No to peace “at any cost”
The West is playing a dangerous game testing the resolve of the East.
The “peace” most pray for is the last thing on God’s mind. So no amount of prayer is going to bring peace anywhere in the world, especially in Ukraine.
Jesus used many names to put himself forth in the Gospels, like the “Son of Man.” But never was “peace” a part of the divine moniker. His most quoted comment: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Jesus is referring to an inner peace of the mind and soul.
The peace that we ask for is a “hedonistic peace.” We want a placid world that does not disrupt the joys of materialistic living.
Rather than praying for peace, we should pray for specific solutions to bad situations and, at times, pure evil. Wars are sometimes necessary. And it is a betrayal of peace when treaties end the conflict but do not cure the ill. Our Civil War ended slavery but it did not cure racism. WW2 defeated the Nazis, but it did not end anti-semitism. Now we need to ask ourselves what we expect in Ukraine. Is it to expand NATO or push the Slavic peoples out of Europe or to weaken Russia geo-politically?
None of those are worthy objectives, though social haters might argue otherwise. However, if neo-nazism is seen as an evil ideology, no peace can be negotiated that accepts its existence. Ukraine risks its sovereignty under such a circumstance.
The bottom line is that there can be no peace without truth and Justice. Those are the only ideals worth fighting for since they are the precursors of a morally driven world order. True liberalism is built upon a concern for the value of all human life.
On the other hand Google says “Neo-liberalism is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as ‘eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers’ and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy.”
Russia, while embracing capitalism, has shunned the neo-capitalist ideology. Included among the primary goals of investment and business are the “welfare of the people.”Ditto for China, but in a more hard-fisted way.
The duplicity of Western politicians does not make them good partners at the negotiating table. Resolution was possible in Ukraine under the Minsk agreement, but the UK and US reneged and convinced Ukraine it could defeat Russia in a war with their help. And so the armaments poured in and Russia read the signals of a massive attack on Donbass and possibly Crimea.
Russia, China and the associated BRICS countries have determined that true peace is only possible in a multi-polar world held together by mutual respect and concern for human welfare. The vulture capitalists and sanctionistas are having none of that.
What the West has managed to do is “to make war thinkable.” The uni-polar world relies on neo-liberalism and neo-capitalism to maintain its world order. Add neo-colonialism to the mix, as represented by the EU and NATO. Now you have a combustible mass.
The East is in the process of rejecting the values, philosophies and practices of the West. War seems inevitable unless a negotiated peace can spell out the end of policies that victimize people to serve the interests of the elites.
It sounds like you're getting a lot of media out of Russia. Basically, your argument is that the 2014 invasion by Russia was valid, and then now that preemptive war is valid. Both of these things are morally questionable.
Then, there is the little "Neo-Nazi" quip. lol - do some research. The highest number per capita of Neo-nazis is in, you guessed it, Russia! Good ole St. Pete is a hotbed for this sort of stuff. Ukraine has a small issue comparatively - and Zelensky certainly doesn't typify this issue! Common Russian disinformation.
The very bottom line is this: Russia started shooting. If they stop, the war ends.
Ukraine has been very disciplined in not attacking Russia proper, as compared with Russia's daily bombings of civilians. Civilians! Commonly. Every. Day.
Russia is the bad guy here - really the one who resembles the Nazis - trying to "DeUkraineize" a people who have developed a national identity? Forcing migration? It's like he's reading the old WWII play book or something.
He's "afraid"? Nah. He's afraid at home - but the world could care less about Russia outside of oil and Gas...and they don't want crazies with a nuclear button...but mostly oil and Gas. Now they care about Russia! They are like, "oh crap, he really is crazy. We better make more armies!"
Why is it "Eastern" to be "totalitarian"? To me it is not a question of East and West, it is a question of totalitarianism vs. electoral/free governing (with all of the economic and moral issues and influences that brings). One can be Eastern without being totalitarian.