This article was written by a missionary friend of mine in Ukraine. I was a missionary there back in 1998-2003. Ukraine is actually the first place I ever smoked a pipe and where I bought my first two pipes. I will post some pics of them later. My friend is a very poignant writer and he speaks of a place and a people that I love, but for most people it is just a blip on the news. Ukrainians are very much like Americans, they want a country of their own, they want freedom and they want success. They want to live and laugh and love, but Russia is making that very hard. Anyway I will let you read it and ask that you lift a bowl to the true patriots of Ukraine, because if someone came in and tried to do this to us we would kick their ass. We have the 2nd amendment however and they do not.
A month ago, the Pastor with whom I work preached a sermon on patriotism. He reminded us that Patriotism at its best is simply a love for one's own country and the people in it. It serves fellow citizens, it cares about the land in its borders, and it builds institutions to establish a brighter future.
Whatever we call it, public spirit, loyalty to your homeland, or nationalism, the idea is that a love for your people translates into a concern and service to one's fellow countrymen. This is the foundational element in a healthy country. The patriot's pride picks up litter, volunteers at food banks, and defends his land from aggression.
This is why we can't call Ukraine's previous president a patriot. Instead of building up he tore down (using parkland for pet building projects); instead of saving the country's money he spent it (personally); and instead of speaking out for the integrity of his country's borders, he betrayed Crimea to Russia (In fact now he's not even living in Ukraine).
This question of patriotism is an especially difficult one in the Eastern part of the country. In the two easternmost regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, there is a very vocal minority (who happen to be very well armed and driving military vehicles) who call themselves separatists. However, it's not entirely clear what they want to separate themselves from or why. These people are systematically destroying the fabric of society in these regions. This is a mishmash of people, most of whom are not Ukrainian citizens (a very important fact), who are destabilizing and destroying, just the opposite of what a patriot does. They do this not out of love for order, but a desire for disorder, which serves the larger ends of some nefarious groups and one nefarious country. Everywhere they are, there is lawlessness (car dealerships looted), disorder (whole cities have simply run out of food), and tragically, death (including a lack of discrimination between shooting regular citizens and Ukrainian soldiers).
What do Ukrainian patriots do?. They employ the fight or flight response. Those who chose to fight back against this chaos are paying heavily for it. Now even the simple gesture of hanging your countries flag on your car, which in most countries is citizenship 101, will mean the loss of your car to fire or vandalism, and if you wear the blue and white colors of the flag on your person, you are sure to be beaten or even kidnapped. A more vocal response carries with it the risk to life and limb.
Other Eastern Ukrainians have chosen the flight response. Some from Crimea have chosen to move out to friends and relatives on mainland Ukraine (notably it is now a hate crime to fly the Ukrainian flag in Crimea, punishable by prison time), and many from the Eastern parts of Ukraine are following their example and leaving for all points West, including Kyiv. For many this flight holds a high price, of property, friends, and family, but they feel it is worth it. They cannot simply stand by and watch their country crumble.
Those of us living in Western Ukraine feel helpless to stop the bleeding. We watched the Odessa tragedy on May 2nd where 38 died. We watched the separatist referendum last weekend, which in the end was nothing more than some card tables set up on street corners manned by masked guys with guns (and for those who couldn’t make it to Ukraine, “polling stations” were set up in Moscow and large numbers voted absentee). We are also watching the Ukrainian army stage offensives, trying carefully to delineate between separatist and citizen, in an attempt to take back cities that have been lost. Everywhere else in Ukraine, patriots watch, pray, and go about loving their country and land as best they can in this chaos.
A month ago, the Pastor with whom I work preached a sermon on patriotism. He reminded us that Patriotism at its best is simply a love for one's own country and the people in it. It serves fellow citizens, it cares about the land in its borders, and it builds institutions to establish a brighter future.
Whatever we call it, public spirit, loyalty to your homeland, or nationalism, the idea is that a love for your people translates into a concern and service to one's fellow countrymen. This is the foundational element in a healthy country. The patriot's pride picks up litter, volunteers at food banks, and defends his land from aggression.
This is why we can't call Ukraine's previous president a patriot. Instead of building up he tore down (using parkland for pet building projects); instead of saving the country's money he spent it (personally); and instead of speaking out for the integrity of his country's borders, he betrayed Crimea to Russia (In fact now he's not even living in Ukraine).
This question of patriotism is an especially difficult one in the Eastern part of the country. In the two easternmost regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, there is a very vocal minority (who happen to be very well armed and driving military vehicles) who call themselves separatists. However, it's not entirely clear what they want to separate themselves from or why. These people are systematically destroying the fabric of society in these regions. This is a mishmash of people, most of whom are not Ukrainian citizens (a very important fact), who are destabilizing and destroying, just the opposite of what a patriot does. They do this not out of love for order, but a desire for disorder, which serves the larger ends of some nefarious groups and one nefarious country. Everywhere they are, there is lawlessness (car dealerships looted), disorder (whole cities have simply run out of food), and tragically, death (including a lack of discrimination between shooting regular citizens and Ukrainian soldiers).
What do Ukrainian patriots do?. They employ the fight or flight response. Those who chose to fight back against this chaos are paying heavily for it. Now even the simple gesture of hanging your countries flag on your car, which in most countries is citizenship 101, will mean the loss of your car to fire or vandalism, and if you wear the blue and white colors of the flag on your person, you are sure to be beaten or even kidnapped. A more vocal response carries with it the risk to life and limb.
Other Eastern Ukrainians have chosen the flight response. Some from Crimea have chosen to move out to friends and relatives on mainland Ukraine (notably it is now a hate crime to fly the Ukrainian flag in Crimea, punishable by prison time), and many from the Eastern parts of Ukraine are following their example and leaving for all points West, including Kyiv. For many this flight holds a high price, of property, friends, and family, but they feel it is worth it. They cannot simply stand by and watch their country crumble.
Those of us living in Western Ukraine feel helpless to stop the bleeding. We watched the Odessa tragedy on May 2nd where 38 died. We watched the separatist referendum last weekend, which in the end was nothing more than some card tables set up on street corners manned by masked guys with guns (and for those who couldn’t make it to Ukraine, “polling stations” were set up in Moscow and large numbers voted absentee). We are also watching the Ukrainian army stage offensives, trying carefully to delineate between separatist and citizen, in an attempt to take back cities that have been lost. Everywhere else in Ukraine, patriots watch, pray, and go about loving their country and land as best they can in this chaos.
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