(with Putin's insane pet patriarch calling for holy war against a country which by and large has exactly the same religion as he does, no less).
Talking of "emotional responses to war in Ukraine"...
Yankee dorf here. I grew up Catholic, we converted to Eastern Orthodoxy when I was around 13 (there's a good few Greek churches scattered around New England), and now I'm a college kid studying for the priesthood. It's been horrifying watching Russia, an essentially Orthodox nation, march against another essentially Orthodox nation. These people share a body in Christ, and they're killing each other. It's a cruel mockery of the faith.
Politics suck. I appreciate y'all for documenting the war so diligently on this subforum; this has been (weirdly) my main source of news on the matter.
Good strength Strongpoint, Max 
Same as it ever was.
Politics has always wielded religion like a hammer. If a group's too antsy, smack them with it. If a group's too influential, whack them with it. Neighbour has land you want? Whack them with it. You don't need any legitimate reason, just reasons that are legitimate
enough.
Perhaps if we could disentangle politics and religion they'd both be in a somewhat better state, but as it is I think we're far too human to do that.