Russian Faith by Kennedy Hall
As with all military conflicts, it is rarely the case that the outside observer knows the “whole story.” Regarding Russia and Ukraine, the story is more complicated than news-cycle soundbites can give justice to.
The recent Eastern European conflict has many layers to it, and one of those might the West’s hatred of traditional Biblical morality, which is manifesting itself in a knee-jerk reactionary position against Russia and for Ukraine. A tweet by the top spy in the UK alleges that LGBT issues are at the heart of the matter, and, a recent sermon by the Patriarch of Moscow makes essentially the same claim, only from the other side.
With the tragedy and destruction unfolding so distressingly in Ukraine, we should remember the values and hard won freedoms that distinguish us from Putin, none more than LGBT+ rights. So let’s resume our series of tweets to mark #LGBTHM2022
— Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) February 25, 2022
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill unsurprisingly endorsing Putin’s narrative on Ukraine in a sermon today. According to him the West essentially organises genocide campaigns against countries that refuse to stage gay parades 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mXc89tXj4m
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) March 6, 2022
Before I continue, nothing that I will write in this piece is to suggest that Vladimir Putin is a good man, or that Volodymyr Zelensky is a good man, or that Putin is a bad man with a bad country, or that Zelensky is a good man with a good country.
It is possible to support innocent civilians who are harmed by military action, while at the same time not taking a side in favor of further military action, reactionary or otherwise.
The Backstory
If you are anything like me, then you may not have been up on your late-twentieth and early twenty-first century Ukrainian and Russian history. Now, I am no expert, but I can at least digest what legitimate experts have said about the nations’ conflicts, and a refresher on the historical reality of the relationship between both nations is helpful.
I have found the following presentations to be most helpful, as both are offered by expert historians who truly understand both sides of the equation.
It is far beyond the scope of this piece to go into the depth required to understand the whole saga, I highly recommend consulting these resources after reading.
Ep. 2074 Russia, Ukraine, and NATO https://t.co/13pze9zHeu
If you want to understand the Ukraine Russia saga, listen to this.
— Kennedy Hall holds unacceptable views (@kennedyhall) March 3, 2022
The first is a lecture by John Mearsheimer, and it seems almost like a premonition, or a prophetic utterance given recent events. He offers poignant analysis of the chasm in political thought that exists between the East and the West, and how Ukraine is in the cross hairs of that divide.
The second is podcast with historian Tom Woods who interviews Russian History expert Gilbert Doctorow on the subject.
Ukraine is the flashpoint between the 19th and 21st Century
If I understand their analysis correctly, the conflict between Russian political thinking and Western political thinking is more like a conflict between 19th and 20th century political thinking. Russia never adopted Classical Liberalism like the West did – to say nothing of whether that adoption was ultimate beneficial – thus the understanding of fundamental principles diverges greatly…
FYI The link is broken… I will try looking up elsewhere.
Thanks!