Russia - Ukraine conflict

The following is an article I sent to Etelä Suomen sanomat (Finnish paper). It is a question of the war between Ukraine and Russia that has had an impact to everyone of us. We do understand that if Ukraine has been an independent state, then the Russian aggression can be considered wrong. Ukraine should have the right to defend itself armedly.

    However, when condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, everyone should first look at their own lives. Is there anything in my life or in our society that we should repent and give up? It is hypocrite if we only see the injustices done by Russia, but we do not want to correct the wrong attitudes in our own lives. These are the basic teachings of the Christian faith. Change of mind must first start with ourselves. Only then can we possibly point out what others are doing.

    On the other hand, I am not very convinced of the positive effects of sanctions. They can cause more harm than good, even if their purpose is good, that is, to prevent warfare. It may be that many Russians feel that others hate them (even if that is not the case at all), and sanctions only add to this spiral. The sanctions imposed on Russia can, in my view, be compared to the imposition of strict conditions of peace on Germany after the First World War, which forced it to relinquish some of its territories and pay enormous war reparations. This led to hatred in Germany, and was eventually a springboard for a new war that was even more destructive.

   The same mistake could happen again, now for Russia. Developments are almost impossible to stop because Western leaders are so determined to impose sanctions on Russia. Of course, I would be happy to be wrong about this, and I would like the war to end, but in general, such measures raise more anger and revenge. Human nature is such, and Russian leader Putin is no exception. We humans are like that.

    Second, pride resides in us. Even if Russian leader Putin may regret the war campaign, it will be very difficult to end and cancel because of pride. I understand that it is difficult for Putin to admit his mistake, as we all do, and that perpetuates the conflict. The war is unlikely to end very quickly for this reason.

   Thirdly, I am concerned about the escalation of the conflict. In other words, now that sanctions have been laid down, e.g. so that Russian machines cannot enter other European countries, I see this sanction as very harmful. It will stir up anger in Russia and cause Russia to soon turn its attention to these countries. For when the Russians feel that they are being hated, the result is an escalation of the conflict towards more and more countries. That is why I think Western leaders are wrong about this. They should repent of their mistakes, and work to rebuild friendly and respectful relations with the Russian leadership and lift unnecessary sanctions. If Western leaders do not understand this, the consequences can be unpredictable.

    Of course, one possibility is that power will change in Russia as people begin to be dissatisfied with declining living standards and other practical problems. I do not really know about the internal situation in Russia, and whether this is possible, but time will tell what will happen.

    History should therefore take into account, as well as human nature. Furthermore, we must not hate Russians in our own country or elsewhere. Many Russians themselves oppose the war. And even if they don’t object, the Bible’s teaching is that we should love even our enemies. If we act against this principle, we will commit a serious sin before God.

    Anyway, the following is an article I sent to the paper. It highlights the same things I have already listed above:

Beam first out of our own eye

Recently, we have been confronted with the fact that the world is not the same. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led many to wonder where we are going. Current developments do not look bright at all.

    Currently, many countries are imposing harsh sanctions on Russia, and Finland is also following other countries in this area. Personally, however, I think we should first follow a biblical principle: first take a beam out of your own eyes, then perhaps, after that, we can intervene others' matters, as Jesus taught (Matt. 7: 5 You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother's eye.). I see that we also have a lot to improve and fix in Finland. For example, YLE has been working to boycott Russia's participation in Eurovision Song Contest. However, for years, the same company has advocated abortion, which is actually killing of children. As a result of abortion, more than half a million people are missing in Finland. How can YLE claim to represent human rights when it has been against the human rights of young children for years? It is an obvious contradiction and hypocrisy.

   So there are mistakes in each of us. We are no better. There is irritation, anger, ambition and other wrong attitudes. Of course, if the leader of the world’s largest state commits the same things, the consequences are quite different. This is now the question in Ukraine.

    When boycotts are being imposed now and connections are being cut off, it is worth remembering that the same connections will be difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild later. They lead to at most counter-sanctions and other harm. The proverb says: The forest shall answer as it is called. That is, anger causes anger. If the conversation and friendships are broken, as I see happening now, we are going down a path that is difficult to get back on.

   History should also be taken into account. The imposition of extremely strict peace conditions on Germany by the victorious states after the First World War caused bitterness. Germany lost part of its territory and was awarded huge war reparations. This led to the seeds being sown for a new war. I see the current proponents of boycotts repeating the same mistake that happened decades ago.

Jari Iivanainen