"The Jesus of Siberia"

genkaku

A friend passed along this three-part film about a former traffic cop, now known to his followers as "Vissarion Christ." I found the photography as beautiful as the reporter was needlessly ingratiating.

I thought it was interesting. Just for what it's worth: "The Jesus of Siberia"

Dakini

Where did the money come from to acquire the land for the community? Where does the money come from to buy the power tools the boys learn how to use? (A religion of power tools??) The brainwashing of the girls in the name of proper religious behavior was a little creepy. Is there any truth to the rumors the Polish guy heard, that the men wife-swap? Does the Christ guy have a wife or wives? How was that teen boy planning to start a family if he didn't have a girlfriend? Why was that topic avoided? The reporter wasn't much of a reporter, but he probably wasn't allowed to ask the important questions.

Somewhere I read about a somewhat similar movement in Bulgaria. I think after 70 years of enforced atheism, some E. European people feel a strong impulse to dedicate themselves to spiritual pursuits.

genkaku

he probably wasn't allowed to ask the important questions.

@Dakini -- You may be right, but I got the sense that he was self-censoring.

All your questions and more like them were questions I had as well. And the observation about enforced atheism strikes me as a good one.

compassionate_warrior

I'd like to know more about that reporter. I agree with genkaku, he seemed to be self-censoring to try to be polite toward his hosts. But there was a strange printed statement of his at the end, or at the bottom of the screen where the other video selections were, that said the only reason to go to Siberia was to visit this community. That's an outrageous statement, which really makes me wonder where this guy is coming from. (Lake Baikal, one of the wonders of the natural world that's a tourist destination for people from around the world, is not that far away. He would have passed close to it when he flew into the region from Moscow.)

Holy men are an old Russian tradition. This "Vissarion Christ" isn't the first, nor will he be the last, I'm sure, though I think he's the only one to have the nerve to call himself "Christ". What I found particularly strange was the visit to the "monastery", which turned out to be more like a carpentry training center than a monastery, lol ! The interviewer asked the young "monk" if he was planning on starting a family soon. What a strange (and inappropriate) question to ask a monk! And the "monk" said "yes", in a way that meant, "of course"! Do any of the people in this community know what the word "monk" means? Bizarre disconnect from reality.

And the songs the girls were singing were strangely propagandistic. They reminded me of the song the Chinese government dreamed up as a required part of the curriculum in daycare centers: the "only child song". Little kids are taught to sing that they don't want any brothers or sisters, as a way of enforcing within the family the government's single-child policy. The girls in the film were singing about how the community is a place where everyone can live in peace and harmony.

There are aspects of life in this community that are too reminiscent of Soviet life. Maybe people fall back on what's familiar to them (the older folks). Like that woman who viewed it as her mission to brainwash the girls. She even tried to recruit the reporter into sending his daughters to her for brainwashing, until she realized he was too young to have daughters to send. Then she told him to send his girlfriend. Leninism was like a state religion in the USSR. Lenin's photo (or a photo of whoever was President) was everywhere, just like that Vissarion's photo.