Old Victims, New Oppressors? Considering Postcolonial Social Conservatism without Christianity in Central and Eastern Europe

A significant part of societies in the states of Central and Eastern Europe openly reject the interconnection of Europe with the geopolitical, social and environmental problems of Africa, the Middle East, etc. Social conservativism without Christian belief is characteristic of this situation. Nevertheless, the churches and especially the representatives of the Catholic Church, often openly support these rejecting attitudes, i.e., by rejecting refugees, for example. In the 20th century, the Soviet Union and its internal supremacy of Russian nationalism heavily influenced this area. The postcolonial theory, together with the anti-oppressive theory, seems realistic to apply to this situation. In this sense, the rejecting attitudes of Churches support and multiplicate such an oppressive situation. Deconstructing the influence on Central and Eastern Europe by both the former and current Russian nationalist understanding of Orthodox Christianity with its prejudice against the West seems possible through the descriptive approach of empirical theology. Empirical theology can deconstruct this influence, or at least a part of it, as a religious and pseudo-religious colonisation of Central and Eastern Europe of sorts.