As I write this column, Russian troops are bearing down on the capital of Ukraine as well as other cities throughout that country. Just last night I watched as doctors failed to revive a little girl about the same age as my granddaughter. The images and stories coming out of this war shock, sadden, and anger us.
Every person I’ve spoken to about these events has responded in similar ways. There is a common sense of injustice by a harsh dictator determined to conquer and control an undeserving people.
News reports inform us that Americans are not alone in our disgust over Putin’s brutality. All over the world people are protesting this unprovoked wholesale slaughter of human beings.
From Berlin to Israel to Switzerland, ordinary individuals are incensed by what is happening. Even in Russia itself, protestors are opposing their own ruthless leader. Most every human on earth is repulsed by what is unfolding hourly in Eastern Europe.
On such occasions, people sometimes question God’s existence. Atheists seize such opportunities to highlight the supposed absence of a Higher Power. How could God allow such things? Why doesn’t He stop these barbarous attacks and intervene to save innocent men, women, and children? Such questions are certainly appropriate and demand good answers.
Although incomplete, let me offer a few. First of all, the fact that most all people everywhere are infuriated by Putin’s actions indicates a common sense of justice. Even without a universal religion, all people know intuitively that such actions are inherently wrong.
This is a very strong argument that God does exist and that He has embedded within every human a sense of morality that cannot be erased by atheism, evolution, or any other force. When you see it, you know. If there were no God, nothing could truly be right or wrong and Putin’s sense of fairness could not be adjudged any less valid than anyone else’s. He just sees things differently. Our hearts cry out, “A thousand times, No!”
In addition, people all over the world are inspired by the courage of the Ukrainians. This too speaks of a universal inborn common sense of valor. From their President to their parliament members to their old women, these people have audacious mettle. Although the color is on their flag, there’s not a yellow streak in any of them.
Atheists sometimes boast that they will not believe anything they cannot physically see. Although instinctive values of courage and justice cannot be drawn or photographed, their existence is clearly obvious to every thinking person. Love itself can never be seen and yet its existence and actions are undeniable. It is this same unseen universal love that motivates us to want to help those who are suffering so bitterly.
If Darwin’s theory were true, there would be no altruistic outpouring of assistance and support. Even non-Ukrainians are rushing in to fight the Russians for no personal benefit. Sharing resources with and defending people we will likely never meet clearly contradicts the selfish “survival of the fittest” mantra of Evolution.
It’s also important not to confuse God’s roles with our own. Although God can and sometimes does miraculously intervene as He did at D-Day and other pivotal events in history, He often allows us to exercise our own freewill whether it takes lives of our neighbors or those of an entire nation.
It’s also true that He sometimes expects us to take actions that might prevent others from slaughtering our fellowmen. I’m praying that God will grant special wisdom to our leaders and that they will accept and use it. Such perilous times call for superhuman insight and understanding.
Much more could be said than space permits, but as we watch these horrendous events unfold, please pray for the preservation of life, liberty, and property, and that we all would know and do what God desires.
Praying, George