I am baptized, but I do not believe in God.

I cannot believe in a god represented by a careerist with a watch worth thirty thousand euros, riding in a limousine with special plates and state security, yet who doesn't shy away from petty apartment raiding. Because publicly, this man calls for modesty and humility. And I do not want my god to tolerate hypocrites and liars in his church; otherwise, it means he condones and protects them.

I cannot believe in a god whose ambassadors are drunks in sports convertibles and gangster SUVs, who value neither their own lives nor those of others, serving generals, stars, senators, sharing wine and women with them. Because servants should not be lackeys, nor should they mimic their masters.

I cannot believe in a god who allows thugs, pedophiles, and thieves to be pardoned in his name for black cash. The money these people "donate to the church" is tainted, and there can be no sanctity in the churches built with it. And you, who try to offer money to God, know this: you are simply buying cheap psychotherapy; you are paying off yourselves, not him. Do you think your pocket change will plead for you there? Your faith might even be stronger than theirs! Your "donations" are not to the Church but to the German automotive industry, and you will burn alongside those who sold you indulgences.

I cannot believe in a god who tolerates his temple being turned into a shopping and entertainment center; was it not he who began by driving the merchants out of the Temple?

I cannot believe in a god whose priests are vindictive and petty, who consort with power and indulge it, inflating its deflated balloon with the souls of their parishioners, and demand retribution against those who expose them.

They will tell me that I am only exposing the Church; that it is not God who clings to the Church, but the other way around. That its deeds do not tarnish him, and that he has no part in them. They will say I speak of priests, and priests are just people, earthly and sinful. They will say that the Russian Orthodox Church is not the entire Church, and that the Church is ultimately just an organization.

They will drown me in theosophical casuistry, or they might simply drown me, and with their connections, they could easily get away with it. After all, it seems that the current generation of Russian Orthodox Church leaders studies the business practices of the Roman Catholic Church with envy, and their experience certainly allows for drowning dissenters—as well as burning them at the stake. Am I exaggerating? Not at all, the first verdict of the Orthodox Inquisition was already delivered last Friday. And it doesn't matter that it was delivered by a secular court, because there is no separation of Church and State here.

I would like to believe in God—it would make life much calmer and more meaningful, more comfortable—but I can't. As long as God's embassy on earth consists of these people, I want nothing to do with such a god. And I am not alone in this.

History has seen all this before: the sale of indulgences and church positions, the whoring zealots and political popes, the grand cathedrals built with the money of murderers and usurers, the witch hunts.

History has seen people who wanted to believe in God but did not believe in those who demanded faith in that god.

For the Roman Catholic Church, all this ended with the Reformation and a schism. For the Russian Orthodox Church, it will inevitably end the same way.

Our Luther is coming.