Party on, Boris!

As an Orthodox, you may appreciate this:
When a Russian prince was approached by various religions trying to convert him (and his people)to their faiths, he rejected Judaism because it was "scattered across the face of the Earth; do you want us to have such a destiny?". He rejected the Catholics because the Pope lives far away; "bring Rome here that we may better believe him".
He almost went for Islam: more than one wife. But when he was told that he had to give up alcohol he said "This cannot be; drinking is the joy of the Slavic race. We cannot live without this pleasure." And so the Russians became Orthodox.

I will never forget when he stood on top of the tank and faced down the coup plotters. However, it is sad that in his later years in office, he fell in with a bad crowd, the Milton Friedman acolytes. It has taken years for the Russian economy to dig themselves out of that hole. I wonder how many years it will take us to dig out of the hole the Friedmanites put us in.

Phreecque Show,

Russia converted back in the 10th century, shortly before the Catholic-Orthodox schism. So there was no Catholic Church at that time. Nice story though.

The way I've heard the story, the Czar chose Christianity over Islam, Buddhism and Manichaeanism (the other main missionary religions of the time) because the latter three all prohibit alcohol. Judaism tolerates alcohol but isn't a missionary religion.

Boris was also unable to get off his plane to meet the Taoiseach at Shannon Airport. He was "unwell" which was a euphemism for ossified. He later said that he had simply slept through the scheduled meeting.

I used to have the revelant section of the Russian Primary Chronicle among my notes that dealt with the Prince Vladimir and the Christianization of Russia. The line about drink being the joy of the Rus is in the same section as the report of Vladimir's ambassadors on the Orthodox liturgy:

Then we went on to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth there is no such splendour or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We know only that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations. For we cannot forget that beauty.

There was also the matter of a Byzantine princess thrown into the bargain. Plus the Mohammedans were insisting on circumcising the Rus. The Rus, like the Greeks, preferred to remain intact.

Hector, pre-schism there was a Catholic Church but as yet no Orthodox Church. (Εἰς μίαν, ἁγίαν, καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν)

I agree with Rob: Yeltsin was indeed brave and heroic. Вечная память Борису Николаевичу Ельцину.

Uh, this is Bill Clinton we're talking about here, people. Bill Clinton, notorious liar and narcissist. I would like to know if other, credible sources exist for the story.

BTW, Rod, the Germans liked Hitler after the Reichstag's confusion and von Hindenburg's senility. Just showing where your logic takes you.

Re: Yeltsin was brave, impulsive, heroic (also drunken),

If Yeltsin was a hero, then Bill Clinton is a model of sexual rectitude. Russian life expectancy, standards of living, and social fabric collapsed on his watch, and still haven't recovered. The West bears a lot of blame, of course, but Yeltsin most of all; I've talked to ex-Soviet citizens who hate the man's guts.