The Theology of Russia and Georgia

One of the most pressing events going on in world affairs now is the Russian invasion of Georgia and its subsequent chain reaction. In case you have just flown in from Mars and have not heard of this, you may read the whole story here. Europe (especially those countries of the former Soviet bloc variety) has been put on notice by a resurgent (or desperate) Russia and has rightly become quite nervous. In any case, my immediate blame was cast on Russia due to a variety of reasons including its “coincidental” concurrence with the Olympic Games (thereby restricting press coverage) and the enormity and coordination of the attack which military experts have asserted could only have been prepared for and premeditated. There have also been attacks on parts of Georgia that are not associated with the disputed regions.

This is not a political blog entry, however. This is a theological thought. Plenty of political analysis can be reviewed from calculated opinions to frothy denunciations on both sides and in between. My particular thoughts have to do with the experience of life which is codified most deeply in the Bible. In this case, the most striking theological issue is that of total depravity. In other words, our condition is such that we are profoundly mixed to the depths of our conscious and unconscious and therefore tainted. We are both victim and victimizer. Murdered and murderer.

In a way, it is almost easier to see this on a geo-political scale and is undeniable even to our most fastidious opponents who champion a high view of the capability of man. One need only look in the well-documented history books and speak with survivors. In the case of Russia, history tells of a quite violent and unfortunate past. Its peoples have been at war with a dizzying array of people groups. Mongols racing in, painting the steppes red. Japan driving Russian forces through Korea and China . Bonaparte and Hitler gashing its borders from the West, leaving a wake of misery in their path. Kaiser Wilhelm wishing to do so.

If one reads Dostoevsky, Sergei Bulgakov and others, one will find a highly developed Russian nationalistic theology that makes American civil religion look like kindergartners trying to count to five (although this is hardly a notable accomplishment). “The sun will rise in the east,” “The Divine Wisdom in the soil of Mother Russia suffering for redemption,” and all that. Only now, God is out of the equation and the ultimate good is the state. Is it any wonder this nationalism arose?

The fascinating part is that the same Russia that is gashed and bleeding from the aforementioned attacks (as well as the internal revolution of Red October, the subsequent Stalinist purges, and the rigors of the Cold War) is the same Russia that has its boot on the neck of the hapless embryo of a democratic Georgian state and threatens both Ukraine and Poland (again). In the same breath, the Georgian majority that was persecuting the Russian minority in South Ossetia is now being persecuted in grand fashion by Russia proper and its partisans.

So who is the good guy? Iran or Iraq? Britain or Argentina? The United States, the Creek Nation, or the Confederacy? Russia or Georgia? What about our lives and the inevitable conflicts that arise with other individuals?

Ecclesiastes 1:13-15 And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.