As Jesus was led to the hill upon which he was crucified, “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children’”(Luke 23:27-29).
Though we have no way to be sure, this comment was likely in reference to the coming war which caused the 70 AD destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Even as he was about to be crucified, Jesus’heart was turned to the horrors of war coming for the people of Jerusalem.
Such wars seem unreal to contemporary Americans, but they are very, very real. As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine at the end of February, the western world was reminded of the 20th-century horrors of the last World Wars.
In an article from CNN, they reported: “The world has not seen a ‘move like this, nation state-to-nation state, since World War II,’a senior US defense official told reporters Thursday about Russia's attack on Ukraine — ‘certainly nothing on this size and scope and scale.’”[1]
Unfortunately, not everyone appreciated the gravity and horror of two nations with world-class weaponry coming to blows as one starts a campaign of aggressive expansion.
One myopically focused academic decided to respond to this news by trying to stretch this situation to cover their own pet issue:
“I hate to be a race baiter but the sovereignty of non-white countries gets violated all the time and no one bats an eyelid. Race might not be a salient factor here –some other factor(s) could explain the relative degrees of concern –but it might be worth thinking about. ” [2]
Not only is the author wrong in saying that the western world is indifferent to “non-white”countries, but they are also foolish to reduce the complexities of violence caused by human sin to just “race.”This abuses the realities of genuine racism and makes it into an overused punchline while simultaneously mocking the suffering of real people in Ukraine.
War is hell. As graphic as it may be, this academic’s sanitized world, and our safe Western homes, need a reminder of what such wars entail. Consider the testimony of Jerome Connolly, a Medic in the 96th Infantry Division during World War II:
“I saw this fellow, a medic. He said to me, “Jerry, I did something last night that I never thought I’d have to do. I cut a man’s arm off.” Guy had it all shrapneled up, it was a piece of meat, I guess. And what are you going to say?”Moments later, the medic began convulsing with what Connolly described as the worst case of “combat fatigue”he ever saw. [3]
Philippians 1:9-10 reminds us of the true ideology to which we must subscribe “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”
Americans must join together in praying for the Ukrainian people and be willing to step up to support their nation however possible. The last thing the world needs is another Führer. To love one another is to condemn the actions of an arrogant dictator, not to hide behind vapid monologuing.
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[1] “The world hasn't witnessed a move like this "since World War II," senior US defense official says,”CNN (February 24, 2022), https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/h_5e01a2cc91343fa5133d859b662e5974
[2] @Evollaqi, Twitter, February 24, 2022, https://twitter.com/Evollaqi/status/1496825188876537859
[3] “Horrors of War,” PBS-American Experience (n.d.), https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pacific-horrors-of-war/
