Is Religion An Element In the Georgia-Russia Conflict?

A posting on Reuters FaithWorld blog yesterday raises the question of whether religion is an element in the current conflict between Russia and Georgia. The issue was focused after Sen. John McCain, in discussing the conflict, stressed Georgia's long-standing Christian heritage. Reuters argues that both Russia and Georgia share Christian Orthodoxy, though:

since Orthodox churches are organised nationally, each side naturally reflects in some way its own country’s political view of the crisis. But even in his protest letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, [Georgian Patriarch] Ilia’s only reference to religion was his lament that Orthodox were killing each other.