Love Russia? Want to MAGA?

Support Ukraine

Let us therefore acquire the habit of not judging things merely by what is seen, but also by what is not seen.

Frédéric Bastiat, What is Seen and What is Not Seen, or Political Economy in One Lesson

---

The invasion of Ukraine is a great moral evil. The willingness of Christians to minimize, defend, or support the invasion tells me that something has gone very, very wrong in our defense of the Christian moral tradition and in our commitment to a virtuous and free society. The just war tradition can illumine the nature of our failure as citizens and disciplines of Jesus Christ.  

Calls for a Truce in Ukraine 

Over the last few weeks, several people (including Orthodox Christian clergy) have told me it is important to end the war in Ukraine because Ukraine is (a) losing, (b) not gaining ground on Russia, and/or (c) losing too many young men. None of those who have expressed their concern for Ukraine have thought to demand Russia withdraw from Ukraine. Much less, have they suggested Russia be held accountable for the death and destruction they have caused to not only Ukraine but neighboring countries that have opened their borders to refugees. 

However, well-meaning, calls for a truce reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the just war tradition (JWT). Under this theory, a truce—to say nothing of a just and lasting peace—cannot reward Russia for its aggression against an innocent nation. Let me explain. 

Mercy, Justice, and the Defense of the Innocent 

Imagine a robber who, during his crime, murders his victims. Now imagine when faced with unmistakable evidence of his crime, the State decides to neither bring the criminal to trial nor even investigate the alleged crime. 

Or, in a slightly different scenario, imagine that after being found guilty, the judge decides that mercy and the general moral failures of the State, demand that the man should not serve any time in prison. The judge then finds that it is in the long-term economic and social interest of the guilty party, his family, and community that he should be allowed to keep his ill-gotten gains. 

These kinds of decisions would—quite rightly—be greeted with outrage. There would be calls to remove the judge and the district attorney. Indeed, given the nature of the anger, it is likely that the guilty party would be in more danger of harm at the hands of his fellow citizen than had he been sent to prison.  

While we need to be careful of making decisions out of anger, the intuition inspiring our strong disagreement with these scenarios is sound: Criminals must be held accountable and punished for their crimes. 

Yes, the immediate victim of a crime—the homeowners whose house is robbed, the family of a murder victim, or the citizens of an unjustly invaded country—can decide to forgive and forgo the demands of justice for themselves.  

But crimes not only affect individuals; they also adversely affect the common good. The man who robs your house may go on to rob mine. The man who kills you, might one day kill me. And, as we have seen repeatedly since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is willing invade its neighbors and oppresses its citizens. Russia is a threat to the peace and stability of the entire world as well as the rights of its own citizens. 

Especially when imposed by third parties, a truce that does not compensate Ukraine for the harm it has suffered is unjust. Likewise, a truce that rewards (or does not punish) Russia. To justify such an agreement as being in the best interest of Ukraine is simply false. 

Look, if you care about Ukraine and Ukrainians, do not ask simply for a truce, especially one that would uphold the status quo ante of 24 February 2022. This rewards Russia for what is (under international law) an illegal war and (according to the Church's moral teaching) an unjust and sinful war. Leaving Russia on Ukrainian soil is not a just peace but rewarding Russia for its crimes. 

Protecting the Guilty 

A just and lasting peace for a secure Ukraine, however, is not only in the best interest of Ukraine and Ukrainians; it also serves Russia and Russians. 

It is also important to point out that if you care about Russia and Russians, you want just a truce and a withdrawal of their troops from Ukrainian. Leaving Russian troops in Ukraine, is an invitation to terrorism. Russia retreating the pre-invasion internationally recognized boundaries of Ukraine, protects not only Ukrainian lives but Russian lives as well. This last point about how the invasion of Ukraine is not only hurting that country but Russia as well is forcefully made by Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a change.org petition (Declaration of the Russian Democratic Forces): 

In this darkest hour, we declare our strategic goals – to stop the aggression against Ukraine and create a free, rule of law based, federal Russia. To do this, we consider it necessary to strengthen the coordination of our actions. We declare our commitment to the following fundamental positions: 

1. The war against Ukraine is criminal. Russian troops must be withdrawn from all occupied territories. The internationally recognized borders of Russia must be restored; war criminals must be brought to justice and the victims of aggression must be compensated. 

2. Putin's regime is illegitimate and criminal. Therefore, it must be liquidated. We see Russia as a country in which the individual freedoms and rights are guaranteed, in which the usurpation of state power is eliminated. 

3. The implementation of imperial policy within Russia and abroad is unacceptable. 

4. Political prisoners in Russia and prisoners of war must be released, forcibly displaced persons must be allowed to return home, and abducted Ukrainian children must be returned to Ukraine. 

5. We express our solidarity with those Russians who, despite the brutal repressions, have the courage to speak up from anti-Putin and anti-war positions, and with those tens of millions who refuse to participate in the crimes of the Putin’s regime. 

The signatories of the Declaration share the values of a democratic society, respectful communication, recognize human rights and freedoms, the principles of diversity and equal rights, rejection of discrimination. 

The signatories refrain from public conflicts in the democratic and anti-war movements. 

We call on the citizens of Russia to join this Declaration. 

We commit to uphold this Declaration until our common strategic goals are achieved. 

Berlin, 

April 30, 2023 

Limiting Caesar’s War-Making 

We must not overlook the fact that whatever its flaws and misuse by governments, the JWT (in both its Christian and secular forms) is an instrument of moral analysis that serves to protect not only the innocent victims of war. Limiting Caesar’s war-making, also offers some protection to the military personnel who might otherwise find themselves in harm’s way in an unjust war.  

The victims in an unjust war are not only civilians but those who defend them at the risk of life, limb, and their emotional and spiritual health. Hard though it may be to accept, the victims of war are also those troops who fight on behalf of the corrupt and corrupting regime that started the war. And, as Khodorkovsky argues, this corruption has a corrosive effect on civil society. 

The bottom line is this: Russia’s aggression in Ukraine—and around the world—is not only harming Ukraine but Russia as well. This is not to suggest a moral equivalence between the two countries or the two classes of victims. It is, however, to acknowledge the reality that there is an “unseen” harm to even a just war. 

The Culture War by Other Means 

Economists teach us to attend not only to what is seen but unseen. “Let us therefore acquire the habit of not judging things merely by what is seen,” writes Frédéric Bastiat, “but also, by what is not seen.” To this we can add the insight of the psychoanalyst: That what is most often “unseen” is that which I do not wish to see because it demands I attend to the conflicts and contradictions of our own, inner life. 

Applied to our current moment this means that just as there are unseen victims in Russia’s war against Ukraine, there are also, unseen combatants. I do not mean special forces or those who engage in covert military operations.  

I am thinking here of those who support an unjust war because it helps their political or cultural agendas. I am thinking here of those Americans who privately or publicly support Russia because doing so to help win an election or because it advances their side in the culture wars. 

Putin’s appeal to religious conservatives is no secret. He has worked diligently to present himself as a defender of “traditional family values,” and “Christian culture” against the “decadent West.” 

As part of the vicious circle of civil corruption, there is Patriarch Kirill’s defense of the invasion as part of a “metaphysical war” against evil. In his Forgiveness Sunday following the invasion, his Holiness pointed to the legalization of same-sex marriage and gay rights parades as evidence that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just.  

As a priest, I cannot help but wonder if there is not a better response to changing sexual morality than bullets and bombs. 

Unfortunately, many cultural conservatives and political populists see Russia as an ally—or at least a fellow traveler—in the cultural wars and in advancing their partisan agenda. Whatever one thinks of their goals, siding with an unjust aggressor nation and those secular and religious leaders who oppress their own people is morally wrong. 

It also suggests (at a minimum) a lack of maturity that makes one unfit for leadership. At its most extreme, it is evidence of a deep, moral corruption. 

We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us

As I said above, the invasion of Ukraine is a great moral evil. That this even needs to be said—much less, defended—is indicative of how far Putin’s corruption has spread. The Russian state, the citizens of Russia, and the Russian Orthodox Church are all at least collaborators in Putin’s crimes against humanity.¹  

Closer to home, the willingness of Americans—including American Christians and above all ORTHODOX Christians—to minimize, defend, or support the invasion tells me that something has gone very, very wrong in our defense of the Christian moral tradition and our commitment to a virtuous and free society. 

1. For a good overview of Putin’s corrupting influence see, “WTF Is Wrong with Russia?,” The Kyiv Independent, accessed July 26, 2024, https://mailchi.mp/kyivindependent/wtf-is-wrong-with-russia?e=4f8da3b00f.