V. I. Lenin--Frenzied and Ruthless

Lest We Forget

The Ukraine suffered two terrible famines in the first half of the twentieth century.  Both of them were the product of incompetent tyranny inflicted upon the Ukraine by the Soviet Communist regime.  The first occurred in 1922-3 and was "managed" by Vladimir Lenin.  The second occurred in 1932-3 and was a deliberate tool used to break down the Ukrainian people.  The second famine was "managed" by Stalin.

Lenin overtly and deliberately used the early famine as an opportunity to strike down Ukrainian Christianity.  He argued (and directed) that the famine provided a unique opportunity to seize church property and pass it on to Party members.  The Church was framed as being responsible in large measure for the famine, thereby justifying the extortion.

Lenin wrote to his underling, Molotov who had control of the Ukraine:

Now and only now, when people are being eaten in famine-stricken areas, and hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses lie in the roads, we can (and therefore must) pursue the removal of church property with the most frenzied and ruthless energy and not hesitate to put down the least opposition.  Now and only now, the vast majority of peasants will either be on our side, or at lest will not be in a position to support to any decisive degrees this handful of [reactionary] clergy and reactionary urban petty bourgeoisie, who are willing and able to attempt to oppose this Soviet decree with a policy of force. 

No pastoral concern for the starving.  No attempt to relieve the famine.  No marshalling of as many resources as possible to ease the suffering.  Only the adamant conviction that the suffering provided an opportunity to oppress those who may offer some resistance to the omnipotent power of the Soviet State.

Here lies in full display the "end game" of leftist ideology.   Here lies an actual historical example of the ideology of Sauron the Great.  Tolkien's literary creation of Middle Earth's most terrible scourge has its actual, historical manifestation in tyrants like Lenin and Stalin.  Sauron is not an unhistorical figure; when Tolkien was creating him, he was wittingly or unwittingly drawing upon actual recent history.

A Bitter Legacy

The Suffering of Ukraine

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high.  The animus goes back a long way--as is the case with many national rivalries in that part of the world.

A recent article in the Daily Mail details the horror of the years of famine caused by Stalin and his maniacal communism.  Ukraine used to be the bread-basket of Eastern Europe.  Under Stalin's tender embrace it turned into an agricultural desert.  Millions died.  In the West the story has never really been told.

The Daily Mail article is written by Dominic Sandbrook; it has been prompted by the publication of a new book by Anne Applebaum entitled Red Famine.  Sandbrook writes:

The famine that struck Ukraine in late 1932 and 1933 was one of the most lethal catastrophes in European history.  In the West, it is nowhere near as well-known as it should be.  In Ukraine itself, however, the Holodmor — literally, ‘hunger extermination’ — is often seen as the equivalent of the Holocaust, a gigantic, man-made operation to murder millions of people.

And behind it was not just one man — Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-Twenties to 1953 — but an entire warped ideology which sought to remake a peasant society according to a Utopian Communist blueprint.  Even now, in an age when we are regularly assailed by images of horror and suffering, the details of the Holodmor are heartbreaking.  Starving children, mass graves, vigilantes, even cannibalism: the famine saw human nature stripped to the bone.

Millions died.  But what are few deaths when one is in the vanguard of a revolution that will bring a Marxist utopia to the world.  You cannot make an omelette without breaking the odd egg, eh.

This Article May Explain Why Contra Celsum Has Followers in the Ukraine

Thousands Gather in the Streets of Ukraine

Celebrating the Anniversary of the Reformation

CBN News

The streets of Kiev filled with songs of praise and thanks as roughly 200,000 evangelical, Ukrainian Christians gathered to celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. 

"Many traveled from all four provinces there just to be a part of that celebration, to thank God for the freedom to worship, to thank God for the freedom to preach the Gospel in their country, and to celebrate God's faithfulness," Sergey Rakhuba with Mission Eurasia told Mission Network News. 

The gathering came after Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko signed an order recognizing the anniversary of the Reformation.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Ukraine #5

Douglas Wilson

Blog&Mablog

March 20, 2015

So as I wrap up my discussion of issues surrounding Ukraine, I want to do three things, which I will take in the standard order of 1,2,and 3.

First I want to provide a handful of links (from various sane perspectives) to help illustrate how much this is like trying to unscramble a pan full of eggs. My paramount concern, as I have already mentioned, has to do with the plight of fellow Protestants in Ukraine — as this short piece illustrates well. Crimea presents some unique tangles, as my friend Peter Hitchens points out.

Alexander Motyl gives a critique of the “realist” understanding of Russian/Ukrainian geopolitics here. And Timothy Snyder takes the discussion way back. 

Second, the question that many have wanted me to get to is what I think we should do about all this. How does this cash out? The simple part concerns what I would not do. I do not believe that we should commit American troops to any conflict like this. I am not an isolationist, but I believe that any constitutional foreign policy will generally be accused of isolationism. We are not the world’s policeman, and we ought not to commit troops anywhere unless our national security is directly threatened. And where it is arguably threatened, but by an inchoate threat like ISIS, I believe we ought to use letters of marque and reprisal instead of regular troops. In short, I am in favor of a strong military defense, and am no fan at all of things like neo-con nation-building.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Ukraine #4

Douglas Wilson

Blog&Mablog

March 18, 2015

Please allow me just one more set of background observations before I say what I think ought to be done in Ukraine.

When we teach math to kids, we are not training future mathematicians, although some will wind up there. We are training future grocers, carpenters, housewives, etc. We want what they learn about math to be consistent with what the future mathematicians will eventually learn, but it need not be anything like so complicated.

When we teach history to kids, we are not training up future historians. We are educating Christian kids to be faithful citizens in the country where God has placed them. God wants them here, and God wants them to honor their father and mother. As a third grader honors his fathers and mothers, there is no way to keep this from being “simplified” and coming across to academic historians as yet another instance of “monocausality.”
Fine, but monocausality shows up in biblical histories. Why did Herod get eaten by worms?

And at the same time, there are standard monocausal explanations that are simply anachronistic or wrong.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Ukraine #3

Douglas Wilson

Blog&Mablog

March 10, 2015

We have already noted how complicated things in Ukraine are, and I trust I have cast suspicion on any approach that wants to reduce everything to clear and simple (and therefore ideological) talking points.

To the extent we are involved in this kind of thing at all, our chief job is to stay out of the current pending disaster, and possibly the one right after that. Our first task is not to set up shop to redress grievances going back to the 1300’s. We are not competent to untangle that skein of yarn, and this is why we need a Day of Judgment, with a more competent Judge than anything the Security Council could ever have.

Our task is more simple, which is to keep things from spiraling out of control now. In the medieval period, the Church attempted to restrain the constant violence by means of the Pax Dei and Treuga Dei (the peace of God and the truce of God respectively). The former attempted to establish a permanent set of “off limits” regulations, while the latter restrictions were more temporary in nature. For example, the Pax Dei prohibited making war on women and children. The Treuga Dei did things like attempting to keep the nobles from fighting on Thursdays. Not very effective, but better than nothing.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Ukraine #2

Douglas Wilson

Blog&Mablog

March 4, 2015

Back in the old days, when Americanism was more robust than it is now, it used to be said that “politics stops at the water’s edge.” What this was supposed to mean is that our domestic disagreements paled in comparison to whatever it was the Nazis were doing. Now there was a time when this was at least plausible, whether or not it was correct. When there was, or seemed to be, a more cohesive cultural unity tying us all together domestically, it was easier to present a united front to the world, and it was easier to get Americans to all pull together in order to do so.

But at home that cohesive cultural unity is now long gone, and it is taking conservative Christians some time to recognize that it is long gone overseas as well. In short, if Obama is creating so much wreckage here at home, as we all recognize, then why should we believe that he is somehow spreading sweetness and light abroad? If Hillary is as corrupt elsewhere as she is here, then we have every reason to believe her flights around the world were simply an International Shakedown Tour. Why should I unite behind that?

We need to get loose of the simple binary formula that has America in the automatic white hat, with the baddies being anyone we identify as such. However, some critics of American foreign policy don’t want to let go of the standard binary system — they have kept the system but simply switched their default sympathies. But America shouldn’t get the automatic black hat either. It ain’t that simple.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Ukraine #1

Douglas Wilson

Blog&Mablog

March 2, 2015

In the past, I have made passing references to Ukraine, and those references have made clear my distaste for Putin’s brand of Russian adventurism, along with my sympathies for Ukraine, stuck as they are with us on their side, us being such a hapless chump of a superpower. For example, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a bunch of nukes. We talked them into surrendering those nukes in exchange for us guaranteeing their borders. They were stupid enough to believe us, so it is partly their fault I guess.

But this promises to descend into the particulars too quickly. I do want to get there in subsequent installments, but first I want to make some distinctions between two different kinds of political issues. There are the “do triangles have three sides?” issues, and there are the “did Smith shoot Murphy on the night of the 13th?” issues. Whether minimum wage laws are a good idea is the former kind of issue, and who should own the Crimea is the latter kind.

Unfortunately, the latter kind of issue is the kind that winds up in shooting wars, when the issues are often far more murky than people like to pretend, while the former kind of issue is the kind where people are prone to adopt a live and let live approach.

Letter From the UK (About Russia as Rogue-State)

Russia must choose between respecting the law of nations and becoming a rogue state

By Daniel Hannan 
Last updated: July 19th, 2014
The Telegraph


Lord Palmerston was our last Whig prime minister, and probably the most ebullient patriot ever to occupy 10 Downing Street. When a French Ambassador politely told him, "If I had not been born French, I should wish to have been born British," Palmerston replied, "If I had not been born British, I should wish to have been born British". On another occasion, informed by his French counterpart that the English had no word equivalent to the French word sensibilité, he snapped back: "Yes we have – humbug!"

So when, in 1858, the French government demanded restitution from Britain over a failed attempt on the life of Napoleon III by an Italian nationalist named Felice Orsini, who was said to have had support from British radicals, many expected a brusque response from the peppery 76-year-old PM: perhaps the despatch of a gunboat to the Seine to teach Frenchie better manners.

Instead, Palmerston reacted with horror to what had happened. He ordered prosecutions against the British radicals accused of having abetted Orsini, and introduced a Conspiracy to Murder Bill into Parliament. He did these things at a time when the United Kingdom was without question the world's leading power, able to enforce her will on every continent and archipelago.

Note that no one was accusing the British state, either directly or indirectly, of having been implicated in the assassination attempt. The complaint, rather, was that the authorities had not kept a proper eye on potential terrorists living under British jurisdiction. Orsini had learned how to make his bombs, and seemed to have acquired his materials, while exiled in London. The modern equivalent might be – to pluck an example from the air – turning a blind eye to the acquisition of a surface-to-air missile launcher by a paramilitary group supported by your own armed forces.

Hard to Believe

 Naomi Klein On a Good Day

A recent piece in the Guardian by Naomi Klein should come with a health warning:  "During reading, you may die laughing".  Naomi (the Fulminator) Klein--the ardent anti-globalization campaigner and anti-climate change warrior--has turned her attention to the latest evil to threaten humanity.  Ukraine is going to exploit its natural gas reserves by means of fracking. This is eeeeeviiiillll, says the Fulminator.

Why so?, you mildly ask   One would have thought that Ukraine, hitherto dependant upon Soviet (er, Russian) gas, would be well within its rights and prerogatives to harvest its own gas supplies using whatever means it saw fit.  Moreover, it would be wise to do so.  Since fracking is a recovery technique accepted to be safe, what's the fuss about?

Letter from the UK (About Vlad the Impaler)

 A Good News Day

In politics and government, the unintended consequences are usually the silent killer.  In this case, however, it appears the unintended consequences of Vlad the Impaler's lawless soft-war overreach into the Ukraine, with its implicit threats to Europe, is going to prove a great boon to the European Union, whilst ending up a  self-inflicted economic blow to Crazy Ivan.  Vlad will have impaled his own nation's foot with his short-guy-syndrome, tough-talk sabre-rattling. 

Vlad had calculated that Europe would be suppliant and cowering before the might of the Russian bear, since it depends upon Russia for natural gas. But . . . 
 

Vladimir Putin: Hero of the European Union

By James Delingpole  

14 Mar 2014

Breitbart Britain

Vladimir Putin's adventurism in the Ukraine has had a strange side effect: it may well have prolonged the life of his chief rival and antagonist – the European Union – by several years. (h/t Benny Peiser - Global Warming Policy Foundation)

Until Russia began rattling its sabre, the EU's economy was locked in a downward death spiral.

Gnashing Teeth

Impotence Over Ukraine Is Not A Bad Thing

The stew bubbling in a Ukrainian cauldron provides an occasion to reflect on how, in a more Christianised world, a nation state ought to act toward other states.  We do not claim that the issues are always easy.  They are certainly not as far as the Ukraine is concerned.  Here are some thoughts.

Firstly, nationalism (which elevates one's nation or people group into ultimate reverence) is a great evil and a false god.  All that stuff about love of country and hymns of praise to one's patria, is either dangerously borderline or overtly anti-Christian.  If Christians would baulk at singing hymns of praise to the nation's president or monarch or head of state then they ought also baulk at singing stirring hymns of pride and love to "Oh my country . . . "  Nations quickly become idols. 

It is a striking thing that Christians are called in Scripture to love God, to love the brethren and the Church, and to love all men--but never called to love one's country.