Wasteland

They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.

Tacitus

• Born: 56
• Died: 117

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Lovers of the wasteland:

1) Kirill, the Patriarch of Russian Orthodox Christianity

As The New Yorker noted, “Kirill’s support for the [Russian invasion of Ukraine] was no surprise. The Russian Orthodox Church is an arm of the state, and Kirill is one of Putin’s trusted advisers.”*

The reason for his support was the surprise:

the invasion was about stemming the spread of “gay parades” from the West, and [he] celebrated it as “a struggle that has not a physical but a metaphysical significance,” explaining that “we are talking about something different and much more important than politics. We are talking about human salvation.”

Perhaps you, like me, find it difficult to imagine bombs and tanks as necessary weapons of “a culture war—a holy war,” which is how The New Yorker claims Kirill looks at the world, seeing an existential battle between “religious traditionalism and liberalism.” 

Better a parade of death and destruction to bring about "human salvation" than a few multi-colored banners in a gay parade.

2) Pat Robertson

Unlike Kirill, Robertson wonders whether Vladimir Putin is “out of his mind . . .  yes, maybe so.”** But loony or non-loony, Putin has a purpose on this Earth—“he's being compelled by God.”

Robertson, who must have a direct hot line to God, explains that Putin’s move into Ukraine wasn’t about conquering that country. “His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately."

You’re confused? But wait, here’s Robertson’s explanation:

God is getting ready to do something amazing, and that will be fulfilled . . . . And what Putin is doing, by moving as he is, to set up Ukraine as a staging ground for one of the armies, and then across is Erdogan in Turkey, and you've got between them that little Dardanelles area. And it's going to happen. So I say, that is what's coming up. Is Putin crazy? Is he mad? Well, perhaps. But God says, I'm going to put hooks in your jaws and I'm going to draw you into this battle, whether you like it or not. And he's being compelled, after the move into the Ukraine, he's being compelled to move to get a land bridge, and then across the Dardanelles with Turkey, and watch what's going to happen next. You read your Bible, because it's coming to pass.

So, God is using Putin as a cat’s paw to bring Armageddon to pass. 

How nice that the wasteland of Earth will be offset by the delight of a few non-sinners (certainly none of Kirill’s gays) eating grapes and romping through the clouds of heaven.

Peace—it’s wonderful.

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* https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-pope-the-patriarchs-and-the-battle-to-save-ukraine

** https://www.salon.com/2022/03/01/pat-robertson-putin-is-being-compelled-by-god-to-invade-ukraine-and-fulfill-biblical-prophecy_partner/