In the course of my personal Christmas introspection, which deals with both my Christian and Ukrainian soul, I recalled an interview with the then just-elected new Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. He stated that in his political life as well as his personal, he is guided by the Bible. He probably should have made some reference to the United States Constitution as well.
Be that as it may, after two months of his activities as speaker, I am convinced that the Bible to which Mike Johnson referred is the Donald Trump version – meaning the one, if any, on Donald Trump’s nightstand. That version does not include many of the subjects commonly found in the standard Bible, including the parable about the Good Samaritan. Love for one’s neighbor, manifested through tangible assistance, is the focus of Christianity. Discerning between right and wrong, good and evil is its essence.
There remains much hope that with or without the support of Speaker Johnson, military aid to Ukraine will be worked out. Unfortunately, much damage has accrued to date. The war in Ukraine is an existential one for Ukrainians. Ukrainians are defined as all residents of Ukraine, as well as those residing abroad who consider themselves Ukrainian.
Optimism is a factor in any war and very much a part of human nature. So, when that optimism is wounded, it is a legitimate cause for concern. Ammunition is beginning to lack and the current war is at best a stalemate as seen by the Ukrainian military. One Ukrainian soldier pointed out that there are more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian bullets.
WORLD BRIEFING: May 3, 2024
There are at least $1 billion available and some $4 billion more in draw-down supplies, as per the Pentagon, but the message received in Ukraine has been very much concerning. The European Union’s decision to begin Ukraine membership talks is being highlighted in Ukraine to support optimism, but the more tangible Hungarian veto of military and humanitarian aid has been relegated to the back pages.
The people of Ukraine – military, volunteers and the general civilian population – have been heroic. Ukrainians abroad have been predominantly lethargic. Russia has been buoyed by the apparent indifference of Western support and has increased its barbaric behavior, even boasting of the use of chemical weapons, and continuing to shell civilian targets, including residences, health facilities, schools, indiscriminately killing women and children.
Mike Johnson’s Bible, however, does not consider these facts. In any event, it is anticipated that hopefully aid to Ukraine will be revisited in both the US and Europe this coming January.
If politics is an art of accomplishing sometimes creatively what is possible, then there are some alternatives to overcome or circumvent Speaker Johnson’s “religious convictions.” This includes other MAGAs in Congress, including such blind or simply dishonest politicians as Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House and a self-identified hillbilly such as J.D. Vance in the Senate.
Some ideas have come forward and are supported apparently by our allies: using frozen Russian assets throughout the world, estimated at some $300 billion dollars, suspending EU and NATO support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Hungary, which requires support from our European allies, transferring “Patriot” defense systems manufactured at Mitsubishi in Japan and to be sold at great discount or even simply given to the United States. Japan has agreed to do so. The only remaining issue would be that compensation by seizing Russian assets in the United States might require an act of Congress, but the lion’s share of seized Russian assets are in Europe. Our allies in Europe are certainly guided by a different Bible than Mike Johnson or Donald Trump, for that matter, even if only because of proximity.
Anyone or all of these creative solutions would not only be a valuable temporary substitute for what Ukraine has been promised, but would serve to encourage the Ukrainians who are willing to die for their own existence and to rid the world of the Russian imperialistic threat. The war against Russian aggression must be a global effort.
President Biden has often referred to American assistance as an investment in a peaceful global community which is cost effective. Apparently, Speaker Johnson and his fellow MAGAs not only rely upon an abridged, if not bizarre, version of the Bible, but also suffer from political shortsightedness.
Merry Christmas, Speaker Johnson. This is a good time to pick up a genuine Bible.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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Comments (11)
republicans spent trillions on past wars under george bush on wars they had no business even being involved in,remember they went to war on the falsehood sadam had weapons of mass destruction,they lied to the whole world,republicans have very selective memories,what happened on Jan 6th please tell us,this is not a fox news channel this is the kyiv post
extreme right wing republicans need to be reminded what happened on jan 6th,now they are running trumpty dumpty once more and yet again dividing America before trumpty dumpty is even elected,we will most likely hear the same old mantra lets build that wall,send trumpty dumpty to north korea he can build a nice big wall there,republicans cant even find a decent election policy to run on,its the same old trumpty dumpty lets build that wall again,extreme right wing is what that sad sorry party now is,remind them of the date jan 6th,its like it did not even happen,trumpty dumpty is the only wonder boy they can dig up,thats sad,really sad.
So the author genuinely believes that Jesus -- the same man that did not advocate for Jews who were living under Roman occupation to resist that occupation -- and the same man who never advocated for violence against those who unjustly oppressed him -- would advocate for sending weapons. Fascinating. People do get blinded by hatred.
WHERE was all this grave concern over debt and spending in Washington during the CASH COW that was Gulf Wars 1 and 2, Kuwait, Iraq, and 20 years of Afghanistan @$2,3 TRILLION?
The entire Beltway has enriched itself with its Wall St bed partners for over two decades, not to mention the Cold War.
Ukraine has been the unfortunate neighbor of Russia, which always gets a free pass for any crimes it commits again humanity from the spineless money mongers in the US.
Careful for what you wish for, it may come true. John 18:11 NIV
[11] Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away!
This is a tragically flawed opinion in that it continually refers to Speaker Johnson's supposed religious beliefs as flawed without once stating why he's angry with the Speaker. Mr Lozynskyj is upset because the Speaker is temporarily withholding money from Ukraine because the Speaker insists that President Biden take care of an invasion occurring on the US Southern border every day.
This is American politics and to Americans, that southern border invasion is very important too. Speaker Johnson has made clear he's ready to ask Republican representatives to fund Ukraine as soon as President Biden agrees to measures to secure the US Mexico border immediately.
When did atheists become the experts on the Bible. Don’t tell us what it means it’s our life we know what it means. You can keep creating new Bible versions but the curses in revelation will catch you.
I have always thought that there was a great opportunity missed, which still can be rectified, of not having the right type of Ukrainian in the role of Ambassador to the United States.
While recognizing the fine work that the patriotic, loyal Ambassador Oksana Markarova has accomplished, the American public responds to diplomacy through optics. The Achilles' heel of the MAGA movement is that their leaders are almost always small, overcompensating men like Speaker Johnson and Jim Jordan. They are also sexist, which puts Ambassador Markarova at a disadvantage.
Kyiv mayor and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko would be the ideal ambassador in Washington D.C.; fluent in English, well-known, and a man who would tower over these small Republican men would put them in a position where they would have to say 'no' to a man who could physically crush them on the spot. This post is not in jest - Klitschko would be Ukraine's antidote to these 'men.'
As a patriot believing in the same God & same Bible as Spkr. Johnson, & 1 who lived several yrs in Kyiv, I can understand the frustrations with his position on Ukraine. I disagree with him. More importantly, I disagree with Pr. Biden's "drip" method in providing aid that, if received en masse, would end the war quickly.
To clarify Spkr. Johnson's position, he fully supports aid to Ukraine, but insists on Pres. Biden closing the US/Mexico border & helping Israel, something he won't do. Many times Johnson has made this point clear. Our $37 trillion deficit in just three years is unsustainable. The burden of responsibility lies on the other side of the aisle in Washington, not Johnson.
The same Bible that commands us to be good Samaritans, etc., also commands a nation to protect its own people by securing its borders and punishing evil doers. It's not a good idea to "cherry pick" the Bible. Together, let's pray that governmental partisanship and corruption can quickly be ended and American funds can be generously released to help Ukraine win this war decisively After all, we do know about two things in common -- a desire for victorious freedom, and a self-serving, broken, corrupt government. I lived in Ukraine during Kuchma, Yushchenko, Yanukovich, and Poroshchenko.
@Robert Tolliver, It amusing to me how these putin / MAGA trolls love to pretend to be American patriots (hi my upstanding American is name is "Robert Tolliver or "Ken Griffen", by promoting parties set on sowing dissent in the USA.
A new twist is that they now start off their post with comments which are Ukraine supportive. However they then devotedly (as per putin doctrine), slip in that Ukraine and its allies under current leadership are corrupt and that Ukraine's salvation lies in supporting an opposing party full of putin funded MAGA or similar cult leaders set on selling out Ukraine.
To be more convincing, MAGA leadership numbnuts should at least stop actively stating in the media that the don't support aid to Ukraine, before they instruct their trolls to state MAGA is Ukraine's salvation. The cognitive dissonance of team MAGA is baffling. Its kind of how one branch of Russia's military has no clue what the other is doing and they end up undermining each other.
Putin, leveraging his MAGA cult leadership, has very cleverly garnered the support of some of the largest Christian evangelical movements. Their membership if applying biblical teachings should all know how evil he is ( his multi-decade criminal and murderous history being now well chronicled). However they have been insidiously reprogrammed to overlook this, often simply because in a growingly secular world, MAGA trolls cleverly threw in a common religious phase at the end of a venomous verbal tirade and were voted into becoming their leaders.
When a leader of some of the religious institutes has good intent, they can enact through their congregations great deeds of good. However when leadership manipulation of nefarious intent occurs the cost to society can quickly escalate. In Ukraines case this has resulted in great human loss.....often of innocents and fellow Christians in Ukraine. Sadly many evangelical Christians do not seek out other channels of current factual information.
Some of the greatest documented violators of christian principles (Putin, Orban, most MAGA leadership) through poising a religious now control the message many congregations are fed. Many members have been brainwashed that societies greatest institutions of justice are now evil. They have stayed from the actual intent of teachings in the bible. A mislead congregation can do great harm in a democracy, in the very least with their voting power.
@John, Typo above. Meant to type "...strayed from the actual intent of teachings in the bible"
@John, You use a lot of words, but I'm not sure what you're saying.
MAGA bad" - That much is clear. Frankly, I agree.
The rest is a language I don't understand. Good day.
Some say that there is no God and that Jesus was just an ordinary Palestinian man who said that he was the son of God but wasn’t.
Aside from that, the West needs to give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to fight Russia and place no restrictions as to where they can be used.