A pastor in southern Russia
It is difficult to add anything to the in-depth study of this issue done by the East-West Church and Ministry Report 22 (Summer 2014). But I can express my personal opinion. First, this current Ukrainian crisis is a very complex issue. In order to have a sensible understanding of it, one should first of all thoughtfully consider all circumstances that impact the situation. Second, and it is very important, one should put aside one’s loyalties and preconceptions in order to be objective. For most of us this is very difficult, or even impossible, because of our inability to be fully independent of our national, cultural, and spiritual allegiances. The biggest difficulty in discovering the truth is biased mass media which present only those views pleasing to the authorities. Media in Russia are in some kind of fairytale. It means we may not have the basic facts of the conflict for 50 or so years, when all archives will be opened. In the Ukrainian crisis it is a great challenge to sort out the politics, the economics, and the ideological factors that fuel the conflict. For sure, the state distracts the public’s attention and manipulates people’s consciousness by searching for an external enemy in the face of domestic economic problems. This dynamic was pretty well caricatured in the 1997 movie, “Wag the Dog.” The United States, Russia, and the European Union all have their own economic difficulties and interests. It is not popular to talk about economic considerations as the basis for action, so the picture in biased media is presented primarily as a political and ideological struggle.
Putting aside our cherished allegiances in order to form an independent, objective conclusion is no easy task. We are all the product of our culture and our time. Russian evangelicals, for example, historically have had no tradition of public political protest, and this may help explain their current loyalty and support for Putin. At the same time, Russian evangelicals believe less in Byzantine “symphonia” of church and state and reject the idea of evangelical participation in politics.
It is a pity that all of us are assaulted by biased media and, lacking impartial historical studies, we just exchange accusations. We Russians are accused of “Putinism,” but our Ukrainian colleagues draw their own mistaken conclusions. I personally do not fully support the actions of our Russian government. For example, I admit that Crimea was annexed, our soldiers invaded foreign territory, and our media do not tell the truth. At the same time, aggressive moves of other governments are also easily detected, for example, U.S.-engineered changes in Ukraine’s government for reasons of profit as well as politics and the strongly nationalistic accent of the current regime in Kyiv.
We Russian evangelicals find it very offensive when our Ukrainian brothers rebuke us demanding that we should oppose our Russian authorities and make our own “Maidan.” From our side, we take strong exception to Ukrainian evangelical support for Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and radical groups.
New Testament ethics should require us to search for the truth (the ninth commandment), to be modest in decision-making, to refuse to generalize, to work for peace, and to show respect for others. I think that the only way forward in the current Ukrainian conflict is for believers to rise above politics, to maintain spiritual unity, to pray, and to trust in God’s providence. The way towards healing will be difficult, but we can take steps toward that end: 1) We must consciously resist simplifications and black-and-white thinking; 2) We must strongly encourage constructive dialogue on both sides; 3) We must offer constructive criticisms of both sides in love and in light of Scripture; 4) We must clearly understand that we live in the midst of an information war, and that we should accept only proven facts—or at least understand that our views may be distorted because we simply do not have all the facts; 5) Finally, we must deliberately cultivate a spirit of dialogue and respect towards people with differing opinions.