An article I did not want to post:
This article has been sitting around for at least a week now. I have been hesitant to post it for the simple reason that I am absolutely fed up with how some folks – and mainly some Christians – have been dealing with this entire crisis. The truth is, I have seen hundreds of posts and comments now from people who somehow think Putin is God’s chosen vessel to save Europe and bring peace on earth and good will toward men.
They really do think Putin is a messianic figure, if not Jesus actually returned in the flesh. Seeing these asinine posts day after day has made me want to quit the social media for good. Along with struggling with my wife’s cancer, all this has really been very difficult for me. At times I just want to give up. I expect pagans to say stupid and useless things, but when I see people claiming to be Christians who have basically turned Putin into an idol, I am grieved to my very soul.
I feel sick in the stomach every time I see these folks coming along defending to the death everything Putin says and does while denouncing Zelenskyy as the anti-Christ. It does my head in to be honest. That is why all my recent articles have been of a more devotional and spiritual nature. I just wanted to get away from the madness that I see all around me.
Nonetheless, here is the piece I started some days ago, plus a recent addition to it. My original post had to do with this: I think I have now heard every lousy excuse in the book by the Putinphiles as to why he is perfectly justified in invading Ukraine and levelling it to the ground.
And as I keep saying when folks mention that they never see such posts: you folks obviously move in much different circles than I do. I get them all the time. They seem to be everywhere. And I tried to explain in an earlier piece why I think this is the case: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2022/03/02/on-discernment-gullibility-and-healthy-scepticism/
So here then are the five most common cheap excuses I hear everyday from the Putin cultists:
1. Biolabs
I would be a very rich dude by now if I got a ruble for every time I heard this one brought up. The Putinphiles think biolabs in Ukraine fully justify Russia invading and destroying the nation. Um, most countries have biolabs in one form or another. That Ukraine has them is not in dispute. What exactly they are being used for and so on is rather less clear.
And we can use some consistency here. We know that there are biolabs in China. Are these folks also demanding that Russia (or Australia or America) immediately attack China – or at least Wuhan – and raze it to the ground as well? If not, why not? And if biolabs are so evil that we must decimate entire nations to get rid of them, well, we know that Pfizer has its headquarters in New York City. Should we bomb New York to smithereens to purify the land?
2. Homosexuality
We know that Putin has taken some steps to promote family values more or less, and that has included not being so open to homosexuality and the like that most Western nations have been. Is it good that Russia is a bit more pro-family than some other nations? Sure. But does that make it OK therefore to take over and raze to the ground another country?
By the reasoning of some of these Putin-lovers, since America is full of blatant homosexuality, China would be fully justified to invade it and raze it to the ground. And since Australia is full of blatant homosexuality, Indonesia would be fully justified to invade it and raze it to the ground. Um, my take on biblical ethics is a bit different than that.
3. Soros
How many times have we heard that George Soros is up to his ears in mischief in Ukraine? Hey, you won’t get me defending Soros. He clearly is one very evil dude – one of the worst. But of course he has his grubby hands in all sorts of countries, not least of which, America.
So according to the Putinphiles, to make the world a Christian paradise we should invade those other nations as well. America should be the first country to be targeted. Maybe wiping out Washington DC or New York would be a great place to begin. After all, we must bring righteousness to the land.
4. Old territories
We hear all the time that Putin is not invading anyone, and that he is not an aggressor. He is merely reclaiming former territories. And this, the Putinphiles assure us, fully justifies the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Once again, let’s at least be consistent here. Will we insist that Rome now starts working on restoring the old Roman Empire? And for that matter, should we insist that the old Canaanite peoples – if they are still around – seek to reclaim lost territory and try to oust Israel? Oh, and of course Alaska was once a part of Russia. Will the American Putin-adorers be cheering him on if and when he invades Alaska, threatening to use nukes if it does not surrender immediately?
5. A new Nebuchadnezzar
This is one of the most idiotic and shameful things I hear far too many ‘Christians’ saying. They actually believe God is somehow using Putin as his servant to judge an evil Ukraine. You know, just like he used the Assyrians and Babylonians to judge Ancient Israel.
Um, wakey wakey folks. As I have said so very often now, back then God had his prophets to tell his people just what was going on. When Jeremiah for example told Israel NOT to resist Babylon since God was using this pagan nation as “his servant,” then that was the end of it. These prophets were speaking as inspired and authoritative spokesmen for God.
We do not have such inerrant prophets today, so all we can do is speculate when a Hitler or a Stalin or a Putin is allowed to get away with murder – and a whole lot of murder. But claiming or implying that we have some inspired word from God telling us Putin is God’s beloved son in whom he is well pleased as he rapes Ukraine is utterly nuts – and blasphemous. Shame on those Christians for even remotely suggesting this.
There are plenty of other reasons given by these folks, seeking to fully defend and justify Putin’s barbaric assault on Ukraine and the deaths of so many innocent men, women and children. But the Putin-worshippers do not seem to give a rip about any of these lost lives.
Instead they only seem to worry that Russia is facing some cancel culture in the West. Um, if some Western university stops promoting a Russian play or music or poetry or whatever, yes that is a somewhat silly protest and I am no fan of cancel culture generally speaking. But if this is going to get the Putinphiles all bent out of shape, while they say NOTHING about the slaughter of the innocents in Ukraine, then they are blatant hypocrites and fake Christians.
Another voice
Let me finish by mentioning a brand new piece by American Christian commentator Michael Brown. He has too been writing about this conflict for a while now, and more than once I have been tempted to get in touch with him and say, ‘Michael, you seem to be a bit too soft on, and defensive of, Putin. His piece today seems to get the balance right. He begins:
I do not believe that Ukrainian President Zelensky is a perfect saint and that Russian President Putin is Satan incarnate. Nor do I believe that all Ukrainians are innocent and that all Russians are guilty. But when it comes to Russia’s war on Ukraine, I see no possible justification for Putin’s murderous actions, and in that sense, he is guilty and the people of Ukraine are innocent. Therefore, I stand with the people of Ukraine and against the actions of Putin. It is that plain and simple to me.
And he brings up one gal who I have seen so many Christians running with of late as if she is a terrific Christian and the ultimate authority on this matter. No, Lara Logan is not a Christian, and her attack on Zelenskyy (‘he actually once wore high heels’) is NOT the last word on the matter. Says Brown:
But, to repeat my question, what does this have to do with the slaughter of the people of Ukraine? As a headline in Rolling Stone stated sarcastically (yes, I’m actually agreeing here with Rolling Stone), “Lara Logan: Zelensky Wore Leather Pants so Maybe the Russian Invasion Isn’t So Bad.”
He also runs with the line that I have for weeks now, that all Western nations should be invaded and obliterated since most promote things like homosexuality. And he reminds us that this should include Israel, since it is such a mecca for homosexuality in the Middle East.
He also talks about how moralistic vigilantes – and maybe even some ‘Christian’ vigilantes – could feel fully justified in hunting down and murdering homosexuals in America today – after all, this is a sinful lifestyle. Brown then says this: “It’s the same with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is no moral justification for it, and that’s why we stand with the people of Ukraine, spots, blemishes, warts, and all.”
Brown notes how Hitler also opposed some forms of immorality. He then writes:
Yet there is absolutely no doubt that, when America stood with the allies to fight against Hitler and the Nazis, we were doing what was morally right. (And let’s remember that, at that time, segregation was still widely practiced in America, making us far from morally faultless.) It’s the same with Russia and Ukraine. Let’s not complicate matters. What Putin is doing is wrong, murderous, and unjustifiable. That’s why we stand with Ukraine. https://askdrbrown.org/library/let-s-not-get-morally-confused-when-it-comes-russia-and-ukraine
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