Henry Idema: Two wars — where is God?

Many wars are going on in the world but our attention, and support, is focused on the Russian attack on Ukraine, and the war between Hamas and Israel. The role of religion is integral to both conflicts.

Bob Dylan in his iconic 1964 song "With God on our Side" ended his litany of wars where the victors, in this case America, are asked, "If God's on our side, he'll stop the next war." This was written only a handful of months before President Johnson sent the first American troops into a deathtrap in Vietnam based on lies. For years a majority of the American public supported this war, which we eventually lost.

Obviously, the supernatural power that believers call "God," or "Allah," or "Shiva" and once called "Zeus" did not stop the Vietnam War nor all the wars after that war, including the two I am focusing on.

Since no one has the mind of God, let's look at the religions created by humanity to worship the deity. The Russian Orthodox Church supports Putin and his aggression, sanctioning it with the promise of God's blessing to those who die for Russia. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church once the war started broke from the Russian church and supported the resistance to Russian aggression. This war is in part a religious war, similar to other wars of religion in Europe over the centuries.

In Gaza, we have Jews fighting Palestinian Christians and Muslims in a brutal slaughter that began with the slaughter of Jews. The TV images have been horrifying, beginning on Oct. 7. Religion against religion just as in Ukraine.

Netanyahu opposes a two-state solution and has vowed to carry on this war until Hamas is totally destroyed. Thus no end in sight there. Putin has vowed to put 600,000 more troops into his war and vowed not to end the conflict until he achieves victory, no matter how many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have already died.

Both the United States and Israel voted against the United Nations resolution to impose a ceasefire to stop the killing, the only two nations to do so. There is no end in sight for this war if we put our hopes in the UN.

So at this time of the holiday season where both Christians and Jews celebrate in joy, love of friends and family, and hopes of peace, we are witnessing endless wars where religion stokes the flames of violence, while not  demanding our leaders, "stop the killing."

America supplies more arms to wars than any other nation of the world, or near to it. This is a very profitable business. Being an arms dealer gives us leverage over all sides in these two wars, but I do not see us using this leverage to force a ceasefire or a solution in either war.

So what is to be done? Jesus said the truth will set us free. Part of being free is self-awareness. The three old white men who are the players in these wars, Biden, Putin and Netanyahu, and I will throw in here Trump who seeks to be president once again, all lack self-awareness. They are not popular in their own countries, although it is hard to read the Russian public with Putin's control of the media. Seventy-one percent of Americans do not want to see a Biden/Trump rematch. Don't these old men realize how unpopular they are? The Democrat and Republican parties do not seem to care and are basically lifting their middle finger to the American public.

Putin will continue his war no matter how many Russians are killed, and Netanyahu does not seem to care how many Palestinians or Jews die in this war. He is detested in his country, in part because it took eight hours before any soldiers reached the slaughter of Oct. 7. Moreover, his government neglected information on the exact blueprint of the attack plan by Hamas which an intelligence officer, a woman, figured out.

These old white men must give way for younger leadership in their countries. If they had any self-awareness, they would step down and if Trump had any self-awareness he would not run for president. New and younger leadership is the only hope I have to end wars and not start new ones. God won't do this for us.

— Henry Idema lives in Grand Haven. He can be reached at henryidema3@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Henry Idema: Two wars — where is God?