I was born in 1982, so the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent
end of the Cold
War happened before I was even out of elementary. But from what I’ve learned about those
times, it doesn’t seem like something we’d want to go back to anytime
soon. From McCarthyism, to Sputnik, to
nuclear bomb drills, to reckless military spending those years aren’t something
I’d like to live through. So I find myself completely perplexed by suggestions
by some politicians and military experts that the way to respond to Russia’s aggression
in Ukraine is by flexing our own military muscles as well.
Let me say straight out, Putin’s actions are wrong. I’m not an expert in geo-political issues,
but based on Putin’s previous
efforts to invade the former Soviet bloc country of Georgia during the Bush
Administration and Putin’s own past as a KGB officer, it seems like Putin might
be trying to rebuild the Soviet Union.
Looking farther back into history, Putin’s aggression coupled with the
recently held Olympics and discrimination again the LGBT community, I’m
reminded of Hitler’s early days of racism and annexation of neighboring
territory. Either way, Putin doesn’t have a good track record.
Looking back into history seems entirely appropriate,
because I can’t help but thinking; hasn’t this whole thing played out before?
Didn’t it nearly lead to a nuclear holocaust? From the end of WWII in the 1940’s
to the early 1990’s the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an
epic grudge match. Though the two never actually fought head to head, the time
consisted of countless proxy wars in which the two powers fought for causes and
governments which either supported or opposed their cause. And as is usually
the case, aggressions boiled over at times to the threat of war via the most
powerful weapon on the planet—the nuclear bomb.
Think about some of the endeavors the US pursued because of
the Cold War; the Korean
War which cost some 35,000 American lives, Vietnam which
cost over 58,000 American lives, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, run away military
spending, and incessant military excursions across the globe. The list could go on and on. And, thanks to the relentless military
spending, especially during the Reagan years, the debt is still going on and on
and on… Again, I wasn’t alive for most of the Cold War, but being as the world
was on the brink of all-out nuclear war who knows how many times I really can’t
understand why anyone in the right mind would think responding to aggression with
aggression would be a responsible option.
Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “an eye for an eye leaves the
whole world blind.” Gandhi was a political
and spiritual leader in India who helped lead his country to independence from
Britain. Gandhi, who studied the teachings of Jesus, was a proponent of
non-violent activism and influenced the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The “eye
for an eye” model comes from the Hebrew Bible, specifically Exodus 21:24. Jesus is quoted as referencing that same
scripture in the gospel of Matthew chapter 5.
Jesus reinterprets the verse, disagreeing with the assertion that
violence must be responded to with equal violence. Jesus and Gandhi both
recognized that responding to violence with violence, will not end violence. Will we?
What’s the point you say? Responding to aggression with aggression
inevitably leads to more aggression. We’ve
seen it already. We can’t let history
repeat itself. We can’t fulfill the prophecy
that those who “don’t know history are failed to repeat it.” Do we really want to live through another
military arms raise? Besides the ethical and moral problems of spending
trillions of dollars on weapons of war, I fear it will be the United States,
not Russia which collapses economically this time. We’ve already been to the
brink of nuclear holocaust before, let’s not let foolish leaders take us down
that road again. Let’s listen to the wisdom of spiritual teachers such as
Jesus, Gandhi, and King who advised us that violence doesn’t solve anything.
