Tag Archives: nuclear war

SUING FOR WAR

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The sight of a parliament, normally embroiled in savage personal attacks, speaking as one and showing a remarkable unity of purpose, ought to be one that should cheer our hearts and restore our faith in politicians.  Strangely it has the opposite effect. When sworn enemies suddenly become friends and join in a common cause it is often more worrying and seldom for the good. I cannot ignore the deep suspicion of this temporary marriage of convenience and I wonder who is the common foe. It reminds me of the second Psalm where the Kings of the earth gather together in their futile and laughable attempt to plot against God.  In Westminster there was the unity at the start of the first and second wars in Iraq and there was the unity over Covid. History has shown where these have led.

So I took no comfort from the concocted harmony on display in the palace of Westminster this week, when the Prime Minister gave his report on the momentous events of the past days. I didn’t feel proud to be British then. What was on open display was a commitment to support with cash and lives (boots on the ground is a nice way of talking about real people who will be wearing these boots) the continuation of a war that has been going on for three years and shows no sign of stopping. I wanted to hear from the Peace Movement from Stop the War Coalition from the Anti-Nuclear campaigners, but in Westminster there was silence. And here is one of the biggest conundrums: our money, our taxes are paying for the terrible weapons that maim and kill thousands every week on our doorstep and we seem to be ok with that. This is not theoretical. This is not about weapons of mass destruction that have killed no-one for the past 80 years, this is about weapons manufactured in our land, today, that are being sent to blow up young men and women in a land not that far away from us and our politicians seem to be all for it.

It is hard to get your head round that one.

They are united in their condemnation of the one person, the one world leader who is screaming for peace. He is desperate to bring the terrible carnage to an end. He is using the massive power and influence of his office and his own skill in making deals for that purpose and our pathetic little parliament doesn’t like it. They want this war to go on, when it as plain as day that it cannot be won, unless, of course, it finally triggers the third world war when these weapons held in their silos for 80 years will finally be unleashed.

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And they fall to the floor
That if God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war

EVERY KNOWING, NEVER LEARNING

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Three years late in coming, we have the mains stream media finally reporting what we already knew, what many sane people experts have claimed from the beginning and common sense has told us, that the cure would be worse than the disease. Not all the media however has fallowed that line. The more left leaning press have been more circumspect, recognising that as lockdown cheerleaders they are just as culpable as anyone and we will wait to see what the BBC et al deal with this uncomfortable truth.  Whatever way, it is three years late and the damage has already been done. All we can do is learn from this terrible episode but chances are we won’t. Even when we know our history we still seem unable to learn from it.  I expect similar headlines to follow down the line, to do with the effectiveness of masks, and with the vaccine’s dubious record, but that is assuming we are not already overtaken by a nuclear war.

Because the real threat to our world at the moment is our proximity to nuclear war. Everything points to us sleepwalking into the most horrific event that we vowed would never be repeated and hardly anyone in authority seems really that bothered. It is clear that the Russian president could muster enough justification for a “tactical” nuclear strike from his own constituency to warrant it and it won’t be because he is a mad man. “Tactical” in that context, of course, means it’s nothing too serious and we can carry on and won’t be much effected.  It is not just possible it is highly probable. Poo-pooing it and dismissing that prospect as fanciful is crass carelessness. If Russia is backed into a wall facing total humiliation that is when she is most likely to bring out the one card she has left. There will of course be red lines crossed but we all know about red lines. Geo-politics is a nightmare to understand or predict but whatever way you look at it, the situation now is desperately precarious.  The scariest part is the apparently unwillingness to take the thing seriously.  Even when we know the history, we seem to drift effortlessly into repeating it.

One of the most disturbing things about all of this is the way the media talk about the war and discuss the various battles and sieges as if all this was a normal everyday part of life. It is the way that evil is tamed and horror sanitised. After the initial shock of the news it morphs pretty quickly into just one of these things, a seven day wonder drained of its dreadfulness when the reporter gets to the scene and then we know everything is under control.  

Inevitably a cloud of inertia descends. We can’t do anything about it so just let’s get on with our life. It is a perfectly understandable response from anyone, but when it is the response of the church it is tragic. Yes, in our public prayers we intercede for Ukraine, for peace and justice, for resolution to the conflict but there is a just a hint that we have not really grasped the gravity of the situation. On the other hand, there are Christians who I know who take the view that this like all the other horrible events in the world is just another sign that we live in the end times. Rather than despair we should rejoice. Jesus will come soon. He will usher in his kingdom with a new heaven and a new earth. He will bring peace and justice that will last for eternity, described in all the negatives because our minds could not grasp the positives) there will be no pain, no suffering, no darkness, no night, no wild sea, no locks on the gates, no curses, no lies, no homelessness, no crying, no dying.   I believe that with all my heart but it is both complacent and conceited to think we know when “soon” is. If we have to do anything now, it is surely to cry out to God in prayer. I am convinced that God has intervened in history to hold back evil in its worst manifestations and he may do again. I have seen it in my own lifetime and I know that it was the prayers of the people that caused God to intervene for his own purpose and because the time had not yet come.

 I may be quite wrong here, of course, and my fears be misplaced. Ukraine may recover enough territory and both sides become so wearied in fighting with enough blood being shed that a peace treaty can be agreed upon and no buttons pressed. I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong. But either way I intend to pray for God’s intervention. If you are a praying person, I hope you do too.