be the case today. It’s not surprising, then, that conservatives have often turned to “anti-communist” figures for support. Despite the Catholic Church’s opposition to the NSDAP (Nazi Party) in Germany, their own party, the Centre Party, gave a decisive vote for the Enabling Act on March 23rd, 1933, which gave Hitler dictatorial power. Pope Pius XI, who had been the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland, was the only diplomat to witness the approaching Bolsheviks in Warsaw in 1920. He was well aware of the dangers of communism and used this knowledge to strike the Lateran Accords with socialist-turned-fascist Benito Mussolini in 1929, ending the Roman Question and gaining control over Vatican City. Cardinal Baudrillard of France publicly supported the Nazis and encouraged French volunteers to join the Wehrmacht and SS in their campaign against the Soviet Union. And this is just among Catholics; by 1933, the NSDAP drew its electoral support overwhelmingly from small-town and rural Protestant Mittelstand[5].

Nearly 100 years have passed since the wars in Mexico, Spain, and WWII. It may be tempting to judge our forefathers for siding with leftists or nationalists, Nazis or communists. But what would you do if faced with such a bloody dichotomy? The signs of such a dilemma are already there.

The modern dilemma

Leftist dominance in the Western world has made unbelievable “progress” in recent years. Critical race theory, compulsory LGBT policies, uncontrolled “open society” migration that has led to spikes in crime and rape in Europe, access to abortion, and sex changes for teenagers without parental consent – the West is no longer sure what it means to be a woman. It’s no wonder that conservatives fiercely protect family and religious values. It seems like the century-old history of the “communists’ new world” and the “good fascists” opposing them is repeating itself.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, it became another test for the “leaning towards dictatorship” tendencies in the West.

“He (Putin) has chosen the venue now to wage a war in Ukraine for his ruski mir, his Russian Empire…he can’t win that”

John Sullivan [6]

In the US, the division is clear. Donald Trump stated his support for family values and was the first POTUS to attend the March for Life in 2020 – doing so to please his conservative supporters, despite his lifestyle being far from that of a virtuous family man. His ego couldn’t accept his defeat in the elections, and the Capitol attack was another March on Rome. Trump never hid his admiration for dictator Putin, praising him as “smart” even to this day.

On the other hand, we have Joe Biden, who is a Catholic and a good family man. He didn’t tolerate Putin’s advances towards Ukraine, providing weapons and support, and will likely not tolerate China’s highly probable invasion of Taiwan soon. However, he supports abortion as a “human right,” which is a grave sin by Catholic standards.

In Europe, politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel were willing to make a pact with the devil and leave Ukraine at the mercy of Moscow by refusing its attendance to NATO in 2007 so as not to agitate Russia and continue receiving Russian crude oil and gas at a discount for their behemoth economies[7]. The biggest disappointment here is Angela Merkel, who represents the Christian Democratic Union in Germany – a party founded by Konrad Adenauer who didn’t tolerate any authoritarian regimes, neither Nazis nor communists.

Conservative Hungarian President Viktor Orban is doing what a right-wing politician should – supporting families, fighting LGBTQ laws, and keeping immigration at bay. But alas, his state now resembles Mussolini’s Italy – with huge support from the masses, populist actions (family support, cheap gas from Russia, anti-globalist and anti-EU positions despite Hungary receiving 14 billion from the EU!), neo-imperialism, and limiting democracy in Hungary. It’s no wonder that Orban and his team are in touch with Vlad Putin; Orban constantly repeats Russia’s “peace formula” of just stopping fighting, ceasing fire, and negotiating. Of course, this is unacceptable while negotiations and the Minsk treaty signed in 2014 only postponed the full-scale war in Ukraine; after signing a peace treaty with Ichkeria in 1997, Russia launched a second Chechen war in 1999. It seems surreal that Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party would ally with a post-Soviet regime despite Hungary’s history of fighting for freedom in 1956 and being crushed by Moscow tanks.

Far-right French politician Marie Le Pen of Rassemblement National not only had a deep admiration for Putin but also secured financial support from him [8]. Similarly nationalist parties German – Alternative für Deutschland and Austian Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs are known for “defending” Russia from sanctions and having close ties with Moscow.[9]

Conservative media stars and influencers also seem to admire the authoritarian Putin. Tucker Carlson, during his time on Fox News, criticized the Democrats’ LGBT and abortion agenda, sex-change surgeries for kids, and other leftist “initiatives.” He also expressed his love for Putin, asking, “Why is it unloyal to side with Russia? Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which I am.” Carlson’s talk was so in line with Putin’s claims that he was quoted numerous times on Russian propaganda TV shows. There are even collections of Carlson’s statements on YouTube called “I love Putin Supercut.”

A huge disappointment for me was Jordan Peterson. He is a great and brave man who has helped thousands of people get their personal lives in order and has publicly exposed leftist bigotry numerous times on TV. In his earlier lectures, he heavily criticized communism and the USSR for being a bunch of butchers who killed millions of people worldwide.

Now, however, he repeats geopolitical theorist John Mearsheimer word for word, saying that Ukraine is Russia’s sphere of influence and that the West should not agitate Moscow. He also believes that Russia defends Christian values while the West is corrupt to the core. He completely ignores the totalitarian regime that Putin has built, the persecution, the wars, and the murders. It’s so sad.

And what about John Mearsheimer? In the 90s, he was criticized by Samuel Huntington for saying that war between Russia and Ukraine was unavoidable –

“The situation between Ukraine and Russia is ripe for the outbreak of security competition between them. Great powers that share a long and unprotected common border, like that between Russia and Ukraine, often lapse into competition driven by security fears…”

John J. Mearsheimer, The Case for a Ukrainian Nuclear Deterrent, Foreign Affairs Vol. 72, No. 3 (Summer, 1993), pp. 50-66 

Ukrainian nuclear weapons are the only reliable deterrent to Russian aggression.”

But today, he claims that the war in Ukraine is the West’s fault, saying,

“ Broadening of NATO is a threat to Russia. Ukraine is part of Russia’s sphere of interest.”

John J. Mearsheimer, Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault: The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin, Foreign Affairs Vol. 93, No. 5 (SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014), pp. 77-84

It’s always tempting to think that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If someone doesn’t accept the leftist agenda, they must be my ally. But as the history of the 20th century has shown, this is not always the case. You shouldn’t choose between two evils but instead take a third way, rejecting them both.

The third way

There have been many people who courageously opposed both Nazis and communists, recognizing that any authoritarian system is a source of evil. Blessed Fr. Richard Henkes openly criticized the Nazis in his sermons for their eugenics policies. He was sentenced and died in the Dachau concentration camp in 1945 while helping people sick with typhus. Blessed Franz Jägerstätter was openly anti-Nazi and the only person in his town to vote against the Anschluss of Austria. He was sentenced to death for refusing to join the Wehrmacht.

A prime example of the third way was Konrad Adenauer, a devout Catholic and mayor of Cologne who was a member of the Centre Party (which backed the NSDAP in 1933). He was a strong anti-communist and anti-Nazi, released from his duties and arrested twice during World War II. After Germany’s defeat, he founded the Christian Democratic Union (for both Catholics and Protestants) after the Centre Party shamefully disintegrated. He played an enormous role in rebuilding Germany, confronting the USSR, joining NATO, and founding the modern European Union.

Some public figures only realized the evil of both Nazi and Soviet regimes with time and experience. It’s important to keep in mind that we judge the decisions of prominent people during WWII from a distance of 70 years; people didn’t have instant access to information like we do today, and some didn’t know the horrible truth about concentration camps. Even when Polish diplomat Jan Karski revealed Nazi atrocities to the world, many American officials like Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter simply didn’t believe him[10].

Similarly, Archbishop Emmanuel Suhard of Paris initially supported the Vichy regime but began to openly protest after anti-Semitic laws were passed in the spring of 1942. He wasn’t killed by the Nazis only because they feared an uprising.

In May 1938, Hitler made a triumphal visit to Italy, and Mussolini passed anti-Semitic laws shortly thereafter. Pope Pius XI, who had kept his distance from Mussolini, finally realized that he must act against the fascists. He secretly commissioned American Jesuit John La Farge, known for his work against racism, to work on an encyclical called Humani Generis Unitas (On the Unity of the Human Race) against racism and anti-Semitism in 1938. This was done secretly so that supporters and spies of Mussolini in the Vatican would not know. Unfortunately, Pius XI died in February 1939, just before he was ready to present the encyclical to bishops (it had already been printed!). Pope Pius XI should have served as a role model for present Pope Francis, whose attempts to make peace between Russia and Ukraine without naming the aggressor and accusing NATO of agitating Moscow have caused outrage and distress, especially among Ukrainian Catholics[11].

“Mark well that in the Catholic Mass, Abraham is our Patriarch and forefather. Anti-Semitism is incompatible with the lofty thought that that fact expresses. It is a movement with which we Christians can have nothing to do. No, no, I say to you it is impossible for a Christian to take part in anti-Semitism.“

Pope Pius XI to Belgian Pilgrims, Vatican 1938

When the Wehrmacht marched into Galicia, Greek-Catholic Metropolitan Sheptycki greeted the Germans as liberators. Communist atrocities and purges had been fierce; in June 1941, 63 Galician prisons designed for 30,000 inmates held 72,000 people. Before their shameful retreat in June 1941, the communists began killing all prisoners in the most sadistic ways. In Bibrka, prisoners had their heads dipped into boiling water before being killed so their bodies wouldn’t be recognized. When the prison on Lonski Street in Lviv was opened, blood was ankle-deep in the basement and bodies were everywhere.

Although the Wehrmacht put a stop to the Soviet purges, the Nazis began their own, hunting for Jews, Ukrainian, and Polish nationalists. Andrey Sheptycki quickly realized the danger of the new regime and saved hundreds of Jews by hiding them in Catholic monasteries (as described in Kurt Lewin’s A Journey Through Illusions[12]). Ironically, Metropolitan Sheptycki was not recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel, although his brother and co-worker, now beatified as a martyr Klemetiy Sheptycki, was.

Conclusion

Today, with access to all kinds of information in minutes, there can be no excuse for “not knowing.” If you praise Putin for saying “Children should have mama and papa,” you are also praising the dictator for his atrocities in Syria, Ichkeria, Georgia, Ukraine, and his own country. But why do a significant fraction of conservatives still love Putin? How can this be explained?

I have no doubt that some conservative influencers and politicians are simply bought and recruited by the FSB as valuable assets. Some may be blackmailed, some may ally with Putin for their own political and economic gains, some may be naive, and some may genuinely like the bloody dictator. But although this part of the conservative movement is visible and significant, it is not the majority by any means.

Conservative parties in the UK, Poland’s Prawo I Sprawiedliwosc, and Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia have learned their lessons and are doing a great job of supporting Ukraine and condemning Putin. Ben Shapiro (another influential conservative) of Daily Wire initially stated that Ukraine had a serious Nazi problem (aligned with the Russian narrative) in 2014, even though Ukraine had a Jewish president and prime minister at the time. Now, he has gone through a learning curve and has a more realistic view of Russia and the war in Ukraine. I hope more Christians and other conservatives in the West will take the third path – not compromising with either the far left or right but firmly standing their ground to avoid confusion and bitter consequences.

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Ivan Fedorych ©