A Sad Realization
Donald Trump ran, at least in part, on the platform of ending the war in Ukraine. As part of his attempt to do this he negotiated a deal with President Zelensky of Ukraine to keep up to $500 million of profits from Ukrainian mineral extraction in exchange for continued support during and after peace negotiations with the Russians. To cement this deal Zelensky came to the Oval Office for a signing ceremony during which he and Vice President Vance, and President Trump got into a heated debate about the propriety of negotiating with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Zelensky was asked to leave, and shortly after all current military aid from the US to Ukraine has been halted. As of this writing the minerals deal is up in the air, and Trump has reportedly ceased US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Trump has also threatened Russia with additional sanctions if they do not come to the bargaining table. This is likely an empty threat, as the previous tranches of sanctions have not changed Russian behavior, and additional ones are unlikely to either. This may simply be Trump trying to move the process along and “look tough”.
Predictably, the response from Trump’s opponents has been to call him a “Putin Puppet”, and a stooge of Russia, etc. I have noticed, particularly on Facebook, an eruption of “I’m with Ukraine” memes on my feed. This includes many people I know to be of the Christian faith. This is a partisan phenomenon, as all the people I see sharing this meme are Democrats. It is a Team Blue phenomenon all the way. I don’t mean to suggest that Team Red is not following Trump in a reflexive way, as many who previously supported the US Ukraine policy are now backing Trump’s peace efforts.
This is just the current iteration of a phenomenon I have seen before. Peace is, and has sadly always been, a tool to use when convenient to bash your political opponents. I first noticed this in the transition from Bush to Obama. The cries of war criminal and bloodletter from the left ceased upon Obama’s ascension to the presidency. Prominent, principled antiwar critics, featured so regularly on MSNBC, suddenly disappeared. All criticism of Obama’s enhanced war on terror via drones, or his overthrow of Libya was silenced.
Fair to point out that during the Obama years he was regularly castigated by the Republicans as being “too soft”, and “weak”, even though his policies were substantially indistinguishable from his predecessor. Let me be clear, this is a bipartisan use of war and peace as a political club.
This reality was also true, as I realized upon reflection, of the transition from Reagan/Bush to Clinton, as US violence continued apace, but without the rancor coming from the Democratic party that occurred during Republican governance. The use of peace as a cudgel has a long and sordid history. So, like most things this is nothing new under the sun.
In this latest iteration the Democrats are harshly critical of Trump for “abandoning” Ukraine, and “caving” to Putin. This is all redolent of the “Russiagate” nonsense when the Democrats blamed Hilary Clinton’s loss on Russian interference (of which Robert Mueller could find none), rather than on her stunning weakness as a candidate. Trump was never “tough enough” on Russia. This was the charge even though during Trump’s first administration modern weaponry poured into Ukraine from the US, the Russians were heavily sanctioned, and the US tried strenuously to sever Russian energy production from their west European customers (a long-standing US goal finally achieved after the Russian invasion in 2022). Again, peace and its absence were just tools in the political game. So, what are we to make of the current charge against Trump? They are simply the most current manifestation of the disgustingly partisan nature of peace.
Facts Matter
I do not intend to relitigate the entirety of the case against supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. However, reality must intrude on this political gamesmanship. I will point out just a few inconvenient (for the pro-war crowd) facts regarding this proxy war.
First, this whole thing is much more the fault of the west than it is of Russia. Yes, Russia invaded, and violated international borders, and committed acts of violence that are crimes against humanity. Yet, it is also clear that the steadfast US resolve to completely ignore Russia’s core security concerns had the effect of provoking this response. Sadly, there were many nonviolent means for Russia to respond to safeguard these security concerns, and that they did not is their responsibility. Nonetheless, the steady movement of an adversarial military alliance toward Russia and encircling them 30 years after the demise of its ostensible reason for being, could only provoke the Russians into an extreme response. An excellent detailed analysis of all of this can be found in Scott Horton’s book Provoked. Or view this video explanation of US complicity in this tragedy. This is now being remembered by the Republicans in the light of Trump’s peace efforts but is now forgotten and ignored by the Democrats.
Second, Ukraine is a deeply corrupt nation, that has only truncated their citizens’ rights more egregiously since the Russian invasion. I reviewed these facts a while ago, coming to the conclusion that Ukraine is a shady country. The reality has always been that Ukraine was never a bastion of liberal democracy and human rights. This reality fits into a long, rich US tradition of not particularly giving a shit about a foreign nation’s protection of human rights. Of paramount importance to the US is having a compliant client state, human rights be damned. I pointed all this out last month.
Third, this was never a war Ukraine could win without US boots on the ground and the onset of WWIII with all the attendant world ending implications. Wars that can never be won should never be fought. This one would not have been where it not for the cynical manipulation of Ukraine to serve a US imperial agenda. Additionally, it is clear to all, even Democrats, that this war is lost, which means that the terms will not be particularly favorable to the Ukrainians. However, the terms will only get worse day by day as Russia’s advances grind on. When you have lost a war, you sue for peace. All wars are immoral, but the worst immorality of all is to fight wars that cannot be won and continue wars that are already lost.
Finally, even if the above facts, and they are facts, were not so, it would be the correct thing to work toward peace. Even if Russia broke whatever agreement ended the fighting, the respite from wanton destruction would be an unalloyed good. Even if the slaughter stopped for just a little bit, it is better than the medieval bloodletting that is occurring daily. Also, if only for a little bit, it would be better to lower the temperature between two nuclear armed nations. All of this brings me to the main point here.
What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?
Regardless of religion there is a human need for a universalizable morality that demands the respect and protection of human rights. This is not easy in a world populated by criminal enterprises we know as governments. The results will be messy and always fall short of the ideal. This is where the facts laid out above come into play. They all argue in favor of cutting a deal and ending the slaughter of mostly innocent civilians and dialing down the threat of a direct war between two nuclear armed nations. Even if all of this is some sort of Russian prevarication (which let’s be clear the US has broken a treaty or two in its history, ask the Indians) it still would provide some respite from the destruction, which makes it a better thing than the current situation.
We as humans, whether faithful or not should be able to agree on this. However, the faithful followers of Jesus are supposed to aim for a higher standard. This brings us to the utterly shameful response of the Christian faithful in this latest use of peace for partisan gain. The faithful are supposed to eschew this kind of behavior and act with some consistency based upon what they say they believe. They are supposed to lead the way to make visible the path that the Prince of Peace showed us was the fully human way to treat all God’s children. Sadly, the faithful faceplanted here.
Now, I have long thought that the Christian Right has been lost to the cause of peace. The likes of fundamentalists such as Robert Jeffress, and Franklin Graham have openly advocated for mass violence be perpetrated on perceived enemies. This is so clearly the case there is no need to prosecute their sins again.
I had, however, held out some hope for the Christian Left in this regard. They have always struck me as more inclusive, and closer to embodying the spirit of Christ in these matters. It seems this was only a figment of my imagination, as there are many on the left who are leading the charge against Trump’s peace initiative. As I indicated above the profusion of “I’m with Ukraine” memes are a Team Blue phenomenon, many of whom I know to be of the liberal wing of Christianity.
This means that I was wrong. Dead wrong. As wrong as I could be. I fooled myself into thinking that because of their greater inclusiveness of immigrants, the sexually diverse, and minorities that they would not play partisan games with war and peace. However, all this “outrage” at Trump’s peace efforts have exposed them for the partisans they are.
They oppose Trump’s peace plans solely because they are offered by Trump. To these I ask, “who cares if it’s Trump offering the peace plan”? Why does it matter that the bad Orange Man is trying to silence the guns and stop the slaughter? One reason I know this is the case is that Obama made the same case Trump is making, namely that Ukraine is a core interest to Russia and a peripheral one for the US. None of the Christian Left are calling out Obama as a stooge for Putin.
For all the reasons outlined above this is the moral course. This is the best of an awful series of choices before us, and it primarily helps the innocent people being butchered by both sides.
More to the point, would Jesus care if it was a fallen figure like Trump who is trying to end a war? He did consort with prostitutes and tax collectors, and he counted Roman officials among His followers after all. Why would He care if a figure like Trump is the one who gets the sides to lay down their weapons? We all know He would not care.
Therefore, neither do I care. I refuse to let blind partisan hatred stand in the way of supporting a plan to stop the bloodletting. I do not care if Trump is doing it for a bad reason (likely to reposition US military resources for a coming war with China). I will oppose that when the time comes. Right now, we need to support all efforts to cease the slaughter of God’s children and turn down the risks to all of God’s creation that He has given us in stewardship. I simply do not care that Trump is a malodorous motherfucker. If that is through whom peace is achieved, who am I to say it is wrong.
As for my relationship with the Christian Left, well damaged is a kind word to describe it. It is undeniably true that they are a mirror image of the Christian Right, all too enamored of the violence that is inherent in political power. All this disappointment is really my own damn fault. I am too much a student of history and made by God to be too cynical to have thought that they would behave in the end any differently than the Christian Right (they all just have a different ox to gore). I know many in this segment of the Christian movement and they are good, decent people, as are our more conservative/traditionalist siblings. I let my personal relationships cloud my vision and close my eyes too long to uncomfortable facts. My eyes are wide open now. However, I will not act with vituperation toward these good souls. I have had too many sales jobs in my life to blame the customer for not buying the product. If I have failed to make the case, or close the sale as it were, then that is on me. The only acceptable response is to roll up my sleeves and make a better case on behalf of the Gospel.
That Gospel case is clear-cut, absolute, and uncompromising. It is never acceptable to advocate or engage in violence. Period, full stop. Loving one’s enemies, as clear a teaching as Jesus ever gave us, means at a minimum you do not get to slaughter them. We are made in the image of God, therefore, to lay hands on one another is to lay hands upon Christ. Violence is entirely proscribed to the Christian conscience. Anyone in the Christian movement wants to debate that topic, bring it.
In the end, I owe it to all those good people I know, and all those I do not know, to witness to this absolute peace that is the Gospel of Peace given to us by the Prince of Peace. More importantly I owe it to God to help make visible that which others cannot see, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ gives me no alternative but to proclaim the reality that God so loves the whole world.
Praise Be to God
