As I write this, President-elect Trump is meeting with the NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte in Mar-a-Lago, to plan for peace in Ukraine.
Hypotheticals and “what if” scenarios in war are the refuge of the coward. The truly brave are able to make peace.
One common argument for the killing fields of war runs like this: “what if Hitler had been appeased?” And so, the argument follows, we must allow Ukrainians and Russians to slaughter each other, in a war that Ukraine and NATO cannot win. Of course, this assumes (amongst other things) that Putin is Hitler - and practically everyone with basic intelligence knows that this is not true.
Well - what if?
The atrocities of the Nazi regime are well known and well publicized. (But the atrocities and the much greater number of people killed by the Bolshevik communists of Russia or the Maoist communists of China are underplayed and actively suppressed from public view).
What if Churchill had tried to make peace with Hitler? The provocative counter-question must be asked, since the “appeasement” question is constantly waved at our faces. We must boldly take the “appeasement” bull by the horns and face up to our own fears.
Let’s start by asking a few counter-questions based on verifiable historical events and eras. For example - what if Germany and the German people had not been humiliated, impoverished beyond description and subjugated by a cruel Allied “peace” at the end of the first world war? In addition to all these crippling privations and humiliations, the treaty of Versailles that brought the first world war to a close also confiscated historical German lands and resources and saddled the Weimar Republic with unpayable debts. The intentions of the allies at the end of the first world war were probably best summarized by the British official Sir Eric Geddes: “We shall squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak!”
What if? Would the German people have elected Hitler to restore German self-confidence and pride without the intentional humiliations of the Treaty of Versailles?
What if the aggressive push Westward of the Bolshevik communists had not engulfed Germany and threatened a communist takeover, just as the National Socialist Party (of Hitler) were consolidating power? And what if the aggressive and ruthless defeat of these communists by Hitler’s Germany had not taken place? Would Germany (and Britain and France) also have become communist - and incorporated into the Soviet Union? And then would millions of their citizens have been murdered by the atheist communists as in Russia?
What if Churchill had indeed made peace with Hitler? Would that have saved the lives of 75 million people killed in the second world war? Did the second world war create more problems than it solved? Would the genie of nuclear armageddon have been released by America on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Would the murderous and atheistic Soviet Union have expanded into Eastern Europe and brought Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania under its totalitarian tyranny?
By now, I hope that my readers will be persuaded that the “appeasement” argument is either born out of complete ignorance of actual history, or an intentional ploy to mislead with straw-man arguments.
More importantly, I hope that my readers will realize that the paths of peace must always be explored, because the alternatives are almost always much more devastating for human life and happiness.
The press and a large part of the public in the pagan West look upon Ukraine and Russia with purely materialistic and reductionist lenses. In Russia, on the other hand, the war in Ukraine is seen as an existential struggle not merely against an expansionist NATO which seeks to dominate Russian mineral and land resources, but a struggle between the Neo-liberal, neo-pagan West and a resurgent, ancient Orthodox Christian people and their faith.
Those in Washington who engineered the Ukraine war and are watching gleefully from the sidelines as Christians kill each other 3000 miles away from America, have managed to sell this war to a gullible and ever shrinking segment of the public, as a matter of not “appeasing” Putin. The days of these murderous warmongers, happily, seem to be numbered.
President-elect Trump promised at multiple campaign events and in policy documents, to bring peace to Ukraine, peace to the middle East and peace around the world. To the bizarre, pagan world that is now represented by the uniparty that propagates endless wars (from both the Republican and Democrat benches), President Trump is a threat, because he wants to bring peace to Ukraine! Truly, astonishingly bizarre.
The American public seem to have had quite enough of this homicidal charade. The party of Donald Trump is now really neither the Democrat or Republican Party. It is neither right wing or left wing. Neither liberal or conservative. Let’s call it the party of common sense and peace. Which is why this iconic photograph will be seen by future historians of the American Republic as one of the most poignant symbols of the revolutionary realignment of American politics that has been brought about by Donald Trump:
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus proclaimed, “for they shall be called the children of God.”
Trump, Elon, Tulsi, RFKJr - all proclaiming and making peace, all the children of God.
I believe millions of Spirit-filled Christians worldwide are praying for wisdom and protection for Trump and all these men and women alongside him who are truly called "for such a time as this". I have not felt this hopeful since the Cdn Truckers Freedom Convoy, (where I watched -live - you interviewed, Dr. Francis, by, I believe, Viva Frei.) So thankful for your perspective, your understanding of history, the Bible, poetry, and medicine - well-rounded health. You are in my prayers frequently for protection and God's exponential magnifying of your voice of truth to reach more and more. Thank you for this thoughtful, truthful, encouraging piece. Thank you again for staying true to your oath in speaking up for Cdns - for innocent children not needing the risk of the mRNA.
Both my father (Canadian Army, WW2) and my father-in-law (British Army, WW2) stated EMPHATICALLY: DO NOT GO TO WAR!!!!