Aquired helplessness

About the difficulty of standing up for peace in Russia.

Bradn Buerkle, ELM Secretary for Theological Education in International Church Partnerships, described the mentality of the citizens of post-Soviet Russia as "Aquired helplessness". He spoke at a prayer for peace in the Peter and Paul Church in Hermannsburg as part of the Ecumenical Decade of Peace at the end of November.

In order to understand how Russian citizens react, Buerkle draws a line from the Old Testament to modern times. The Old Testament describes how several leaders of Israel abandoned their covenant with God and turned to other gods, even though God had clearly done a lot for Israel. Buerkle has a geopolitical explanation for this: "Israel and Judea were small countries. Their need for security was great, especially when it was not clear what plans their larger, stronger and richer neighbours had. Many rulers were therefore tempted to bow down to the foreign gods of neighbouring countries as part of their diplomacy in order to create allies." Buerkle emphasises loyalty to the one and true God, but also understands why it is so tempting for people who only look at politics to look for anchors of stability.

Buerkle, who worked as a speaker in Russia for 20 years, also sees this search for stability and predictability in Russian society in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, although the geopolitical situation of Israel and Russia is very different: "Russia is the largest country on earth; it still has 1/7th of the world's total land area. As long as it doesn't break up completely, there is no danger of the country being overrun, occupied and exploited by foreign powers." However, Buerkle sees similarities in the fact that in times of political disunity and economic and ideological instability, the temptation is great to succumb to the manipulative security promises of an undemocratic dictatorship.

Part of this dictatorship was to convey a "form of helplessness" to the citizens of Russia. "In many ways, this was not difficult to achieve. With the exception of the revolutions of the 20th century and the first years of post-Soviet democracy, people have not had the experience that their views can seriously influence their society or the actions of their country. They have learnt that showing initiative is punishable and 'toeing the line' is rewarded," was Buerkle's analysis, concluding: "When their country aggressively invaded Ukraine, some succumbed to years of anti-Ukrainian propaganda and still harbour a vague hope of 'victory' today. But even the majority, who simply want the fighting to end regardless of the outcome, believe that there is no hope that their personal actions could end the war."

"In the church," Buerkle puts it, "we try to encourage people to maintain the values that are expressed in their faith. Many Russian Christian leaders - and especially those of the largest Russian church - have failed to do so. Nevertheless, we continue to engage and do what we can to help Russians resist the government's false promises (on the one hand) and total hopelessness (on the other). In the education departments where I work, we encourage critical thinking, even if it would be easier to put your head down and follow the 'party line'. We support them in the cognitive dissonance between their view of things and their inability to take meaningful action and encourage them that they are indeed capable of making a difference, even if only in a small way. As one well-known Russian emigrant put it when asked where would be a safe place for them to live: 'You never know ... There are no guarantees in life, but one thing is certain - the world will be a safer place for everyone if people - instead of looking for a conflict-free place - would do everything in their power in the place where they are to create peace around them'. By encouraging our partners on the (perhaps very long) journey of feeling they can make a difference, we are doing what we can to help build a society that values peace from the ground up."

Buerkle's input was framed by a peace liturgy organised by Ingrid Lüdemann. Lüdemann is the secretary for the educational peace project "Friedensort2GO", which is based in the ELM and the regional church of Hanover.