Christian Ethics

Now what is here symbolized has been the most fundamental idea in our American democracy. Ours is a government by discussion.

The war in Ukraine is proving to be a tragic proving ground for trends that will almost certainly be replicated in other twenty-first-century warfare. Decentralized decision-making, the targeting of population centers, tactical speed in decision-making, the rise of artificial intelligence, vital intelligence sharing, and the strategic impact of moral and spiritual injury demonstrate the boundaries for future combat.

With crimes against humanity now on NATO’s doorstep, Westerners are focusing on human rights with concern and alarm not seen since the Cold War. As we do, we must admit that the West’s post-Cold War precepts and priorities downplayed human dignity and human suffering.

Either we deter Russian aggression, which means that we convince Putin that we will not tolerate his first-strike nuclear threats and be intimidated, or we passively acquiesce to nuclear blackmail and Russian butchery of a nation that was promised its integrity and sovereignty five years after the Cold War ended.

“Unless we accept the Russian view of the nature of man, we cannot work with the USSR to a common end for human society.”

Paul Miller and Daniel Darling discussed how Christians should think about the war in Ukraine at an event hosted by the Land Center on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on April 12, 2022.

During an address to the US Congress on March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman called for military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece to counter communist threats. This began the Truman Doctrine, and Christian realists responded a month later.

The war in Ukraine, with its indiscriminate slaughter and mass murder of thousands, forces us to admit the reality of evil.

“Our Witness to the Resurrection,” by Ursula M. NiebuhrMarch 31, 1947 “Christ is risen, alleluia.” The triumphant words ring out:…