We are in desperate need of some mental and moral clarity on the Ukraine conflict:
One quite good thing that has developed over the past two years is that so many folks have woken up to the fact that the mainstream media is not always reliable, and that our politicians are not always telling us the truth. Some of us had known this all along of course, but the way the media and most governments ran with the Covid issue made this even more clear.
But if one extreme was rightly to be avoided (fully trusting the state and the media about things like Covid), the other extreme is also to be avoided (trusting no one, questioning everything to the nth degree, and throwing away our critical faculties).
Sadly I see the latter now happening big time concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just because the Rona alarmists tried to claim that everything we believe is just a big conspiracy theory does NOT mean there are no actual conspiracy theories out there, especially in regard to Ukraine. I have seen far too many folks pushing what is just plain foolishness in this area.
I have lost count of those telling me with a straight face that the West, NATO, the EU and Ukraine are all part of the deep state, the NWO, a Satanist cabal, and are all fully evil, while somehow a murderous thug and KGB officer is a great Christian warrior and our knight in shining armour, saving us all while he drains the swamp.
As if he is swamp-free. By the thinking of some of these folks, Trump of course is a full tilt Soros puppet and NWO deep state Nazi, since he also opposes Putin and his power grab in Ukraine. He even once told Putin to his face that if he goes after Ukraine he will bomb Moscow.
Being rightly sceptical of media spin and political lies is one thing. But throwing off all restraint, discernment and rationality and accusing everyone and everything of being a cabal of evil Jewish bankers, etc., is NOT the way to proceed.
Let me speak to a few more aspects of this. One big problem is how so many folks – including far too many rather irrational Christians – are just brainlessly seeing some folks as 100% evil and others as 100% good. Um, in a fallen world, only Jesus is 100% good. Everyone else is a fallen and selfish sinner. So that means we must decide what is true and false on things other than just who is saying it.
That is, if Biden says that 2+2=4 that does NOT mean it is false, just because a dodgy character like Biden has said it. If you think Zelenskyy is evil, and he says the sky is blue, that does not mean it is false. If you think Putin is evil, and he says George Washington was the first US president, that does not mean it is false. That is known as the genetic fallacy: doubting something purely based on who said it or its origin.
Back in my hippy days we said we should question everything and doubt all authority. But the biblical Christian does not fully run with that advice. Yes we have a healthy scepticism, we test everything, we seek for godly discernment, and we understand that sin in the world makes everything suspect and everyone biased. No one has total truth. No one is totally pure. But total truth is not found in just one person, just one party, or just one camp.
Let me give some examples here. Many folks have been running with everything RT (formerly Russia Today) has been saying about this conflict. It of course is a Russian state-controlled international television network. Because it and Russia have sometimes pushed some pro-family editorial lines and positions does NOT mean both are pure as the driven snow in every other area.
Just because Putin and Russia have been strong on things like on homosexuality (the same is true of Zelensky and Ukraine of course), does not make him the Messiah, nor does it mean that “Putin has more respect for the God of the Bible than any of our leaders” as I heard one guy actually claim!
The simple truth is, RT can have as many biases as the NYT does. Why do we assume that some media outlets are 100% trustworthy, and others are 100% untrustworthy? Why not have a healthy and balanced suspicion of them all? Thus if you are going to constantly run with a clearly biased RT as your source of gospel truth news, then why not also run with – or at least give a hearing to – the Ukrainian media for starters?
Thus if the panic merchants are telling us that Ukraine is a full tilt principality of Satan with evil biolabs, while Putin is Jesus incarnate coming to the rescue, then why not also read what they say about such things, including this piece? https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/sbu-no-us-biological-laboratories-in-ukraine.html
Or if you believe Ukraine is some neoNazi headquarters and Putin is the great liberator, then why not also read things like this? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/01/ukraine-holocaust-babi-yar/6979800001/
I am NOT saying you must uncritically believe all these reports. But if you are telling us we must doubt the media and question everything, then you should equally doubt things like RT. If not, you have simply traded one set of biases for another. And you have also told us that you are not all that discerning after all. You have traded one bit of gullibility for another.
Let me speak a bit further to this. I have seen plenty of folks pushing RT articles and memes both saying that Schwab and the WEF support Ukraine. To this we always see the words: “Tells us all we need to know”. Um, can anyone actually think straight anymore? That tells us nothing!
By this idiotic ‘reasoning,’ ANY group we happen to dislike, whatever they say, we must run with the opposite. Thus if the KKK had said during WWII that they support Poland after Hitler invaded it, we could say “Tells us all we need to know”. Obviously if the odious KKK support Poland, then Hitler and the Nazis must be the good guys. Terrific logic there. Not.
Um, guess what? Sometimes leaders, politicians and media outlets can get things right now and then. Perhaps much of the world and its media are condemning Putin because he IS at fault here, because this is a horrific moral evil, and because democratic nations (with all their faults) should not be invaded by power hungry and increasingly deranged autocrats.
I just wish folks (including Christians) would start to actually think instead of emoting and running with whatever nutty thing they stumble upon. As I keep saying, this current conflict has numerous deep historical, military, and geo-political factors that must be carefully considered – like most wars. My many posts and articles have tried to offer some of those details. But too many folks are running with simplistic and foolish mantras.
If it is quite wrong to suggest that the Ukraine government has been without fault over recent years and Putin is Satan incarnate, it is also quite wrong to claim (as so many are) that Ukraine is the epitome of evil and Putin is the messiah who is here to save the world. All governments are corrupt because we are all sinners. All governments and leaders are under the judgment of God.
My concern here is especially with the plight of the Ukrainian people who have suffered so much already over the past century. Just think of the 10 million starved to death by a previous Soviet dictator in the 1930s. Putin is NOT George Washington and Jesus Christ rolled into one. He is an autocratic tyrant who loves power as much as any other dictator.
Try telling the women and children being cluster-bombed in their homes right now in Ukraine, and the many thousands of Christians and others being rounded up by Putin’s goons in Russia as they plead for an end to this madness, that Putin is God’s saviour of the world.
Enough of all the uncritical, undiscerning foolishness that I see everywhere. Indeed, if we were to believe all these Putinphiles and Ukrainophobes, we would have this bizarre situation: Donald Trump, millions of thinking conservatives, and millions of concerned Christians, are all Soros-backed, NWO deep-staters because they all have supported Ukraine during this invasion. But that is exactly what I see so many clueless wonders implying, if not saying outright.
And some of the utter nonsense I have seen some Christians posting on this has bordered on the blasphemous. They really do believe that Putin is God’s chosen messiah to save the world. Um, it is a very scary place to be in when one calls good what God calls evil, and when one exalts a very fallen human to a place that only Jesus deserves.
So much more can be said here. As I keep saying, all governments are corrupt. To say both sides are evil is true – to an extent. Evil is a relative term of course in this context. Are both sides quite corrupt in so many ways? Yes, but I am not sure if I buy a moral equivalence here. Ukraine is not invading Russia. Ukraine is not dropping cluster bombs on innocent civilians. Ukraine does not have plans for further territorial expansion, etc.
In sum, I concur with what Martyn Iles of the Australian Christian Lobby has said on this:
The truth is, nothing justifies what Putin is doing. There’s a lot of whataboutism out there – corruption in Ukraine, the West’s interference, NATO, history, etc. None of those things could make this right. They are not adequate excuses for a horror like this. It takes the moral discernment of a gnat to see that. Complicated circumstances tend to be simple right at their core. And the simple fact is, what he’s doing now is gravely wrong. Hence, we should oppose it completely.
Spiritual reflection
Two brief things that I have posted on the social media of late may help us in getting a bit of perspective – at least some spiritual perspective:
“Today many people have lost their jobs. Today many people have found out they have cancer. Today many people are struggling with raging floods in Australia. Today many people are huddling in bomb shelters in Ukraine. Suffering and hardships are ever with us. God can give real comfort and hope now, but Christians also look forward to this day: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” -Revelation 21:3-4”
“My wife recently told me of her rightful concern about the Australian floods, and how one news report spoke of 800 cattle swept away on one farm alone. (She is a zookeeper, so she has always had a soft spot in her heart for animals.) I agree. But I am also thinking of Ukrainian citizens being bombed by Putin right now. So much misery and suffering in so many places. Come quickly Lord Jesus.”
For further reading
There is no shortage of books, articles and videos that one can mention here. Since I see countless dodgy and just plain wrong ones being pushed all the time on the social media, let me offer just a few that I think are much more reliable, balanced, and worth considering:
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/george-weigel-six-questions-on-ukraine
https://victorhanson.com/putins-predictabilities/
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/the-myth-of-the-crusader-putin
https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2012/06/deluded-tyrant-in-the-kremlin/
https://www.bitchute.com/video/AZTGBhPdurnh/ – “Increasing Members of the European Parliament Are Finally Calling Out Mr Evil Schwab’s ‘Great Reset’”
https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-698214 – “Christians, wake up: If world doesn’t stop Putin – NATO, Israel are next”
https://rodlampard.com/2022/03/01/six-questionable-myths-about-the-russia-ukraine-crisis/
[1990 words]