As a rule, I try to keep my political views separate from my social media pages.
[Go ahead. Snicker now. Yes, there are times when I simply cannot hold it in and I will post something. But, for every post that makes it to my personal page (not my professional page), there are two dozen that did NOT make it. How’s that for self-control? ]
One of the things I love about the Amish is that they have managed to maintain their peaceful lives surrounded by the very world that they seek to avoid. They hold nothing against the people who live among that world (the Englischers, if you will), but they do not want to be of that world. The fact that they can co-exist is very admirable and, frankly, a little intimidating.
Just this week, when I was taking my husband to the airport, we heard a news report on the radio about an Amish man in Lancaster who was arrested for driving his horse and buggy while intoxicated. He was not even 21 years old, clearly on rumschpringe, and admitted that he had been drinking beer with his friends. The police waited until his parents could come to fetch his horse before they took away the young man to be processed at the police station.
Marc and I just stared at each other, wide-eyed with no words. All I could think was “Boy oh boy, I’d hate to be sitting around that supper table the next evening.”
I wrote about a similar situation in Valley of Hope with Samuel Lapp—those of you participating in the book club chat this week meet his older brother in Fields of Corn. How disheartening for the parents of the young man in both the book I wrote and the real-life story to see the very life they abhor collide with the peaceful world they have tried to create, insulated from the not so spiritual world that is rather focused on material experiences and acquisitions that surrounds them.
Isn’t that like what is happening in Ukraine? The only difference is that Russia is trying to force themselves on the Ukrainian way of life. Rather than one or two Ukrainians tip-toeing into the Russian way of life and getting caught—like the young Amish man–it is like the entire country basically being up-ended and being forced to drink beer, forced to use electricity, forced to drive cars, forced to give up their beliefs and focus on God.
Would we stand for that if the Amish were put in such a situation? Absolutely not.
So, why are we standing for what is happening in Ukraine? I ask this question because what is happening in Ukraine is just as bad. People are dying. Children are being killed. Elderly people are being murdered. 1.5 million people have fled their homes and country. OVER ONE and a HALF MILLION PEOPLE. In less than two weeks. This is a humanitarian crisis like none other we have seen in my lifetime.
The delay in helping this country is disheartening. Why are we waiting? To avoid a war that is already happening? To stop a world war that has already begun? The longer we wait, the more people will die. We will eventually get into this war, so why not go in now and save as many lives as we can. Civilian lives. Innocent lives.
I always think about the Holocaust and WWII. Why did we wait so long to help the Allies? How many Jewish people could we have saved if we had helped sooner? What will we regret later when this crisis is over? Where are the AOCs and other liberals of the world who screamed about the illegal immigrant getting “whipped” by the border patrol agent on horseback (note: he wasn’t)? They sure aren’t screaming about this tragic situation. Instead, they are pushing their green energy bill, probably salivating over the increasing price of oil and gas as it helps their cause, rather than screaming and yelling about helping the Ukrainians.
I watch the news and pray for the Ukrainians. I also pray that our leaders get their heads out of the sand and realize that a “world war” cannot be avoided. We are already in it. We need to save these people and fight for their right to live their lives. If we don’t, one day they will come for us and for the Amish and for other people like them. No one is safe from tyrants like the Russian leaders who are murdering democracy and people in Ukraine.