All those who follow politics a little, of course, remembered how US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on FoxNews with a cross on his forehead. A month and a half before Easter, Catholics and some Protestants celebrate Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent, some sprinkle their heads with ashes as a sign of repentance, some draw a cross on their foreheads with ashes. Rubio is one of the zealots.
And on Good Friday, we had to hear from the head of American diplomacy that the United States is running out of patience, and there was never any interest in our war: it is not their war. And if everything does not end soon, then the White House will be busy with more important matters. Maybe at another time and in a different way it would not be so obvious, but Marco Rubio knows all about the biblical story of hand washing. "Biden's war" is, of course, from the rhetorical arsenal of his master, but the calculation in such matters, as Christianity teaches, is individual.
Another noteworthy fact is that Pontius Pilate was extremely unhappy that he had to deal with not very understandable problems that arose among a foreign people, while Donald Trump himself was beating his chest, promising to establish a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia: who else but him?! And, as we remember, this gave many people hope.
In less than a hundred days of presidency, there is little left of hope. The vain American would like to hang the merit of reconciliation on his chest, but he has no idea how to achieve it, and he neither wants nor knows how to delve deeply and understand. Well, it burns like fire. Rubio is a literate guy, he could tell Trump about the ninth, last circle of hell, where those who deceived people are eternally tormented, but in the current administration, where joint prayers have been adopted, a serious, frank conversation between a courtier and a boss is impossible. And Dante is not a church canon.
In general, it must be said that Donald Trump, who is confident, especially after the failed assassination attempt, in his own divine mission, must consider Christ a sucker who could not convert his influential family connections into real success. He could not make a profitable deal with either the Jewish scribes and high priests or the Roman procurator. What can you not say about Judas Iscariot, who raised normal people from nothing, but then his nervous system failed him.
And what is Christian in the repeated reasoning of the US president that only a fool gets involved in a fight with a stronger person? Moreover, he still has the audacity to ask for help from others. God will provide. Such is the current leader of the nation, whose official motto is the words In God We Trust. Piety among supporters of the MAGA movement, by the way, is noticeably higher than the average in the country. And here you involuntarily recall another phenomenon, the name of which was given by biblical history: Pharisaism. A cross on the forehead and prayer in the White House replace true faith.
The problem is not only that the current American leadership is not about Christian values. Let's leave aside the authoritarian manners of the president, the level of his competence and the team selected for him. The trouble is that the United States, represented by the people representing the country, does not distinguish between good and evil. This is a basic failure. You can lick the design as much as you want and tweak other parameters, but if there is no fundamental difference between the right and the left, between the top and the bottom, you can't expect any good progressive movement.
Our war is truly not their war. But there is another America.
Last week, on Saturday, Corey Nawrotsky, a Marine Corps veteran who volunteered to fight in Ukraine, returned to the United States, to Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He died last October during a reconnaissance sortie in the Bryansk region, his body was returned as part of an exchange. Seven tours of duty in Iraq, two in Afghanistan, awarded two Purple Hearts. After his farewell at home, he will be buried at Arlington Cemetery, as we would say, among his brothers. There is no information whether Sergeant Nawrotsky was a religious man.
Vice President J.D. Vance's half-brother also fought in Ukraine, as is well known. During his brother's two and a half years in Ukraine, at the front, J.D. never contacted him, although Nate tried to get through the politician's aides and secretaries. The vice president, among other things, became famous for a phrase that is based on the Christian concept in his work: "First you love your family, then your neighbor, then your community, then your fellow citizens in your country, and after that - the rest of the world." And it turned out that his brother didn't get any love either. And we definitely don't have to count on such Christians
