David Jay Morris for BuzzFlash: Onward Pseudo-Christian Soldiers
April 14, 2022
By David Jay Morris
As the Russian invasion unfolded in early March, Ukrainians such as Presidential Advisor Mykailo Podoliak and Member of Parliament Kira Rudik told us that World War III had already begun.
Were they right?
If we think of it as the kind of all-out nuclear Armageddon that troubled our dreams back at the height of the Cold War, the fact that we are still alive would seem to indicate that we’re not quite there yet.
Clearly, President Biden and other NATO leaders are bending over backwards to ensure that this is a Rubicon we never cross, even as they strive to help the brave Ukrainians defend themselves against Putin’s onslaught.
If we look at the conflict in another way, however, the matter is not so clear.
If WW3 is conceived of as the forces of freedom and democracy locked in an existential struggle against those of authoritarianism and oppression or, if you look at it from Putin’s perspective, holy Christian Russia standing up to the Satanic forces of secularism and depravity led by the West, the fight has definitely begun.
And it’s not that hard to imagine it ending up in the apocalypse.
Heck, no small portion of self-professed American “Christians” have been panting for the End Times for years now. So, if their nuclear-armed Russian Orthodox cousin Vlad pushes things over edge, what’s the downside, right?
WRONG!
At least as most of us who don’t think the violent end of life on earth is a good thing might believe.
But here we are.
The best-case scenario is probably that the amazingly brave and committed Ukrainians prevail on the battlefield and push out the invaders without the process escalating into World War III. Highly desirable, but even this will not happen before tens of thousands of people have died or been traumatized and abused, and much of the country is decimated.
The worst case is obvious – all out nuclear war and the end of life as we know it.
Between these two poles, other possible outcomes also exist, few of which are attractive.
Putin’s army could manage to turn things around and achieve the full-scale conquest of Ukraine of which he dreams. Alternatively, it could carve out enough territory in the east to allow him to declare victory and negotiate an end of the conflict without destroying his precious macho-man image.
In either of these cases, we can expect more of the same, either from an emboldened Putin himself or from other wannabe strongmen eager to follow his example.
No matter how things fall out (barring all-out nuclear war or the overthrow and/or death of the Russian dictator), one of the main battlefields is sure to become the U.S. elections this fall and in 2024.
These battles will not be fought with missiles and tanks, however, but with propaganda and lies.
The soldiers will not be military personnel, but armies of deliberately manufactured fanatics.
People whose minds have been so twisted by the iron bubbles of disinformation in which they live that they have lost all ability to recognize truth from falsehood and will blindly follow their messiahs straight down the road to hell.
How has it come to this?
How can so many people – people who think of themselves as righteous and working for the good of their countries – be so deluded?
And so very committed to their delusions?
Polls say that a large, and growing, percentage of Russians are solidly behind Putin’s attack on Ukraine. And not just the polls. Stories abound of Ukrainians calling their friends, contacts and even family members in Russia to tell them the truth about the war only to be answered with a recitation of Putin’s talking points, no matter how ludicrous and easily disproved.
Unbelievable, you say?
Try to talk one of you relatives out of their Q-Anon or Trumpian election-theft fever dreams lately? The awful truth we need to face up to is that propaganda works.
The current generation of dictators, autocrats and wannabes has found the secret sauce for mind control.
First, make sure that your marks are as isolated as possible in an iron bubble of disinformation in which everything they hear comes only supports your position, and all information sources echo and reinforce identical talking points.
Hitler pioneered the technique by giving out free radios to everyone who attended one of his huge rallies. Radios which could only be tuned to the Nazi propaganda stations.
Nowadays, job one of an autocrat who gains real power is to castrate any independent media that might work against him. Those in firm control, like Putin in Russia and China’s Xi Jinping, can just order the ones they don’t like to be shut outright. Others, such as Orban in Hungary or Philippine leader Duterte, have to be a little cleverer and change the rules in ways that make it as difficult as possible for opposition outlets to operate.
In the U.S. the same effect has been achieved by the creation of a massive and self-reinforcing right-wing media universe. It started with the creation of overtly political Fox “News” and the takeover of AM talk radio by Rush Limbaugh and has metastasized from there.
That done, the autocrat’s next task is to destroy the concept of verifiable truth itself.
If all news is “fake” and “alternative facts” are as good as real ones, the words of the dear leader become the only lodestone to follow.
The only beliefs permitted are those he (never she) wants you to live by.
And not just any beliefs. Beliefs that your race, ethnic group or religion is the only one that deserves to rule and must adsorb all power to itself. Of course, it must also be believed that the group’s traditional way of life (whether it ever actually existed or not) is threatened by the Satanic forces of the outsiders.
That your opponents are Nazis, unholy pedophiles or worse.
Violence or the threat of violence is also needed to spice up the mix.
Stand up against us and you’ll be hurt.
In this, Putin stands alone among the current crop of autocrats.
Go against him and your country might be destroyed and your entire culture cancelled. Cross Trump and for the most part, it’s just your political career that’s ended.
For now.
But even with all this in your dictatorial toolbox, one more critical thing is needed - perhaps the most important one of all.
Your followers must be absolutely convinced that God – the only God – is on their side and that your autocratic leader is nothing less than his living tool on earth.
The messiah, if you will.
For textbook cases of malignant narcissism like Putin or Trump, nothing could be easier than believing that of themselves, but it’s also necessary for their followers to drink the Kool-Aid, too.
For that, you need religion.
Not real religion – the concern for the poor and downtrodden advocated by Jesus of Nazareth, the wisdom of the Buddha, the oneness with nature of genuine shamans – no, never anything like that.
Pseudo-religion.
The kind that conceives of “God” as some sort of vengeful cosmic Joseph Stalin in the sky, handing down strict rules that must be obeyed.
The kind that labels anyone who doesn’t swallow that system of malarky as not just a political foe, but a literal demon from hell.
Let your soul be twisted that far, and indiscriminately bombing children and hospitals; shooting civilians in the street, looting and gang raping young women unlucky enough to be caught in your net is something you’re just fine with.
In your universe, they aren’t really humans anyway.
Of course, destroying a functioning democratic system is perfectly cool, too, be it in Ukraine of the U.S.
As long as your side wins and your opponents are crushed, God is content.
Over there and over here, the soldiers of toxic right-wing pseudo-Christianity are on the march.
They must be stopped.
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