"War is evil. But it is necessary when peace and good order are threatened. This basic fact has been glossed over by years of leftist propaganda in the media and especially in education.
No longer the transmission of the body of knowledge, education has been used as a brainwashing tool to teach an anti-Christian and amoral philosophy. The Holy City of Jerusalem has been replaced with the Liberated City of Sodom.
And do not think for one moment that we as Orthodox Christians have not been touched or influenced by these seeds of secularism. Even in the Church, today there are many who have become totally secularized, thinking that they can indeed serve God and Mammon. In the 1920s, Archpriest Valentin (see below) preached fervently about this.
St John the Baptist when asked by the soldiers what should they do, answered: “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3: 14).
St John did not tell the soldiers to lay down their arms.
Pacifism is not a Christian principle. St Sergei of Radonezh blessed the soldiers before they went into battle. During the combat the saint prayed for the souls who died bravely fighting against the Tartars.
St Nikolai of Japan blessed the Orthodox soldiers in the Japanese Army before they fought the Russians. For this the Tsar decorated St Nikolai for defending his adopted country. During WW2, the late Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco served in the trenches with the Serbian Army. He ministered to the wounded and dying, not just in the safety of the Field Hospital, but in the trenches. It is said that he was communing a dying soldier when a bullet glanced off the chalice. What did Fr Anthony do? He did not run off and seek cover. He continued his prayers and then only then did he retreat to safety.
And what of Vanya, a lieutenant in the Polish Army at Monte Casino? He prayed that he would not have to kill anyone during combat. God heard his prayer.
Single-handed he stormed a German machine-gun nest and took the enemy prisoner. He told me that he fired into the air, hoping that he would not hurt anyone. The surprised Germans gave up without a fight. Vanya was decorated for bravery. Later St John of Shanghai awarded him a gramota for loyal service to the Church as choirmaster and warden. I had the honour of knowing this brave ‘pacifist’!
Of course these values are totally lost on a generation that has been brought up on left-wing history texts. Should a boy show any signs of manhood, he is immediately referred to the shrink for a course of Ritalin. If this fails, he is made a pariah in our effeminate hedonistic society.
When the Russian writer Solzhenitsyn first came to the west, he warned us that what had happened in Russia would happen on American soil. At that time I thought that what he was predicting was far-fetched nonsense. Today I think differently.
The forces of the antichrist have already gathered in Europe and are making their demands known.
Was Europe founded on sodomy and immorality? Was western civilization the product of socialist serfdom and godless humanism? No. Europe was founded on the Judeo-Christian tradition.
America too was established by God-fearing men who founded that great nation on the basic Christian values, paying tribute to the virtues of sacrifice, honour and courage. Now we are being told that this is all bigotry and we have to consider other religions. We must not offend others with the truth. Not that the left cares about religion. The left hates absolutes except in its own godless religion of socialism.
When I see the ‘No War’ stickers, I wonder whether these people driving their SUVs would start riding bicycles to avoid our need for oil. Would they stop flying in jets? Do they ever consider the brave men and women who gave their lives for the peace we enjoy?
Perhaps we as Orthodox Christians are waging a rear-guard action. Nevertheless it is our duty to sacrifice ourselves as did those before us for what is true, honest, just, pure, is lovely, or of good report.. (Phil 4: 8)
Fr Serafim