I think freedom loving people around the world, including most trapped in Vladimir Putin’s atrocious dictatorship, have been appalled by his sending the Russian army into Ukraine. I have also been horrified to see certain elements of the American body politic side with Mr. Putin. By so doing, they have disowned their own freedom and the most basic of American ideals.

Sadly, it’s nothing new. When another monster, Adolf Hitler, was rising to power, too many Americans were attracted to his authoritarianism and racism. Among them was one of America’s most famous heroes, Charles Lindbergh, who argued that Hitler was “no Xerxes of Genghis Khan” but rather a European and so deserved to be respected as such. I won’t even go into the depths of racism implied by Lindbergh’s stance. Suffice to say that, like the modern apologists for Putin, he had no respect for the United States of America and what this country stands for. Until he eventually repudiated his support for Hitler, he was a traitor to freedom and, once we went to war against Hitler, also to his country. Those voicing support for Putin right now are traitors to freedom and the great ideals of their country.

The great American testament, the Declaration of Independence, states, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

To support dictators is to deny that testament and therefore to say that you are a traitor to it and to the cause of human freedom. It’s that simple. It has always been that simple, ever since those immortal words were written down by a group of uneasy, determined men who sought to be free of what they had come to regard as an imperial tyranny.

As far as the visitors are concerned, I have no idea what they think. As far as I can tell, their main interest is human survival. I say that because they have consistently indicated their concern about nuclear weapons by appearing at missile sites in the US and Russia and possibly other places, and they have left a message that our environment is in peril in the testimony of witnesses.

We are in a very, very dangerous situation right now, and every single human being who is on the side of freedom must speak out and, insofar as possible, must act. I can’t go to Ukraine and fight, but I would if I could. I can certainly speak out, and I think that we all should, and indeed, must.

Mr. Putin’s personality follows a familiar pattern: an obsession with his own safety and a complete indifference to the lives of others. Thus you see these pictures of him sitting a ridiculously long tables to keep distance between himself and others. But he doesn’t give a penny for the lives of his own soldiers, let alone the people he is pointlessly murdering in Ukraine. Hitler was like that. So was Napoleon.

NATO was no threat to Russia. Nor was Ukraine. Putin is very like the other dictators: he has a wish to kill others while keeping himself safe. He is, in short, a serial killer with political power. And he will not stop, no more than Hitler did, who had a similar mental illness. This is why there is another very serious worry here: it is nuclear escalation.

If his army remains bogged down, he is going to be tempted to use the tactical nuclear weapons in his arsenal. If that happens, then the same sort of unintended consequences are liable to unfold as happened in July and August of 1914 when the world unexpectedly ended up at war after Austria sent a punitive expedition into the Balkans to avenge the assassination of the heir to their crown.

The difference this time would be stark: instead of millions of lives being pitifully and pointlessly thrown away over a period of years, billions of them and entire civilizations would be at peril of being destroyed in an instant.

The fact that Vladimir Putin is willing to not only destroy the lives and freedom of innocent people in the Ukraine, but to risk even the remote possibility of such an outcome tells me that he is a truly twisted and profoundly corrupt human being.

It is my fondest wish and prayer that his soul somehow finds its way to redemption. But how? He has twisted the knife in his own heart, as have all who support him. Sin is denial of the right to thrive. Therefore, it is sinful to hate freedom and work against it, not to mention taking the lives of others, and the more so in pursuit of bizarre and meaningless goals.

Let’s all pray for the struggling people of Ukraine, for the poor Russian conscripts being thrown away like worthless rags, and for all the world, that we may be safe, and freedom prevail in every corner of every land.

 

Dreamland Video podcast
To watch the FREE video version on YouTube, click here.

Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.

57 Comments

  1. Thankyou for this statement Whitley.
    I join you in hope and prayers for humanity .
    The horrors wrought in this war are something I never thought I,d see in Europe in my lifetime or that of my children and Grandchildren .
    I am thinking about wars that have occurred in the Middle East and the long misery , fear and pain those people’s have endured and still suffer .
    Humanity stands on a cliff edge .
    We can only look to love and light for hope .

  2. There seems to be some hope in that there is actual opposition to him inside Russia. One of the bravest people on the planet, Alexie Navalny seems to have sparked a real movement. At this point Russia itself seems to be the only thing that can stop Putin.

    1. No. The Russians will not stop Putin. They voted for him for the past 20 years. If they wanted someone else, they would have had a revolution to oust him from power. You might as well ask the Nazi Party or the SS to stop Hitler. I’m sure many individuals have considered killing Putin, but it will cost the lives of their families at the hands of the Russian FSB. Putin has been known to imprison and assassinate his opponents. He rules through pain and terror.

      In the span of two weeks since the start of the war, Russia has gone from being a authoritative, mafia-state kleptocracy to a full-blown dictatorship.

      There is talk now of suspending elections in Russia. Russian citizens who have protested the war are being tortured in police detention right now. People’s phones are being randomly searched in the streets of Moscow, and in the streets of other cities across Russia, by Putin’s police, who are purposely wearing body armor to scare ordinary citizens as they go though people’s chat messages—body armor that is marked with the letter “Z”.

      The letter “Z”, which is painted on Russian convoys in Ukraine, is quickly becoming Russia’s version of the Swaztika; the “Z”, being a symbol of support for the war in Ukraine and for blantant Russian nationalism and Russian superiority over the “corrupt and decadent” West.

      Journalists and Critics of Putin (some of whom have now fled Russia for their very lives) have had their apartment doors marked with the letter Z as a form of intimidation.

      The Kremlin has total control of the media. They constantly brainwash their citizens that Russia is under attack from NATO and also from the “Neo-Nazi” government in Ukraine.

      Independent media has died in Russia. It is treason to create “fake news” about the war in Ukraine, punishable up to 15 years in prison; and Russian Prisons are notorious for torture, sexual abuse, gang rape, and abject brutality at the hands of prison guards (almost always against male prisoners). The Russian people know this and they will not risk going to prison for talking against Putin. They live in terror.

      Russia is now a rogue state, being cornered against a wall by the rest of the world who disagrees with Russia’s aggression.

      Because of the sanctions imposed against Putin, against his henchmen, and against the Russian Federation, the Russian Ruble is becoming just as worthless as Weimar-Era German Reichsmarks. 1 Russian Ruble is worth, at this moment, just over half of one cent: $0.0067.

      The Russian people are now suffering. Their economy is in free-fall and they will blame the West. They won’t blame Putin, who now rules over his nation with an iron fist.

  3. Dear Mr Strieber

    I stumbled on your recent YouTube interview with Paul Wallis a couple of days ago, and enthusiastically agreed with pretty well everything you said. I’m now subscribing to your website, and have just read your words above. Hear hear sir! Let’s continue hoping and praying for a peaceful resolution to this crisis. My one regret is I share my birth date (October 7, 1946) with Vladimir Putin (October 7, 1952). But we Librans are supposed to be peacemakers NOT warmongers! Yours sincerely David L Lowe (EagLeo)

    1. I am a Libra, too, and I did not know that about Vlad. That tells me how incredibly indoctrinated he was in his early years with the Party and then KGB. He must have, like Xi, locked his heart and soul in a tiny metal box in a closet somewhere buried deep in the caves of his being. It would take an enormous mount of energy for him to do that, and hard to maintain without becoming an energy vampire. This all explains why he is such a monster. If you look at his bio and photos of him in his youth, he is more Barney Fife than dictator of the New Eurasian Empire.

  4. The threat and likelihood of nuclear implementation will soon enter the news and will be dismissed at first, but will gain terrifying speed once it becomes clear that Putin is seriously contemplating their use. That will change everything. He will hold the entire northern hemisphere for hostage, and he will regale in that monstrous influence. I question whether there are sane members within his inner circle who will stop him from igniting a worldwide firestorm. This is going to become an existential danger that will make Covid look like a carousel ride.

    1. After growing up in the Cold War near an AFB, I’m familiar. Had the nightmare that the missiles were coming until I was in my late 20s. Thought it was over. Guess not. There are whole generations now who have never experienced that level of existential threat–and the “peace”of “mutually assured self-destruction.”

  6. The statement you have made in Freedom is 100% correct, I have been shocked as of late to see how many people believe Putin is some sort of “good guy”. I saw someone post recently that they believe he is invading to stop American corruption caused by Joe Biden his son and the deep state. How can people not clearly see how many of his own people he sees as enemies and has poisoned, The freedoms he has taken away from his own press, there is literally no free press left there. Now he continues to bomb civilian targets. The small portion of what I have seen on the news is truly horrifying and anyone who can see any of this is and think this is being done for some good purpose is insane, they are a true enemy of freedom. I never believed until recently that a Nazi like state could ever come to power in the west but I now see it is still possible. Freedom requires vigilance, understanding and an effort by people who believe in it to keep it alive. I really hope people who believe and support this broken madman will realize what he is before its is to late.

    1. Exactly, and since this was written, it has gotten worse. So many Americans seem to glorify the tyrant because they think he is the Great White Hope, a strong man/daddy who will fix the “woke” culture and put the antifascists and immigrants and BLM and LGBTQ “terrorists” in their place. They actually think he is a Christian, “God-fearing,” etc! They would sacrifice all of our freedoms to have the world the way they want it even if it means that everyone else is either dead or in chains. T

  7. Thank you, I whole-heartedly agree.

    Honest question: where are people seeing Putin apologists / overt or even tacit support?

    Would love to see some evidence on that; I’m not finding any.

    1. These media segments are deeply disturbing to me. Not so much for the fact that the host and guest seem so willing to personally ascribe to such a twisted worldview to score political hits against the current administration but because this disgusting display is reaching into the homes of so many in this country. My grandmother was a concentration camp survivor, my grandfather a forced labor camp survivor during the second world war. Afterwards, they did their best to create a life behind the iron curtain. It was appalling. They fled to the United States in 1967 and lived 50 peaceful years here together working in a factory. Their nightmare former lives a memory. I will never need to do more than recall the look in their eyes when they discussed the horrors of the war or life under communism to remember that the deepest part of me, the essence of my soul, believes in human freedom. I too wish I could help more directly in Ukraine. Live free or die. Sorry but it’s that simple to me.

  9. 1. What’s wrong with dictatorship? After all the Universe is run by the ultimate dictator (regardless of one’s belief).
    Malevolent or benevolent dictatorship – that is the question.
    2. Post Germany unification it was agreed that NATO will not expand eastward. Baker and Gorbachev understanding was per Baker’s note:
    “End result: Unified Ger. anchored* in a changed (polit.) NATO –* whose jurisd. would not move* eastwards!”
    The U.S. lied.
    3. The U.S. has had plenty of time to prevent the war by making it clear that Ukraine will not be part of NATO.
    What would’ve happened if Russia moved nuclear warheads to, say, Mexico (hint: Cuban Missile Crisis)?
    4. What if some world leader called for the assassination of U.S. President (https://www.npr.org/2022/03/04/1084548984/lindsey-graham-putin)?
    5. “After all, the chief business of the American people is business.” President Calvin Coolidge.
    Having seen their big brother – the The pharmaceutical industry, making billions over the Corona vaccine fraud, the military industrial complex decided it’s their turn. The name of the game is to make the Europeans tremble in fear from Russia and as a result go on a weapons shopping spree. It’s working. Sure, huge number of people may die, Ukraine may disappear off the map etc. but no worry, it’s nothing personal, just need to take care of our bottom line. They are now cornering Putin and are making the prospect of WW3 not unreasonable. Profits above all.
    6. U.S. policy since WWII has been to make sure U.S. supporting dictators are ruling countries that are of importance to its interests. To understand this read Perkin’s Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
    7. Putin isn’t indifferent to human suffering – he could’ve erased Ukraine in about two days, and the Red Army, according to military experts would need 4 days to reach Berlin. He’s being cautious and calculated and Ukraine casualties are relatively very low.
    Putin was the one who stopped the bloodshed in Syria and the immense suffering there.

    1. Author

      You cannot have freedom and dictatorship both. Dictatorship is a sickness of the soul, and dictators are infected with it. Hitler built wonderful roads. That didn’t make his dictatorship somehow “good,” and the the same goes for Putin and his horrors. And I agree with you entirely about US support for dictators. It was and is reprehensible.

      1. The first step on the spiritual path is surrender – you’ve come to know that you don’t know, and are now a disciple, and as the old saying goes -.. the Master will appear.
        The culmination of spiritual practice is willingly giving up your free will in order to align it with God’s. This is enlightenment. The Creator is the benevolent dictator of His creation.

        1. Author

          Really? If the Creator is a dictator, benevolent or not, then why do we have free will?

          1. We have free will. And we don’t.
            Welcome to His dichotomy – our universe, the riddle the soul has been here for eons attempting to solve:
            Two opposites can exist simultaneously, if, as those that reached Enlightenment explain, we live in an illusion (what the Hindus call Maya).
            The process:
            Trying to understand the Universe through the intellect to exhaustion.
            Next, coming to the Great Realization – I know that I don’t know. This is the stage of a Seeker. When the He is pleased with your sincerity, your Master will find you (when the student is ready the Master will appear).
            Congrat. – you’ve made it to being a disciple.
            Your objective at this stage is to give up your free will, out of your free will. Once you do, your spiritual path can begin. The objective is to willingly give up your free will and align it with God’s, which is who you’ve always been but forgot. Now you remember. Riddle solved.
            I may have to break this down to even smaller pieces – that’s fine.

          2. In the Garden of Eden, free will is associated with original sin and humankind is punished FOR ALL TIME for exercising it. That’s some serious social mind control there.

      1. You may be right, Stan. I’m not saying that Putin is a saint. Far from it. I believe I understand the complexity of things, hence, the critique of Mr. Strieber’s one sided view.
        Also, the relatively few Americans that travel abroad are shocked at how much the U.S. is hated around the world.
        Far more so than Russia (Putin, by the way, is wildly popular among Russians). This is due to their own ignorance of the sinister forces that are calling the shots in their country.
        This, and my other posts – I forgot to mention, are my opinion – I could be wrong (I’m making it a habit to constantly remind myself lol)

        1. Author

          I favor freedom. That’s not a “one sided view,” it’s support of the most basic of all human rights.

          1. “I think freedom loving people around the world, including most trapped in Vladimir Putin’s atrocious dictatorship, have been appalled by his sending the Russian army into Ukraine”
            Putin is widely supported in Russia (including his recent adventure in Ukraine), in sharp contrast to how Americans view their current President.
            “To support dictators is to deny that testament and therefore to say that you are a traitor to it and to the cause of human freedom”
            You may want to bring this insight to those who have been orchestrating U.S. foreign policy since the end of WW2, see what they have to say.
            “As far as the visitors are concerned, I have no idea what they think. As far as I can tell, their main interest is human survival”
            Their objective is to remind us who we are.
            “Mr. Putin’s personality follows a familiar pattern: an obsession with his own safety and a complete indifference to the lives of others…. But he doesn’t give a penny for the lives of his own soldiers, let alone the people he is pointlessly murdering in Ukraine. Hitler was like that. So was Napoleon.”
            And most U.S. Presidents.
            “NATO was no threat to Russia. Nor was Ukraine”
            1.Post Germany unification the agreement was no NATO expansion eastward. The U.S. lied. Russia needs a buffer zone to defend itself, and Ukraine is its last stand.
            2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/11/un-council-ukraine-russia-chemical-weapons-zelensky/
            To choose who to believe is very tempting, but to remain unbiased is the wise man’s choice.
            My opinion, I could be wrong.

          2. I think that descriptors like “one-sided view” in critique of someone who voices full-fledged support for human freedom is a trick of the dark side. I see it in the media. Hosts who strive to be little more than contrarian to the current administration purposefully attempt to confuse their fanbase by introducing inflammatory and baseless theories that undermine support for freedom. There are plenty of ways that our country can improve itself, and there are things in our history that I am not proud of, even ashamed of. But I’m deeply concerned about some of this rhetoric.

        2. I was dialoging with a musician in Russia on social media and started to speak about Freedom, mostly from a musical sense, the very word Freedom caused him to end all communication. Russians are terrified of their dictator! Asked publicly, they will lie! The truth was obvious.

          1. Author

            You illustrate the point that we have no way to tell whether or not Putin is “wildly popular” in Russia. The reason is simple: who is going to dare to say to anybody else, including a pollster, that they don’t like the dictator. The answer is that they are all going to say they love him. So his actual level of popularity is impossible to gauge.

        3. When someone invades a sovereign nation, there aren’t 2 sides. There are victims and aggressor. This goes for both Russia and the USA in the middle east. I am shocked at the American rationalizations for Putin’s actions. Many Republicans seem to admire his audacity.

    3. If Putin could erase the Ukraine in 2 days, he would have done so. Where are you getting this nonsense from, Tucker Carlson? Regardless of all the rationalizations you are giving for this, Putin and Russian strategy always falls back on just killing as many civilians as possible. We are seeing that every day as cities are turned to rubble.

    4. I guess you are aware now of the falsities in your assertions now. Putin backs Assad and Syrians have been letting every one know that the bombing of hospitals and civilians is out of the Putin Syrian playbook. Benevolent dictator is okay but if he is a human, he will die and then stupid, crazy, insane may be the next one. See Rome for a great example–most everyone who followed Octavian until eventually no more Rome. It would not have lasted that long were it not for Octavian establishing a bureaucracy that functioned well without actual leadership.

  10. Amen, well written, Mr. Strieber! Allthough, i think there is a little truth to what “Atman” wrote… maybe… it’s terrible that the soldiers at rank of sergeant and lower didn’t even know they were going to war or would face resistence… in any case, all i know for sure is, the truth in what Abdu’l-Bahá wrote just over 100 years ago: in “A letter written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, The Hague, 17 December 1919

    “O ye esteemed ones who are pioneers among the well-wishers of the world of humanity!

    The letters which ye sent during the war were not received, but a letter dated 11 February 1916, has just come to hand, and immediately an answer is being written. Your intention deserves a thousand praises, because you are serving the world of humanity, and this is conducive to the happiness and welfare of all. This recent war has proved to the world and the people that war is destruction while Universal Peace is construction; war is death while peace is life; war is rapacity and bloodthirstiness while peace is beneficence and humaneness; war is an appurtenance of the world of nature while peace is of the foundation of the religion of God; war is darkness upon darkness while peace is heavenly light; war is the destroyer of the edifice of mankind while peace is the everlasting life of the world of humanity; war is like a devouring wolf while peace is like the angels of heaven; war is the struggle for existence while peace is mutual aid and co-operation among the peoples of the world and the cause of the good-pleasure of the True One is the heavenly realm.

    There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace. Every just one bears witness to this and adores that esteemed Assembly because its aim is that this darkness may be changed into light, this bloodthirstiness into kindness, this torment into bliss, this hardship into ease and this enmity and hatred into fellowship and love. Therefore, the effort of those esteemed souls is worthy of praise and commendation.

    But the wise souls who are aware of the essential relationships emanating from the realities of things consider that one single matter cannot, by itself, influence the human reality as it ought and should, for until the minds of men become united, no important matter can be accomplished. At present Universal Peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice strong.

    Therefore His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, fifty years ago, expounded this question of Universal Peace at a time when he was confined in the fortress of ‘Akká and was wronged and imprisoned. He wrote about this important matter of Universal Peace to all the great sovereigns of the world, and established it among his friends in the Orient. The horizon of the East was in utter darkness, nations displayed the utmost hatred and enmity towards each other, religions thirsted for each other’s blood, and it was darkness upon darkness. At such a time His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh shone forth like the sun from the horizon of the East and illumined Persia with the lights of these teachings.

    Among his teachings was the declaration of Universal Peace. People of different nations, religions and sects who followed him came together to such an extent that remarkable gatherings were instituted consisting of the various nations and religions of the East. Every soul who entered these gatherings saw but one nation, one teaching, one pathway, one order, for the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh were not limited to the establishment of Universal Peace. They embraced many teachings which supplemented and supported that of Universal Peace.

    Among these teachings was the independent investigation of reality so that the world of humanity may be saved from the darkness of imitation and attain to the truth; may tear off and cast away this ragged and outgrown garment of 1,000 years ago and may put on the robe woven in the utmost purity and holiness in the loom of reality. As reality is one and cannot admit of multiplicity, therefore different opinions must ultimately become fused into one.

    And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is the oneness of the world of humanity; that all human beings are the sheep of God and He is the kind Shepherd. This Shepherd is kind to all the sheep, because He created them all, trained them, provided for them and protected them. There is no doubt that the Shepherd is kind to all the sheep and should there be among these sheep ignorant ones, they must be educated; if there be children, they must be trained until they reach maturity; if there be sick ones, they must be cured. There must be no hatred and enmity, for as by a kind physician these ignorant, sick ones should be treated.

    And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is, that religion must be the cause of fellowship and love. If it becomes the cause of estrangement then it is not needed, for religion is like a remedy; if it aggravates the disease then it become unnecessary.

    And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is, that religion must be in conformity with science and reason, so that it may influence the hearts of men. The foundation must be solid and must not consist of imitations.

    And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is, that religious, racial, political, economic and patriotic prejudices destroy the edifice of humanity. As long as these prejudices prevail, the world of humanity will not have rest. For a period of 6,000 years history informs us about the world of humanity. During these 6,000 years the world of humanity has not been free from, war, strife, murder and bloodthirstiness. In every period war has been waged in one country or another and that war was due to either religious prejudice, racial prejudice, political prejudice or patriotic prejudice. It has therefore been ascertained and proved that all prejudices are destructive of the human edifice. As long as these prejudices persist, the struggle for existence must remain dominant, and bloodthirstiness and rapacity continue. Therefore, even as was the case in the past, the world of humanity cannot be saved from the darkness of nature and cannot attain illumination except through the abandonment of prejudices and the acquisition of the morals of the Kingdom.

    If this prejudice and enmity are on account of religion (consider that) religion should be the cause of fellowship, otherwise it is fruitless. And if this prejudice be the prejudice of nationality (consider that) all mankind are of one nation; all have sprung from the tree of Adam, and Adam is the root of the tree. That tree is one and all these nations are like branches, while the individuals of humanity are like leaves, blossoms and fruits thereof. Then the establishment of various nations and the consequent shedding of blood and destruction of the edifice of humanity result from human ignorance and selfish motives.

    As to the patriotic prejudice, this is also due to absolute ignorance, for the surface of the earth is one native land. Every one can live in any spot on the terrestrial globe. Therefore all the world is man’s birthplace. These boundaries and outlets have been devised by man. In the creation, such boundaries and outlets were not assigned. Europe is one continent, Asia is one continent, Africa is one continent, Australia is one continent, but some of the souls, from personal motives and selfish interests, have divided each one of these continents and considered a certain part as their own country. God has set up no frontier between France and Germany; they are continuous. Yea, in the first centuries, selfish souls, for the promotion of their own interests, have assigned boundaries and outlets and have, day by day, attached more importance to these, until this led to intense enmity, bloodshed and rapacity in subsequent centuries. In the same way this will continue indefinitely, and if this conception of patriotism remains limited within a certain circle, it ill be the primary cause of the world’s destruction. No wise and just person will acknowledge these imaginary distinctions. Every limited area which we call our native country we regard as our mother-land, whereas the terrestrial globe is the mother-land of all, and not any restricted area. In short, for a few days we live on this earth and eventually we are buried in it, it is our eternal tomb. Is it worth while that we should engage in bloodshed and tear one another to pieces for this eternal tomb? Nay, far from it, neither is God pleased with such conduct nor would any sane man approve of it.

    Consider! The blessed animals engage in no patriotic quarrels. They are in the utmost fellowship with one another and live together in harmony. For example, if a dove from the East and a dove from the West, a dove from the North and a dove from the South chance to arrive, at the same time, in one spot, they immediately associate in harmony. So is it with all the blessed animals and birds. But the ferocious animals, as soon as they meet, attach and fight with each other, tear each other to pieces and it is impossible for them to live peaceably together in one spot. They are all unsociable and fierce, savage and combative fighters.

    Regarding the economic prejudice, it is apparent that whenever the ties between nations become strengthened and the exchange of commodities accelerated, and any economic principle is established in one country, it will ultimately affect the other countries and universal benefits will result. Then why this prejudice?

    As to the political prejudice, the policy of God must be followed and it is indisputable that the policy of God is greater than human policy. We must follow the Divine policy that applies alike to all individuals. He treats all individuals alike: no distinction is made, and that is the foundation of the Divine Religions.

    And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is the origination of one language that may be spread universally among the people. This teaching was revealed from the pen of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh in order that this universal language may eliminate misunderstandings from among mankind.

    And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is the equality of women and men. The world of humanity has two wings — one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed an the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.

    And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind. This voluntary sharing is greater than equality, and consists in this, that man should not prefer himself to others, but rather should sacrifice his life and property for others. But this should not be introduced by coercion so that it becomes a law and man is compelled to follow. Nay, rather, man should voluntarily and of his own choice sacrifice his property and life for others, and spend willingly for the poor, just as is done in Persia among the Bahá’ís.

    And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is man’s freedom, that through the ideal power he should be free and emancipated from the captivity of the world of nature; for as long as man is captive to nature he is a ferocious animal, as the struggle for existence is one of the exigencies of the world of nature. This matter of the struggle for existence is the fountain-head of all calamities and is the supreme affliction…” (Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet to the Hague, p. 7).

  11. Thank you for this Whitley. I have not seen you or been in touch since Dreamland 2012. However, in light of current events, I came back to catch up on some reading…you have been busy.
    I have always valued your insights, and am very happy to be back. Love to you both. Take care.

  12. Whitley I have been troubled all day by your latest blog. I’ve been a subscriber since probably day one. You have been extremely important to me since Warday. Bought all your books and look forward big time to your next one. I am refreshed however by your reply to the above post by ATMAN. His points are irrefutable and it’s at least somewhat comforting to read the last sentence in your reply to him/her. My father was in the first squad to link with the Soviet army at the Elbe river in 1945. 69th division with Lt. Robertson. When Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich by Shirer came out in 60 or 61 my Dad brought it to me and offered me 5 bucks if I would read it and be able to intelligently discuss it with him. 5 dollars was a big deal to a 9 year old in 61 and I jumped all over it. Later on he talked to me about how the Ukraine welcomed the Wehrmact and the SS with open arms. This was understandable when the atrocities Stalin laid on the region are considered. But many of the Ukrainians were horribly complicit in the horrors against their Jewish neighbors. The media seems all too ready to harken back to WWII resonances and analogies when it fits what may or may not be a correct narrative. But their history is selective and not incisive or correct. Apparently the eastern provinces of Ukraine have been subject to close to something of a modern pogrom. Is Putin a demon for not abiding this? Is he a monster for not wanting NATO to install nuclear weapons on the doorstep of his country? But in the final analysis your blog is not to be dismissed. 5 wrongs do not make a right and Putin’s aggression is possibly a disaster of the first order. Let us hope there are statesmen in the wings of the JFK/Krushev stripe.

    1. Evidence of a modern pogrom in eastern Ukraine? Reference please. From what I’ve read there is no genocide taking place there. Are the Russians there better off in Putin’s Russia than Eastern Ukraine? As far as their history in WWII how far do we take the sins of the father visited upon the son? Is Putin responsible for the atrocities committed under Stalin?

      1. The words pogrom and genocide are both probably far too strong. From what I have read there have been thousands of Russians in Eastern Ukraine killed since 2008. As to reference, I don’t live in the U.S. and I see quite a different take on things from print media as well as RT News and other TV news here. Obviously RT must be viewed through the gauze of Russian propaganda but in my opinion so must almost all cable news from the U.S. be viewed in the same way. And good point about the sins of the fathers. I honestly did not mean to imply that in a broad sense. There are however evidently some organised Nazi groups in Ukraine. How significant or how many of them I see wildly different accounts. And how much of this is a resonance of the past? But thanks for your considered reply to my post Stan. And I hope for peace and no more invasions by any country of another.

        1. Even if Ukraine was ruled by Nazi’s, this does not give Russia the right to invade and destroy cities. The Ukraine is a sovereign nation. What lengths people will go to to justify Putin. Just astonishing.

    2. You do realize that just about everyone associated with World War 2 is DEAD. So how long are you going to blame 21st century Ukrainians, and seemingly justify a vicious attack against them, based on the actions of people over 80 years ago who are dead!!

    3. A monster strikes civilian targets like maternity hospitals. 20 hospitals have been destroyed so far. A monster targets huge residential apartment blocks.

    4. It’s interesting that Putin is invading a country because he is fearful of being invaded. It’s called Projection.

  13. Author

    The media conflates simple stories, but, as you so eloquently point out, there are no simple stories.

  14. Thank you for writing this article, Whitley. There are those who occupy human bodies and walk the earth who have no soul. I believe that Vladimir Putin is one of these beings. Humans have manifested such a being onto our plane of existence because in his rise to power, there were those who looked the other way or admired him for his gangster tactics. I do not pray for Putin because he is beyond redemption but I pray for those people in Ukraine who are suffering because of his will to prevail, and are the victims of his inability to look beyond the greedy desires of his own ego and inability to show compassion. We can pray to support the Ukrainian people in their time of need and fight for Democracy. Being an optimist of the strength of focused prayers, I believe the Creator will hear these prayers and the downfall of those who are evil and without souls, will come to pass.

    1. While you may be correct, I don’t think we can blame evil on external forces. Up to 6% of humans are born with a dead amydala, the part of the brain that allows us to feel love, compassion, empathy, kindness and all other spiritual values. If a person is born without this, they are essentially a Reptilian Brain in action. Such people learn quick to feign the pleasant emotions to get along, but they have never experienced them. This is an extremely horrible birth defect that walks among us. Such people can be called psychopaths since all they care about is power and their own ego. I suspect Putin is like this, and this explains Trump and some of the right wing’s constant adoration of Putin.


  16. What if the threat of nuclear use is designed to force the visitors hands? Force them to emerge?

  17. There is a very interesting book on the Austrian SS general who lorded over Ukraine during WWII.. a man named “Dr Wächter”. See Philippe Sands, “The Ratline” (2020). Ukrainians were def no saints then or now. That being said, Putin is a criminal and should be stopped at all costs. As usual, there are no virgins in this business. No easy way out. China must be happy, though.. we might consider learning Mandarin. Best, MC.

      1. From my limited experience with the visitors, they seem to be organized by racial type. The small greys are 100% subservient to the tall Greys, who seem subservient to others. It is like they are a designer built species that creates variations of itself to perform certain jobs. This does not sound like a democracy to me. It seems an extreme tops-down civilization.

  20. I am the one that has been harping for Whitley to take a stand. Then when he takes a stand against Putin and his craven Republican admirers in the USA (e.g., Tucker Carlson), I am slow on the uptake. Thank you for this refreshing blog that shows your true character and strength at a time when everyone is asked to make a choice between craven power on one hand and innate human decency on the other.

  21. From my limited experience with the visitors, they seem to be organized by racial type. The small greys are 100% subservient to the tall Greys, who seem subservient to others. It is like they are a designer built species that creates variations of itself to perform certain jobs. This does not sound like a democracy to me. It seems an extreme tops-down civilization.

Leave a Reply