Josh Benner

Tag: War

  • Russia and Ukraine- Where is it goiing?

    Russia and Ukraine- Where is it goiing?

    It’s crazy how fast the world can change. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week was not a surprise, I still find it surreal that there was relative peace over there a few days ago. 

    Like so many, I’m struck by the senselessness of it all. Russia has invaded another sovereign nation in an unjustified and unprovoked attack, and the exact reasons why still aren’t entirely clear. Was it purely for conquest and to take back former Soviet territories? Was it to make a power play against NATO? There’s no obvious reason (that I’ve heard) as far as natural resources or great strategic advantage that makes this move make obvious sense. 

    The opening days of this war have been a debacle for Russia. Even if they overtake Kiev, it already seems apparent that they will never be able to occupy Ukraine among fierce resistance efforts and a global community who is increasingly coming to the support of Ukraine. It seems that Putin underestimated Ukraine and overestimated his military. The Russians were ill-prepared and ill-equipped for this invasion and to weather a strong resistance. 

    Putin’s miscalculation has done incredible damage to Russia. Looked upon as one of the world’s super powers, this botched invasion has made Russia’s military look incompetent. 

    But what happens next? Putin has talked of a nuclear alert in his military, though many see this as little more than saber rattling. It’s still a scary prospect. 

    All the while, the people of Russia will suffer for this. I feel bad for both Ukraine and Russia. I feel sorry for Russian soldiers who were thrown into a pointless war. It’s estimated that the Russians have lost more soldiers in less than a week in Ukraine than America lost in nearly nine years in Iraq. The world has ratcheted up economic sanctions against Russia. Russian citizens are going to suffer consequences for a war that I have no doubt that the average Russian never wanted to fight. 

    And certainly, I feel bad for the people of Ukraine who have had their lives and country turned upside down. 

    In America, for the first time in a long time, I feel like we all agree on an issue that matters. Russia had no right to do what they did. It cannot get much more clear cut of a country being in the wrong. 

    I’m not an expert. I’m just sharing my thoughts and observations today. On this day, I’m hopeful that it won’t escalate into a massive global war, but sadly, I could be wrong. But the concern that I have is still that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. What happens with Russia when this is over. Do we just absolve Putin of war crimes? 

    Will the western world cut Russia out of the club? I mean, after we figure out how to get away from Russian oil and gas. Or will we continue to condemn and sanction Russia and still be a customer? 

    Wisdom of the Crowd

    There’s this idea called Wisdom of the Crowd which is about how a greater number of inputs from people is closer to the right answer than what the average individual person would be. The classic example is if you have a jar of jellybeans and are asked to guess how many beans are int he jar, you might end up being way off. But if you have 50 guesses, 100 guesses, and if you average those guesses, it’s often pretty close to accurate. 

    I feel like the average person knows that we need to get off of Russian oil. Sadly, politicians often do not have the wisdom of the masses. 

    Thanks for reading. 

  • 75th anniversary of D-Day

    75th anniversary of D-Day

    d7gmptk3-1401982346

    Today is the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. Over 150,000 Allied forces took part in the invasion. Over a million men were part of the overall battle of Normandy. Thousands of ships and planes. Even trying to fathom the size of the operation is impossible to comprehend.
    2WEUKA6QOYZZLCYAMKJ643RCWM
    A lot of our mental images of what D-Day would have been like come from the opening sequence of the movie Saving Private Ryan. D-Day hero and Medal of Honor recipient Walter Ehlers used to tell people to multiply that scene by 60 to appreciate what it was actually like.

    (more…)

  • 100th anniversary of the end of World War I: 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

    http---a.amz.mshcdn.com-wp-content-uploads-2014-11-Armistice-13.jpg
    Crowds in New York celebrate the signing of the armistice which ended World War I

    At this hour, a century ago, the First World War ended. They called it “The War to End All Wars.” But sadly, a generation later, the world would be embroiled in an even bigger, even more deadly, even more catastrophic war.
    But at the time of World War I, it was something the likes of which the world had never seen.
    The loss of life was catastrophic, with an estimated 37 million military and civilians dying in World War I. One of the striking features of World War I to me has always been the enormous losses of life in such short periods of time. In the First Battle of the Somme, there were over a half million casualties in a battle which lasted just 16 days. The First Battle of the Marne was an early battle in 1914. In less than a week, there were a half million casualties and over 150,000 troops killed.
    World War I is fascinating to me.
    I think for most Americans who are history buffs, our interests tend to go to one of three periods: the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II.
    With World War I, America was certainly a major contributor in helping the Allies win the war but we also got involved relatively late (April 6, 1917), after the war had been raging for over 2 and a half years.
    But our year and a half long contribution to the conclusion of World War I was hard fought, with over 116,000 soldiers dying (more than we lost in Vietnam and Korea combined).
    Much of the past century has been shaped by the First World War. Three dynasties came to an end in World War I: The Romanovs in Russia were overthrown by the Bolsheviks in 1917. The Habsburgs were overthrown in Austria-Hungary. And WWI would lead to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, which had held influence since the 13th century.
    It led to an even bigger and deadlier war a generation later. One of the especially interesting things to me about World War I are the origins of the war. How the assassination of an unpopular prince in Serbia escalated to an international crisis. The alliance system pulled in several nations on both sides. The alliance system was a major factor that led to World War I, that perhaps the war was always inevitable and just waiting for a spark. World War II seems much more inevitable and unavoidable because of World War I. 
    The national boundaries in much of the Middle East came in the aftermath of World War I, and were established by the victorious Allied nations.
    World War I was a modern war fought with modern weapons, but the scale of the war and the advancement of technology were beyond what the military philosophy of the day had developed. Most people thought it would be a quick war, but as countries who had large populations and who were relatively evenly equipped, it led to massive stalemates between armies. For much of human history, the populations would not have supported this style of warfare. Tragically, in World War I, armies could keep sending men into the trenches.

    The world changed. At the beginning of the war, the French were still wearing blue coats, similar to what they wore in the Napoleonic Wars. This made them stand out. Officers were still wearing white gloves and caps with horsehair plumes. Entering a modern war with relics of the past. One of the earliest battles in World War I was the battle of the Frontiers. In just over a month of fighting, France alone suffered more than 300,000 casualties. But while the war began with elements of bygone eras, by the end of World War I, armies were using planes (still a pretty new invention at the time) in warfare and shooting guns from them.
    http---a.amz.mshcdn.com-wp-content-uploads-2014-11-Armistice-9.jpg

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Instagram

  • President Trump meets with Kim Jong-un: let’s see what happens

    1024px-Kim_and_Trump_shaking_hands_at_the_red_carpet_during_the_DPRK–USA_Singapore_Summit.jpg

    Yesterday, President Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
    Some are mocking this, others are celebrating it as a great political and diplomatic victory.
    At this point, it’s too early to tell of any longterm success in this meeting. Regardless of what Kim Jong-un has agreed to, the North Korean leadership has a history of not living up to agreements that they make.
    Time will tell.
    But regardless of a person’s politics, regardless of if someone likes or dislikes President Trump, we should all hope and pray that this meeting will lead to diplomatic success. For the sake of the North Korean people who are suffering under an iron fisted tyranny, for the security of the region, and for the overall safety of the world, we should all want this meeting to lead to good results.
    The welfare of the Korean people who are kept in abject poverty, who are fed propaganda and not food, who are kept in Soviet style gulags by the tens of thousands, needs to improve. And we need to see North Korea finally honor their commitments to dismantle their nuclear program. If those things don’t happen, the photo op, the political goodwill, it’s all meaningless.
    If this meeting doesn’t help lead to significant change, the photos will be infamous of a sitting president and a dictator. Sound bites of the president complimenting Kim for his leadership will forever be to Trump’s mockery.
    As others have pointed out, there is no middle ground in this deal. It will be a success or a total failure.
    Time will tell. Prayers for North Korea.


    Josh Benner     is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Peace in Korea? Time will tell

    2018_inter-Korean_summit_01.jpg
    Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in. Photo courtesy of Cheongwadae / Blue House at Wikimedia commons

    North Korea has a history of evil and tyranny. They starve and persecute their own people. They have a horrible record on human rights. It’s a totalitarian police state.
    The Korean War was fought from 1950-53. Hundreds of thousands of troops from the north and south as well as the United States, China, and other countries died. But the war never officially ended. There has been hostility between the north and south. A heavily fortified demilitarization zone has divided the Korean peninsula.
    A constant in North Korea has been the rule of the Kim Dynasty, with Kim Il-sung rising to power after Japan lost control of the north in 1945 (Kim Il-sung became premier of North Korea in 1948).
    But today, April 27, 2018, in an historic summit between Kim Jong Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, the two countries have vowed to end hostilities and officially declared an end to the Korean War.
    In the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, the two countries are committing  to working together to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
    If this all works to achieve peace and unity on the Korean Peninsula, this is something to be celebrated. 
    Time will tell if North Korea is sincere in holding up their end of the bargain. 
    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that true believers would be recognized by their fruits (Matthew 7:20).
    I see an illustration to the gospel and sincere vs phony conversions compared to North Korea’s sincerity or insincerity to pursue peace.
    One of the biggest thing people misunderstand about Christianity is that there’s a difference between a person saying that they have faith and a person who actually has faith.
    One of the ways to know if faith is genuine is by seeing a life that is transformed by the gospel. We’re known by our fruit. Apple trees produces apples. Trees that are rooted in Christ are meant to produce love, joy, and righteousness (among other things).
    It should be easy to tell if North Korea really does want to work for greater peace and unity. Actions will back it up.
    Again, if this is a sincere effort, this day will be long remembered. It’ll be one of the most significant events of the 21st century. But let’s also wait for the harvest and see what kind of fruit North Korea produces.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.