“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
Below are excerpts from a submitted prayer which was passed along to the congregation on behalf of the Ukrainian people. I’ll be making a few observations on the language employed in the prayer as a preface to an analysis of the sermon which followed— ‘Practical Teaching.’
“…Political leaders around the globe which we are grateful for…even those on the other side of the issue… that their hearts and minds be changed…The truth of Romans 8:28 ‘bring good out of difficulties for those who love the Lord…bring us together for your good and for the kingdom…Father God, king of all the nations, you are our rock, our fortress, our deliverer. We cry out to you on behalf of the people of Ukraine. We ask you to rescue those who are vulnerable…. That they may live without fear… to live with hope and confidence…Our politicians and leaders are predicting the largest war in Europe since 1945… We cry out to you to write another story, in our time…may we see it, and may our only response be, only God could have done this. We pray that you would thwart the dark plans and desires of evil men… give wisdom beyond human wisdom to peacemakers, those in authority seeking a reasonable and far less violent way… help them exercise wisdom from above… willing to yield… save the live of many peoples in Ukraine… bring a peace that is strong and not weak… deescalate this crisis today… Amen.”
Understandably this is all very upsetting. I appreciate the heart of crying out to God over the disturbing thought of (white?) people dying as a result of an unprovoked assault upon a nation. Ever consider our arming of our proxies the Saudis to kill Iranian proxies in Yemen (which kills a lot of innocents as well?) This prayer has holes, big ones; the most obvious and central one is the failure to even ask the question of what our culpability may be to help bring about this atrocity (along with many others.) Heaven forbid! Instead, we merely ask for the God-of-the-gaps to miraculously fix it. Examining the language line by line…
Since my political bias is strongly libertarian (a word which has been co-opted by the Trumpers which forces me to consider using the word anarchist,) I bristle at the thought of being grateful for being subject to the manipulation, theft, lies, corruption, and sabotage of our political leaders. But such is the program of the Christian Right which has worked tirelessly for decades to unite political forces with ‘Christian’ goals and under religious authority. The language in the prayer assumes my dutiful subjugation to such forces and requires my appreciation of being so subject—as the prayer is being relayed by a religious authority as the way things should be.
‘That their minds be changed’ to what exactly? Do we not remember Samuel’s warning to the people of what kings do? Again, we suppose, with the ‘Seven Mountain Mandate’ program emplaced into our minds, such forces can be bent to the ‘chosen people’s will.’ We really have no collective clue what that ought to be do we?
‘For those who love the Lord.’ What? ‘Bring us together…’ A few elements of a common Christian mindset are present in the next few lines. We inherently know war is awful; what Putin is doing is evil. This is where our culpability in the whole stinking mess must be dodged, and our feelings assuaged. In the first place, people who don’t love the Lord are people too. They are being blown up and burned alive because of the desire of a madman (the prayer gets this right.) Do we imagine that our worship and undying support of our dear sociopath (who basked in the adoration of Christian Right as he shamelessly empowered and encouraged Putin in whatever he was spinning up) is now an evangelistic opportunity for God to show His miraculous power? That’s just fucking nuts….
Remember that the prayer has been placed within the context of Romans 8:28. This means the Russian-Ukrainian war is being framed as an opportunity rather than a horrific tragedy of human carnage which we helped make happen. Don’t you remember all the shit Trump did to the Ukraine to forward his own goals? Remember Trump siding with Putin over the word of people in his own administration? We cheered it. We helped empower Putin to do this.
Because of the leadership in Ukraine (i.e. ‘I need ammunition, not a ride) the Ukrainian people are generally sticking their collective middle fingers up in the air so that part of prayer is already being fulfilled. The only way they are not going to live in fear is for a Ukrainian victory. This is true for the Russian people as well. For all the brutality Putin has displayed towards his own people (remember how Trump has praised Putin as a leader,) his arrests of anyone critical of him (we have people here in the Christian Right who want the same thing,) his killing of journalists and dissidents, his ‘fake news’ laws (here we just have ‘Fox News’ to keep people thinking what they need to think,) our request ‘to write another story’ is quite frankly contrary to the story we set up to have happen. What do you think is going to happen when you empower evil men? Flowers and sunshine? We haven’t been watchful; we’ve been deceived.
I too pray that the plans of evil men (and women) be thwarted. It’s just that I include leaders in the Christian Right to be in that bunch. The Russian Church, whom Putin enthusiastically embraces, is equally complicit—to make Russia Great Again. There is no less violent way to end the evil; Putin is the kind of evil who has moved beyond reach of negotiation. If you seek evidence of God’s direct intervention, I suggest the evidence be Putin order an immediate withdrawal and physically submit himself to the Hauge for war crimes prosecution. Anything less, including total military defeat for Russia (which would be evidence for the tenacity of the Ukrainian people,) or some group of politicians stabbing the Ukrainian people in the back thus leading to their subjugation (which would be evidence for many that is what God wanted for everyone in the first place) is just evidence of human action and reaction. I’d refrain from putting God on the hook for this evil.
I pray for the total, utter destruction of Russian army, navy, and air forces at the hands of the Ukrainian forces; and fall of Putin at the hands of his own people.
Amen