Would the Russians have been better off if they had adopted Islam instead of Christianity?

[Castaway]

I recently read that the first Christian prince of Kievan Rus, Vladimir the Great, had considered converting from paganism to Islam, but opted for Christianity instead because he believed that the Islamic ban on alcohol and pork consumption would not be popular with his subjects. Islam was just as foreign to the Russians as Christianity and would probably have adapted to Russian culture just as much as Christianity, but it is still interesting to see how the country would develop with Islam as a religion instead of Christianity. Under Islam, Russian foids would probably not be whores as they are notorious for being today, and alcohol would be banned or at least severely restricted and unpopular. The Arabs before Islam were known to be huge alcoholics and considered alcohol their second water, and now after centuries of Islam, look at them today. I could imagine the same thing happening to the Russians. Besides these obvious changes, I could also imagine Russia developing an even greater divide with Christian Europe and taking on a more West Asian character.

 

[Castaway]

@Anarcho Nihilist
@Cryotron
@slavcel11

 

[NeverGetUp]

Obviously it's not ideal but it would be better for sure

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

I recently read that the first Christian prince of Kievan Rus, Vladimir the Great, had considered converting from paganism to Islam, but opted for Christianity instead because he believed that the Islamic ban on alcohol and pork consumption would not be popular with his subjects. Islam was just as foreign to the Russians as Christianity and would probably have adapted to Russian culture just as much as Christianity, but it is still interesting to see how the country would develop with Islam as a religion instead of Christianity. Under Islam, Russian foids would probably not be whores as they are notorious for being today, and alcohol would be banned or at least severely restricted and unpopular. The Arabs before Islam were known to be huge alcoholics and considered alcohol their second water, and now after centuries of Islam, look at them today. I could imagine the same thing happening to the Russians. Besides these obvious changes, I could also imagine Russia developing an even greater divide with Christian Europe and taking on a more West Asian character.

Alcohol is a spiritual bond that holds the whole of Russia together. As soon as alcohol was banned in Russia, it collapsed. Nicholas 2 banned alcohol in 1914 after the outbreak of the First World War, as a result, he was overthrown in 1917, and his family was shot by the Bolsheviks. Gorbachev started an anti-alcohol company in 1986 after Chernobyl, and as a result, the USSR collapsed in 1991.

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

I recently read that the first Christian prince of Kievan Rus, Vladimir the Great, had considered converting from paganism to Islam, but opted for Christianity instead because he believed that the Islamic ban on alcohol and pork consumption would not be popular with his subjects. Islam was just as foreign to the Russians as Christianity and would probably have adapted to Russian culture just as much as Christianity, but it is still interesting to see how the country would develop with Islam as a religion instead of Christianity. Under Islam, Russian foids would probably not be whores as they are notorious for being today, and alcohol would be banned or at least severely restricted and unpopular. The Arabs before Islam were known to be huge alcoholics and considered alcohol their second water, and now after centuries of Islam, look at them today. I could imagine the same thing happening to the Russians. Besides these obvious changes, I could also imagine Russia developing an even greater divide with Christian Europe and taking on a more West Asian character.

Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If the Russian people stop drinking alcohol, the country will die.

 

[anandkonda]

Alcohol is a spiritual bond that holds the whole of Russia together. As soon as alcohol was banned in Russia, it collapsed. Nicholas 2 banned alcohol in 1914 after the outbreak of the First World War, as a result, he was overthrown in 1917, and his family was shot by the Bolsheviks. Gorbachev started an anti-alcohol company in 1986 after Chernobyl, and as a result, the USSR collapsed in 1991.

Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

If the Russian people stop drinking alcohol, the country will die.

Is this true @WorthlessSlavicShit Why are Slavs all such alcoholics?

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

I recently read that the first Christian prince of Kievan Rus, Vladimir the Great, had considered converting from paganism to Islam, but opted for Christianity instead because he believed that the Islamic ban on alcohol and pork consumption would not be popular with his subjects. Islam was just as foreign to the Russians as Christianity and would probably have adapted to Russian culture just as much as Christianity, but it is still interesting to see how the country would develop with Islam as a religion instead of Christianity. Under Islam, Russian foids would probably not be whores as they are notorious for being today, and alcohol would be banned or at least severely restricted and unpopular. The Arabs before Islam were known to be huge alcoholics and considered alcohol their second water, and now after centuries of Islam, look at them today. I could imagine the same thing happening to the Russians. Besides these obvious changes, I could also imagine Russia developing an even greater divide with Christian Europe and taking on a more West Asian character.

alcohol is a part of the Russian character and Russian national traditions. Thus, drinking together in Russia is the highest level of trust in each other, and refusing to drink together can be considered a personal insult.

 

[anandkonda]

@wereq

 

[weaselbomber]

They’d still drink alcohol just as Turks, Albanians and Bosnians do.
Their women would still be whores just as women from the aforementioned countries are.

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

They’d still drink alcohol just as Turks, Albanians and Bosnians do.
Their women would still be whores just as women from the aforementioned countries are.

 

[Cryotron]

Probably would be like Ottoman Empire and then later transform in something similiar to modern Turkey. Downside of Islam is that it's a religion of Arabs, Arabs are #1 in hierarchy and nations that converted to Islam got almost completely Arabized

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

Probably would be like Ottoman Empire. Downside of Islam is that it's a religion of Arabs, Arabs are #1 in hierarchy and nations that converted to Islam got almost completely Arabized

It is true that peoples who are not Arabs cannot practice Islam in the pure form in which it was created by the Prophet Muhammad.

 

[justuseless]

Russia would not exist. It would have become a subject of the Tatar muslim khanates. Possibly even subsumed into the Ottoman empire. Russians would be turkic mutts and the region today would probably be made up of multiple countries. Would definitely be economically and technologically worse off.

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

It would be better if Russians would accept Catholicism than Eastern Orthodoxy.

 

[WorthlessSlavicShit]

They’d still drink alcohol just as Turks, Albanians and Bosnians do.
Their women would still be whores just as women from the aforementioned countries are.

Probably would be like Ottoman Empire and then later transform in something similiar to modern Turkey. Downside of Islam is that it's a religion of Arabs, Arabs are #1 in hierarchy and nations that converted to Islam got almost completely Arabized

 

[weaselbomber]

It would be better if Russians would accept Catholicism than Eastern Orthodoxy.

I've heard some say that if the Novgorod Republic united Russia instead of the Duchy of Muscovy it would've been better since it had cultural and economic ties to the West through the Hanseatic League

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

I've heard some say that if the Novgorod Republic united Russia instead of the Duchy of Muscovy it would've been better since it had cultural and economic ties to the West through the Hanseatic League

Yes, it might have been different back then. The Moscow principality had the total absolute power of the monarch. The Novgorod Republic was governed by a veche, which was when all adult citizens gathered in the main square of the city and voted for some important decision, and church bells were used as a sound to summon people. There was not even a monarchy there, the veche invited a Russian prince by its vote, and then dismissed him.

 

[La Grande *Koala*]

Slavic Paganism is the way to go for Russia and lots of slavic countries. That diluted, abrahamic slop can only sustain a people for so long.

 

[ConservativeCel]

Slavic Paganism is the way to go for Russia and lots of slavic countries. That diluted, abrahamic slop can only sustain a people for so long.

Paganism (depending on the definition) is the same as atheism and hedonism.

 

[NocturnalCel]

Alcohol is a spiritual bond that holds the whole of Russia together. As soon as alcohol was banned in Russia, it collapsed. Nicholas 2 banned alcohol in 1914 after the outbreak of the First World War, as a result, he was overthrown in 1917, and his family was shot by the Bolsheviks. Gorbachev started an anti-alcohol company in 1986 after Chernobyl, and as a result, the USSR collapsed in 1991.

 

[slavcel11]

Slavic Paganism is the way to go for Russia and lots of slavic countries. That diluted, abrahamic slop can only sustain a people for so long.

The problem with this is that we don't have that much evidence of slavic paganism. There's nothing similar to asatru or helenic pantheons for slavs. So it would have to be reconstructed from the ground up. Which is not a good way to go about it obviously.

 

[slavcel11]

at last, a discussion where I can post this very fitting meme
POV: rus adopts pisslam in 988AD

 

[slavcel11]

Downside of Islam is that it's a religion of Arabs, Arabs are #1 in hierarchy and nations that converted to Islam got almost completely Arabized

True, the over indulgence in pisslam necessarily leads to arabization (because pisslam is not merely a religion but also a political ideology), which is detrimental to any somewhat sophisticated cultural tradition. Pisslam is a religion of sand, dung, and piss that hates and destroys any thing of beauty.

 

[lifesucksandyoudie]

Islamo-bolshevism sounds like an abomination

 

[weaselbomber]

The problem with this is that we don't have that much evidence of slavic paganism. There's nothing similar to asatru or helenic pantheons for slavs. So it would have to be reconstructed from the ground up. Which is not a good way to go about it obviously.

There is actually, the most notable being Perun. and unlike in Germanic paganism (Asatru is a modern thing and not a fitting name for ancient Germanic religion) the Rus actually tried to codify and standardise their religion and pantheon under prince Vladimir before his conversion to Christianity.

Vladimir the Great - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Shaktiman]

Russia would be worse off under Islam.Russia's neighbours the Ottomans banned the printing press for 250 years because innovation is banned in Islam.This led to western countries getting ahead of them and ottomans finally had their kingdom broken up due to them loosing against their far advanced technologically ahead rivals.Orthodox christianity suits russia far better