LISTEN: A Ukrainian Christian explains why she stayed in Kiev

(and other stories.)

A couple of culture war columns: France legalizes abortion later in pregnancy and progressive politicians fight to remove conscience rights; a doctor explains on a popular podcast why he became pro-life; and experts are noting that we use our smartphones as “security blankets”—and this is preventing us from living fully human lives. But I suspect we all knew that, deep down.

For those interested, I joined The Pro-Life Guys podcast to talk about why we should be involved in the pro-life movement.

I reviewed Sohrab Ahmari’s latest book The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos, which attempts to look at how we can preserve and live out tradition in our post-Christian age.

At The European Conservative I have an article on how Winston Churchill saw himself as a defender of the Christian religion.

Finally, I know many people have noted how difficult it is to know what is going on between Ukraine and Russia. There are dozens of videos flying around, and the collapse of trust in the institutional media has led people to be suspicious of everything they see and read. I spent quite a bit of time studying Russian politics (I did a reporting trip to Russia in 2018 as well)—my essay from last year on why Putin uses religion to promote Russian nationalism can be read here for those interested—but Ukrainian politics is not my expertise.

Instead, I got in touch with several people in Kiev, one of whom writes for The European Conservative, where I serve as contributing editor. Darina Rebro is a young woman who chose to stay because her grandparents are too old to flee the city, and because she believes that as a Christian, she should stay and help her neighbors. If you want the human side of what is going on, please listen to the interview below. I found Rebro’s insights incredibly powerful. She was scheduled to be married, she said, but cannot work on the wedding list “because I don’t know who will survive.”

The Van Maren Show Episode 155: A Ukrainian Christian explains why she chose to stay in Kyiv

PS: Here’s what the last three print editions of The European Conservative look like. It is a beautiful magazine.