>>389452>In an ideal world, a mass conversion to Orthodoxy. Although admittedly I don't know too much about them. Why would you call something “ideal” if you admit you know nothing about it? If you want, I can give you a QRD on “Orthodoxy.”
The first thing you need to know is that “Orthodoxy” isn’t a singular thing. There are multiple branches: Eastern “Orthodox” (EO), Oriental “Orthodox” (OO), and the “Orthodox” Church of the East (both Assyrian and Ancient), and most of the time they all hate one another. The Russians are nominally EO.
Second, within EO itself, there isn’t really any uniformity. Institutionally, there’s only limited unity. Russia is currently in schism with Constantinople, Greece, Cyprus, Alexandria (which oversees Africa), and Ukraine. The Bulgarian “Orthodox” only re-entered communion with the other churches in the 1950s after around 300 years of being a separate thing. Then you’ve got the “Old Believers”, who have been their own thing for about 500 years (long and very autistic story), and the “True” Orthodox and Old Calendarists, who are the most fundamentalist of the EOs. They exist in Serbia, Romania, Russia, etc. and deny the legitimacy of the mainliners.
TLDR: They’re more unified than Protestants as a whole, but their unity resembles Anglicanism more than Catholicism.
Thirdly, On a theological level, there’s also almost zero uniformity. They’re arguably worse than Protestants in that sense. At least with most Protestants, you get the five solas. With the EO, you can walk into almost any diocese and hear wildly different theology from the priest, especially around salvation (soteriology). You’ll hear Universalism, vague mystical ideas about works-based salvation (usually “theosis”), the toll houses (which are a can of worms on their own), and even redefinitions of heaven and hell. On top of that even basic things such as baptism vary wildly. Some Antiochian “Orthodox” in America will demand you be re-baptized to commune with their church, but the Antiochians in the UK will excommunicate you for being re-baptized and bar you from the priesthood for life.
Their only really consistently shared belief is loving icons (there are others but I’m guessing you don’t want a theological treaty here). They are more unified by what they hate than any shared beliefs IMO. Hate the Pope, hate “and the Son”, hate Protestants, simple as.
>If they have a sizable presence in Russia Pew estimated in 2011 that 71% of Russians identified as Christian, compared to 62% in the United States
>I find it hard to believe they have the same issues, though.They actually have massive issues in Russia. People mistakenly seem to think Russia are /ourguys/ but they aren’t. The communist party is the second largest party in Russia, Putin, Patriarch Kiril and a huge amount of Russian leadership are Ex-KGB, that’s why they keep building monuments to the Soviets and red army.
Overall religiosity in Russia is dogshit, it’s mostly just utilised by the State to defend their actions. Pew’s Religious Attendance and Congregational Involvement section of their Religious Landscape Study (published 26 February 2025) said that 33% of U.S. adults attend religious services in person at least monthly, and 25% attend weekly or more often. In Russia 7% attend religious services in person at least monthly. Ruskies are on par with the French.