Christians Should Seek Peace, Not War, Mr. Pence

Former Vice President Mike Pence is a candidate seeking to get the Republican nomination for President of the United States. In recent polling, Pence has only reached 4.7% support from likely Republican voters.  He is the same person who once told a reporter that Christianity is so important that he refuses to dine with a woman without his wife present.  So why has the former Catholic, now Evangelical, applied his Christian beliefs regarding the war in Ukraine?

The Epoch Times reported on the News Nation townhall where candidate Pence stated, “ I’m convinced that if the Ukrainian military doesn’t stop and repel that Russian invasion, it’s not going to be too long before that Russian army crosses a border that our men and women in uniform are going to have to go and fight under the NATO Treaty.”  Someone should tell Pence Ukraine is not part of the NATO alliance and its expectation for Ukraine’s defense under the agreement doesn’t exist. For both Democrats and Republicans, the fact seems to be nothing more than semantics. This could be why the United States sent $77 billion to Ukraine with plans to send another $24 billion.

Money is one thing; human life is quite another. In our previous post, Using the Hawaii Disaster to Send More Money to Ukraine, we argued that the amount of money funneled into Ukraine does not mention peace talks.  The same holds with Pence’s statement about sending American troops into the conflict.  He doubled down on the refusal to start peace talks in response to Donald Trump’s claim if elected, he would end the war in Ukraine. “Look, the only way this war would end in a day, as my former running mate says, is if you let Vladimir Putin have what he wants, which, frankly, other candidates for the Republican nomination are advocating as well.”

You can hardly interpret Pence’s statements as anything but his desire to defeat Russia with whatever means are necessary, even sacrificing American military lives. His immoral position of refusing to push for peace by advocating more aggression is anti-Christian, reckless, and potentially catastrophic. Russia will not be defeated because of one reason: nuclear power. If Russia is pushed into a corner by increased boots on the ground supplied by the United States, the probability of more deaths and disfigurements will surely follow.  

Putin is not a good guy, but his worldwide influence doesn’t exist as the warmongers suggest. He is not presently a threat to Europe or the United States because of Russia’s economic and military limited capacities. However, continued provocation can only lead to a real danger of nuclear power, which will affect the whole world and might trigger a world war. In the absence of peace talks, nothing is off the table.

Pence fails to realize that the incursion of American troops under President Bush in the Middle East and Afghanistan did not bring about any substantial national security gain. The wars the United States foolishly engaged in only resulted in lost American lives and many soldiers returning with traumatic injuries that Pence will never experience. Biden’s ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan only left the terrorists with billions of military equipment. At the same time, our men and women in uniform and their families absorb the loss of warmongering politicians like Pence, who care little about the hardships they shoulder each day.  

If Pence wants to send troops into a meatgrinder rather than be an agent for peace, he should don the uniform and be the first to lose his life, legs, or mental health.