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'If I Didn't Speak Out, I Wouldn't Be a True Christian'

 

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Moscow Times, Apr. 8: Nina Belyayeva has fled Russia because a "case" (criminal investigation) was being opened against her. Once it is opened, there is virtually no escape. In this article, Nina Belyayeva explained why she opposed the war – and is paying the price.

She is a deputy of the Voronezh regional council from the Communist Party (!) and spoke out against the war in Ukraine at a council session. "I am against the decision that was made by the president and against the what is happening today on the territory of the "sovereign state of Ukraine. I consider what is happening to be a war crime," Belyayeva said.

After her statement, the deputies demanded that Belyayeva be expelled from the council for what they called "speeches directed against the nation." The deputies also removed her from the deputy ethics commission and requested that the prosecutor's office evaluate her actions. She has since left the country. (Imagine that: standing up against war crimes is considered "unethical" in Russia!)

Belyayeva told The Moscow Times why she decided to speak out against the war and whether she regrets her words: "You have to ask yourself: What would Jesus Christ say? Ask yourself: Would you want to be 'liberated' like this? To have people come into your home with this kind of 'deliverance' and 'brotherly love'?"

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The Aftermath of Destruction in Post-Soviet Countries

 

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I've lived 22+ years in Central Europe during the communist era and in Russia during and after the collapse of the USSR, when my wife and I experienced ONE MILLION PERCENT INFLATION in Russia, people literally dying of heart attacks while waiting in long lines to exchange their "old Rubles" for "new Rubles" before the old Rubles expired and became worthless. We've seen people break down the doors of a grocery store when milk was being delivered in order to buy it before it's gone. I keep my ration card for tobacco and vodka as a reminder of that era.

These days, all sorts of people, mostly ignorant, are spouting all sorts of conspiracy theories and self-blaming explanations for the war in Ukraine. After spending much of my past 60+ years studying about, learning the languages, and living at a subsistence level along with the masses in those countries, I think that I have a fairly good understanding of what is taking place there and why: The Loss of Internalized Morality. In a Christian-based society, parents teach their children basic virtues such as "be kind," "tell the truth, don't tell lies," "respect other people's property," etc. Even though parents might not personally believe in Christ, they have absorbed this from our culture. But increasingly, this is fading away.

In the Soviet Union, however, such basic virtues were abandoned and people felt they had to be ruthless, tell lies, and steal simply in order to survive. What we consider to be normal business practices such as honoring one's contractual word, selling at a fair markup, paying taxes, etc. – these were thrown out the window when private business was declared to be criminal activity. The result of criminalizing business was that only criminals engaged in business, killing, stealing, practicing deceit, making enormous profit, and not paying taxes. Even since 1991's collapse Soviet Union when private business was legalized, the criminal mindset continues to dominate business and private ethics.

IN IRPIN, RUSSIAN "ORCS" BURNED THOUSANDS OF BIBLES. This photo of the fire-disfigured Bibles was posted on Facebook. "Irpin [a suburb of Kyiv]... Thousands of Bibles were burned by the horde... What else can you expect from Satanists... Russian false shepherds bless these demons for such deeds... These freaks are devil's servants, not servants of God," the commentary says.

Russian soldiers also executed the director of an Evangelical seminary in Irpin with a bullet to his head. A good friend of ours who has served in Irpin, Ukraine for several years, sent us the sad news of the seminary director's execution. How can you, especially someone who calls himself an Orthodox Christian, murder other Christians in cold blood simply because they don't adhere to your version of Christianity?