Pastor Mark Burns: Being here in Ukraine, with the people, I can say that propaganda from Russia is very real — and how it’s used in Christian conservative circles to essentially dislike Ukrainians.
And so when I saw with my own eyes that Ukrainians do love God, are not racists, are not godless society as they were being portrayed, are not corrupt people — they’re normal people just like you and me.
And the fact that Ukraine is bigger than just blue and yellow map that you see on CNN — they’re real people. Real mothers, real daughters, real children.
And when I saw that and atrocities that Russians were doing — not the war, but war crimes they had been committing against Ukrainians — my heart immediately shifted and changed from being just a Republican to being a human being.
And I had to choose then to speak for what is right, and not necessarily what is popular. That’s what changed my heart.