You know the phrase. It’s Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar: “Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.” And right now, as we speak, the dogs are loose in Ukraine. Modernly, it’s the tanks of war. And guns, planes, and drones of war. Normally we post on issues and events of direct impact and influence on the doctrine, history, and culture of Mormonism and the LDS Church. But some general events are of such magnitude that they necessarily impact the Church and the membership indirectly but substantially, such as Covid. This Russian war in Ukraine is such an event. Let’s talk about its impact on missionaries, members, heroes, and the world of you and me.
Missionaries. Amid all the fluff and temple news at the Mormon Newsroom is this news release dated January 24, 2022: “The Church of Jesus Christ is Temporarily Moving Missionaries Out of Ukraine.” Good for the Church for being proactive and getting them out early. When the Russians first invaded on Thursday five days ago — I know, it seems like a month ago — one of my first questions was “what about LDS missionaries in Russia?” I carefully searched the Newsroom and LDS.org for some update on the status of missionaries in Russia (where they are carefully referred to as “volunteers”) but found nothing.
Lo and behold, the only LDS notification of what’s happening to missionaries in Russia was over at the Church News, in a story updated February 25 but presumably posted earlier: “Status of Church’s missionaries in Ukraine, volunteers in Russia.” It quotes an apparently verbal statement to the Church News from an LDS spokesperson as follows:
On Friday, Feb. 25, Penrod said the Church currently has no foreign full-time volunteers in Russia.
“I can confirm that as of mid-February, approximately 50 young volunteers have taken assignments outside of Russia, given the recent recommendation of many foreign governments advising against travel to Russia,” he said.
That’s not a public statement like the one about Ukraine missionaries posted at the Newsroom, it’s sort of a private statement delivered to the Church News but approved for publication. I guess by keeping an extra layer between the Church and the statement, they can always claim they were misquoted or something. Or maybe they think a statement about Russia needs to be low key and unobtrusive. My online searching suggests there are eight LDS missions in Russia, so it’s surprising there were only 50 non-Russian “volunteers” serving there. In any case, they’re out. Perhaps the Church has learned from the difficulties in extracting LDS missionaries from foreign countries at the last minute when initial Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions hit, and now they get missionaries out early. Good. That’s the right approach.
Members. As I was blessing and passing the sacrament at home church on Sunday (we stream sacrament meeting, but do bread and water sacrament live in our home for our congregation of two), it struck me that there were small LDS branches scattered across Ukraine and Russia where small groups of Ukrainian and Russian Latter-day Saints were doing the same thing that day. For us here in American and around the world, the Russian war means maybe gas prices go higher for awhile and maybe a son or daughter in the military gets called up for NATO deployment in Europe. For LDS in Russia, this means coming months and possibly years of economic hardship as harsh sanctions are imposed on Russia. For LDS in Ukraine, this is a life-disrupting event, possible including fleeing to a neighboring country as refugees. God bless them and protect them all.
President Zelensky, Man of the Hour. Sometimes one day, one decision, or one episode can define a person’s entire life. Lincoln at Gettysburg. In this era of partisanship and corruption, where even the best politicians often check their integrity at the door to pursue personal and party interests while governing, up steps Volodymyr Zelensky. When offered evacuation from a threatened Kiev by the Americans, he replied, “I don’t need a ride. I need ammunition.” That’s what we call an “I am Spartacus” moment. He remains inside Kiev, posting daily self-made videos encouraging his fellow Ukrainians to fight and talking to leaders around the world to garner support for his besieged country. He was a comedian and actor before unexpectedly emerging as a candidate and then president of Ukraine. Now he’s a hero, showing truly remarkable courage in standing shoulder to shoulder with his people in Kiev and defending his country from the front lines. The United States could use a few Zelensky’s.
One of his first actions in office was dealing with corrupt pressure from the Loser Donald Trump, who attempted to withhold promised US military aid in order to pressure Zelensky to dig up dirt (or, in the Trump pattern, just make it up) on Biden’s son, for Trump’s political gain. Zelensky showed admirable political acumen in fending off that disgraceful overture, which got Trump impeached but not removed from office. Let’s hope he can fend off Putin as successfully as he fended off Trump. The bitter truth is that, with additional Russian troops and armor now in the process of encircling Kiev, in a week Zelensky might be dead and Kiev might be a pile of rubble. May God protect him and his fellow citizen-soldiers in their difficult hour.
I’m sure I’m not the only one watching the news and saying, “Let’s see, unwelcome Russians are flowing into Ukraine. It appears unwelcome Belorussian troops may soon cross their border and join in the attack. Why can’t welcome NATO troops enter the country by invitation?” If we don’t fight naked aggression in Ukraine, where will we fight? Finland? Taiwan? France again? I know the stakes are high and escalation carries terrible risks, but I would hate for the bully Putin to learn that bullying a neighboring country, rattling the nuclear sabre, and then doubling down with conventional forces to militarily overwhelm that innocent neighbor in the face of worldwide protests is a winning strategy. So don’t let him win! Sanctions are nice and may even be effective. Just don’t let him win in Ukraine. I hate to be so blunt or even crude, but what the world needs right now, as we speak, is burning hulks of Russian tanks and Russian soldiers going home in body bags. And the Ukrainians can’t do that alone.
Here on the Home Front. First, the practical stuff. There are already a half a million Ukranian refugees who have crossed the border into friendly nations like Poland and Romania. I have seen estimates of four million refugees in coming weeks, mostly women and children at this point. Some of these will come to the United States or your country. Consider taking in a Ukranian refugee or lending support if one shows up in your neighborhood.
Next, the Church stuff. “Food storage” isn’t such a joke this week in Ukraine. Maybe it shouldn’t be one here, either. Cash, water, batteries, and a battery-powered radio are a good place to start (if cyberwar erupts, it could affect ATM access, utilities, and Internet). A stash of emergency candles is a great idea, because batteries don’t last long if you’re using them for light at night. If you’ve got a stash of canned goods in your pantry or garage, make sure you have a manual can opener handy. If you don’t, get some cans and a can opener. Duct tape and some extra cardboard are helpful to seal off doors and leaky windows — to keep fallout from entering your house while you shelter in the basement or crawl space. I’m not a doomsday guy, but it pays to think about these things and drop $100 on basic supplies before you need them and the store is sold out. Right now, as we speak, there are thousands of Ukrainians hunkered down in basements in Kiev hoping their dwindling stock of food lasts a few more days. Right now, as we speak, there are thousands of Ukrainian mothers on a train to the Polish border carrying nothing more with them than a suitcase, two kids, and a pocketful of cash. A week ago today !!! these people, all of them, were focused on getting up for work in the morning, getting the kids off to school, buying food for dinner, making that doctor’s appointment for junior, and so forth. Sometimes it comes like a thief in the night.
Conclusion. There ought to be more to say. I watch CNN and keep track of the latest news. I rant at the violence, the unjustified aggression, the civilian casualties, and the flood of refugees, but there seems to be little that you or I can do at this moment except cheer for the good guys and offer a prayer or two. Plan for the worst. Pray for the afflicted. Hug a Ukrainian.
I’ll close with some words of the English poet Sting, from his composition “Russians.”
In Europe and America there’s a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Krushchev said, “We will bury you”
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It’d be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the president
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore
Mister Reagan says, “We will protect you”
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology
But what might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too
Wheat & Tares 
This was a wonderful post–thank you. I cannot help but cry when I see the images on the television screen of families torn apart (and I cannot but help feel guilty that I’ve NOT felt these emotions during previous other violent episodes in the last few decades… seems like the “farther away” (culturally) a catastrophe is, the easier it is to view it stoically and unemotionally).
I also agree 100%–though more direct NATO involvement would likely cause escalation, it is the ONLY WAY to preserve the freedom of this nation. I believe there is a moral imperative–this is not “nation building” where the US would be going in sanctimoniously and uninvited to help the unwashed masses “become a democracy.” I’d like to think that if I didn’t have a wife and young children that I would accept President Zelensky’s invitation to members of foreign nations to go and fight for the Ukraine and its people.
Volodymyr Zelensky has acted valiantly. I pray for his safety and his continued integrity. It is wonderful to see good people stand firm against evil, no matter “how much good it might ‘actually’ do”…He has set an example our church leaders should follow.
The last three weeks of Sacrament meeting talks in our ward have all been based on attending the temple. Our upcoming ward conference will be on the blessings of the temple. Our Elders’ quorum lesson/discussion last Sunday was on temples. I am unsure whether this emphasis is local to our Seattle area or is church-wide. At one point in the Elders’ quorum discussion leader told us that we just need to turn off the Internet, Facebook, cell phones, etc. and instead go to the temple.
Now I greatly respect that there is peace and blessings to be had at the temple. But we can become so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly good.
I then went unfiltered in the Elders’ quorum meeting, held up my smartphone, and reminded the brethren that there are women and children hunkered down in metro tunnels in Ukraine not knowing if they would survive another day and that the Internet was providing this information.
I urged the Elders to pray for the Ukrainians and donate money. I reminded them that are to “mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.” And I explained that Facebook was a way to show messages of support for Ukrainians, as well as support for all those sick and afflicted wherever they may be.
The discussion leader was left nearly speechless and I kind of felt bad about derailing his discussion plan.
I also make allowances that going to the temple is all some people know how to do and that I need to treat them kindly. (My Just Serve wife is now scrambling to get people to sign up for our Stake blood drive.)
I rather expect that temples and similar themes will be the emphasis of the upcoming General Conferences with only passing, non-specific references to praying for world peace.
I can’t help but think of an apt comparison. Volodymyr Zelensky’s country has been invaded by Russia, and he is taking up arms to defend his country. Ted Cruz’s state was invaded by a, well, a cold front. And he fled to Cancun.
And let’s not forget the aid and comfort Putin is receiving from the likes of Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Green and the former guy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a modern-day Captain Moroni…
Listen to this: https://www.mediaite.com/…/nobody-is-gonna-break-us…/ (specifically time stamp 0:40 – 0:54, 1:30 – 1:38, and 1:09 – 1:20 )
And then compare to this (Alma 46):
11 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.
12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.
19 And [Moroni] went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:
20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.
36 And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land…
Yes, yes, yes.
“I know the stakes are high and escalation carries terrible risks, but I would hate for the bully Putin to learn that bullying a neighboring country, rattling the nuclear sabre, and then doubling down with conventional forces to militarily overwhelm that innocent neighbor in the face of worldwide protests is a winning strategy.” Dave, Putin already this lesson when he took South Ossetia and Abkhazia from the Georgians and Crimea from Ukraine. Moreover, anything that pushes NATO and Russia into a direct confrontation is RECKLESS and STUPID. Doing so pins the hopes of humankind on Putin in particular demonstrating restraint with regard to the Russian nuclear arsenal. Call me alarmist, but I don’t trust the sense of self-preservation of a 70 year-old dictator who thinks of himself as the second coming of Peter the Great enough to send NATO forces into Ukraine.
This also calls into stark relief just how empty are the promises the United States makes to allies that are not reduced to a mutual defense treaty. Hungary, South Vietnam, the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, and Georgia have heard this tune before.
“…already learned this lesson…”
[I sincerely wish there were an edit button for this comment section.]
We had a disaster in the mid-west not too many years ago and everyone sent their “thoughts and prayers.” Ricky Gervais said “I feel like an idiot now. . . I only sent money.” That’s what keeps going through me mind about all this. . .
I do not want a U.S. and Russia war. The risk of nuclear escalation is too high.
I hope Ukraine wins, and I am glad countries are providing military materials. Maybe Russian protests will help. When Russian mothers see no bodies being returned for burial, and yet contact with their sons has stopped, their protest might be enough to overthrow Putin. As I understand, Russia is not returning bodybags, but may be using truck-mounted crematoriums to incinerate their corpses without notice to families.
But, if Ukraine loses, I hope the West stays united and the sanctions stick for at least a few years — Putin should become a pariah around the world.
As one of this board’s few small government libertarian / conservatives (based on my reading of your posts every day), let me state the following:
1. I am embarrassed that the Tucker Carlson wing of the Republican party is telling us that the Ukraine is not our problem and that we have no need to hate Putin.
2. I am embarrassed that Fox News allows their evening hosts to focus on this event as a Joe Biden problem instead of calling it what it is: Naked aggression by Mr. Putin.
3. I am embarrassed that the Donald Trump wing of the Republican party is praising Mr. Putin in any way.
4. I am embarrassed that Pat Robertson (a right wing Christian conservative) is stating publicly that Putin is carrying out God’s will. Google this if you don’t believe me.
5. I am embarrassed that Mr. Trump and his followers are stating that this invasion would not have taken place if Trump was still president. Of course that’s about as provable as the existence of Gold Plates and it’s especially ironic given Trump’s own past with Ukraine and the perfect phone call.
Now, don’t you go giving me a thumbs up just yet. It’s also true that the media ignored the Hunter Biden story in Ukraine prior to the 2020 election and the “Russian Collusion” 2016 election narrative was basically a made-up political hatchet job by the Left. But the past is the past. I’m embarrassed about the present (#1-5) above.
Josh h, on Sept. 23, 2020, in the heat of the 2020 election, a Republican inquiry found no evidence of any wrongdoing by Joe Biden with regards to Ukraine: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/us/politics/biden-inquiry-republicans-johnson.html
On Russian collusion, in August 2020, a GOP-led Senate Panel released the results of a three-year inquiry in a 1,000-page report detailing “an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Kremlin officials and other Russians, including at least one intelligence officer and others tied to the country’s spy services:” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/senate-intelligence-russian-interference-report.html
This war is horrendous. Putin is a clear villain here. Count me as on the side of laughing off Mitt Romney as exaggerating when he said that Russia was a major geopolitical threat. I was wrong, he was right. Count me as on the side of thinking that Putin wouldn’t go as far as a full-scale invasion and that it was all some sort of ploy just to see the reactions of the US and Western Europe. I was wrong.
That said, however, there are all sorts of fine intricacies and nuances about Russia and Ukraine that I think US media has missed for a long time. Ukraine has long has episodes of political turmoil. During the 2000s and early 2010s it was considerably divided on whether to lean towards Russia or towards the EU. Around 30% of Ukraine’s population speaks Russian as a native/first language. Ukraine has not given equal status and privilege to Russian as it has Ukrainian.
In 2020, Ukraine was ranked by Transparency International as the second most corrupt government in Europe, after Russia. Even Belarus and Moldova were ranked slightly higher than Ukraine. In 2020, Ukraine had the most poverty of any country in Europe. It has been a broken country for many years. When Russia took over Crimean in 2014, I sympathized with the pro-Russian Crimeans who wanted to be part of Russia. Ukraine was hard place to be for them. I thought, maybe they’re better off under Russian control. Of course, from a geopolitical perspective, I recognized that Russian absorption was highly problematic. But still.
Still, so much of the US media obsesses about the US government somehow being able to do something to stop Putin and defend Ukraine. Trump and his supporters have lashed out at Biden as weak. Others have criticized Obama for his snarky remark at Romney, blaming him for not doing enough against Russia. This might partly be true, but Obama was right to pursue diplomacy and rapprochement after the hawkish and tumultuous foreign policy of his predecessor. Constant vigilance and paranoia about the outside world is not the way. Could it be that the EU and US have for years been in positions where there is nothing that they could have really done to stop Putin from doing this? A part of me thinks not. Putin hurt the US in 2016 by interfering in its election for the benefit of Trump. He built ties with Trump and his campaign, not because he particularly liked Trump, but because he saw him as a chaotic person who would weaken the US. And he was right. Putin was successful.
At this point, I don’t care who was right or wrong in regards to Putin or Russia. What I care about is what the Church and it’s members can do to help those impacted by the war.
I received a newsletter from the Church a day or two ago. Nothing about Ukraine, it was only an attempt to prove the relevancy of the OT. Much of what the Church leaders do or say today is tone deaf. Why don’t we, as a Church, talk and do things that matter in today’s world? We need visionaries, not managers, as leaders.
Which do we think God cares about most? Studying the OT? Or assisting the oppressed? Please elevate Sharon Eubanks to a higher position. Let’s get on with Christ’s real mission: helping those in need.
The Church and its members have a huge potential to do good. Let’s get on with it.
If you believe that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election, you’re a political hack on the Left. Contacts are different than collusion.
If you believe Biden stole a rigged election in 2020, you’re a political hack on the Right. Trump is a “loser” by his own definition.
If there’s one bright spot right now it’s that the Left and the Right (except the very fringes) agree. Heck, I’m even agreeing with TBMs right now 😃.
Josh j, of course Trump and his campaign colluded with Russian officials to win the 2016 election. Here is acslaw’s summary of the Mueller Report’s findings:
“The investigation produced 37 indictments; seven guilty pleas or convictions; and compelling evidence that the president obstructed justice on multiple occasions. Mueller also uncovered and referred 14 criminal matters to other components of the Department of Justice. Trump associates repeatedly lied to investigators about their contacts with Russians, and President Trump refused to answer questions about his efforts to impede federal proceedings and influence the testimony of witnesses. A statement signed by over 1,000 former federal prosecutors concluded that if any other American engaged in the same efforts to impede federal proceedings the way Trump did, they would likely be indicted for multiple charges of obstruction of justice. Russia engaged in extensive attacks on the U.S. election system in 2016. Russian interference in the 2016 election was ‘sweeping and systemic.’ Major attack avenues included a social media “information warfare” campaign that “favored” candidate Trump[2] and the hacking of Clinton campaign-related databases and release of stolen materials through Russian-created entities and Wikileaks Russia also targeted databases in many states related to administering elections gaining access to information for millions of registered voters.”
Mueller laid out in great detail 10 possible cases of obstruction of justice by Trump, but punted the issue to Congress, which has done nothing. Essentially Mueller couldn’t get to the bottom of the issue of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia because of obstruction of justice.
On the other hand, do we have an FBI special counsel reaching guilty pleas and convictions in regards to the completely made-up issue of the 2020 election being stolen? No. There is nothing. You’re making a massive false equivalence that reaches the point of just plain ignorance of the matter at hand, at best, and intellectual dishonesty, at worst.
On the matter of the left and right agreeing about Russia, no. Not in the least. Several leading conservative media figures have praised Putin and denigrated Zelenskyy. The leading figure of the Republican Party, Donald J. Trump, remarked that Putin was a “genius” in response to news that he was invading Ukraine. The fringes of the left are praising Putin, yes. However, it is mainstream figures on the right that are praising Putin.
When Brad Wilcox gave a speech filled with dumb statements Wheat and Tares blogged 6(!!!!!) times about it. Wilcox was called a variety of things such as shameful and manipulative by Kristine. Hurtful, arrogant and divisive by Hawkgirl. And Mary Ann sarcastically mocked him.
When Russia invades a neighbor and starts slaughtering Ukrainians, Wheat and Tares writes 2 (?!) posts about it. You might say its only been a week, but those 6 posts about Wilcox were all in about a week. Of the two, one of them was almost exclusively about the church’s statement and cozying up with dictators, and the other was about food storage and a poem. I didn’t read anything condemning naked aggression, serious thoughts about peace, or a scriptural analysis of just war. (I’m a bit biased on that one: https://publicsquaremag.org/politics-law/freedom/loving-neighbors-by-standing-up-to-their-slaughter/). Just two posts that had a fraction of the intensity with which you tackled the “problem” of Brad Wilcox.
I know that posts are not organized or planned., The permas write about what they want. But the contrast in focus in striking and disturbing. Maybe if Putin gave a dumb speech insulting “the blacks” and “girls” maybe Wheat and Tares bloggers will also start caring about the people being slaughtered. Maybe then you’ll move from calling Putin a bully, and maybe use some language apparently reserved for Brad Wilcox to condemn his the former’s behavior.
To those saying that this never would have happened under Trump. Let’s not forget the November 2018 Kerch Strait incident, in which Russia seized and fired upon Ukrainian vessels going through the Kerch Strait en route to the Ukrainian port Mariupol, being the first time that Russian forces had actually engaged Ukrainian forces. What was Trump’s response? Was it to stand strong with NATO against Putin? Was it to stand intervene in the conflict and support Ukrainian sovereignty? No. Trump’s remark in response was: “The European Union, for many years, has taken advantage of us on Trade, and then they don’t live up to their Military commitment through NATO. Things must change fast!” While Trump did cancel his meeting with Putin in the G20 summit in Argentina, that he hinted at the US withdrawing from NATO, again, is very significant. In 2019, he also blamed Obama for letting the Crimea come under Russian occupation, indirectly praising Putin for “outsmarting Obama.” Let’s also not forget the dozens of times that Trump was soft on Putin and Russia: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/17/politics/trump-soft-on-russia/index.html.
So on the question of Trump not letting Putin invade Ukraine on his watch, well, there could be some truth to that. But that is because Trump was already doing Putin’s bidding. Trump was motioning toward withdrawing the US from NATO. Trump withheld Congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine, which he used as a bargaining chip to pressure Zelenskyy to investigate Trump’s then leading domestic political opponent Joe Biden, an action for which he was impeached by the House of Representatives. Putin’s current military action in Ukraine is not out of strength, it is out of weakness. And it is because he fears Biden and his depth of foreign policy expertise and renewed strengthening of the NATO alliance more than he feared Trump, one of his greatest admirers. And then you have Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, two of the leading fundraising members of the House, going to white nationalist rallies where they gleefully speak before a crowd of attendees who had just chanted, “Putin, Putin, Putin.”
So don’t tell me that Democrats are weaker in their response to Putin than Republicans would have been. Don’t tell me that Trump would have stood up to one of his heroes. Don’t all of a sudden try to resurrect Mitt Romney, a man has for years been a pariah in his own party, and pretend as if he is the true embodiment of the Republican stance on Russia.