| Alexander Solzhenitsyn is one of the best-known Soviet dissidents, so much so that he earned the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. His Gulag Archipelago , written in the 1950s-60s, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich from 1962—both about the Stalin-era labor-camp system—are his most famous works outside of Russia. Yet after the collapse of the USSR, it became increasingly clear that much of his foreign support was not inspired by the Western ideal of ‘human rights’ or concern for average Russians, but served as a tool of geopolitics instead. His statements about resurgent Russia, particularly in the last years before his death in 2008–well into the era of Putin’s leadership–did not suit those that would rather have the country in the permanently weak state of ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ of the 1990s, so that its resources could continue being plundered by domestic oligarchs and foreigners alike, while its culture–transformed into the soft authoritarianism of neo-Liberal Postmodernity. In contrast, one of the most attractive aspects of Putin’s Russia for Solzhenitsyn was the revival that Orthodox Christianity continues to experience. In the eyes of Western mainstream opinion-makers—that is, in the Anglosphere, specifically—at best, Solzhenitsyn’s support for Putin made him a “puzzle.” At worst, his patriotism, referred to as “nationalism” with a derogatory connotation, is said to be “off-putting,” “bizarre,” and an “irony.” Newsweek even presented a ‘psychological evaluation’ of Solzhenitsyn, concluding that he suffers from the “Gulag of the Russian mind.” Indeed, it has become increasingly difficult to use his scathing criticism of certain Soviet policies in light of his advocacy for Russia’s own organic path that includes a set of geopolitical interests. The latter was dubbed as anti-Western. The final straw seems to have arrived following Ukraine’s coup d’état in 2014 that was backed by Washington and Brussels, when several Russian-language publications decided to revisit Solzhenitsyn’s statements about the two neighboring countries made throughout his life. A number of his comments has been translated into English, and are well worth examining. Solzhenitsyn felt greatly attached to this subject because “Ukraine and Russia are merged in my blood,” he wrote. I provide another translation of excerpts from a book called Russia in Collapse ( Rossiia v obvale , 1998) below. Unsurprisingly, Western officialdom found his goal of returning to a historic union of Russia and Ukraine highly problematic. Others simply criticized his statements for being uninformed, suggesting that writers should stay away from international relations. |
| Pronouncing of the word “Christmas” is punishable by death on the territories occupied by ISIS Mosul, December 27, 2014 The outrages of radical Islamists on Iraqi and Syrian territory have not only deprived Christians who live under the yoke of the takfirists of the joy of Christmas, but also alarmed neighboring regions that for the moment are free of the terrorists, reports Linga with reference to news agencies. According to the eyewitnesses’ evidence, on the territories occupied by “the Islamic State” the very utterance of the word “Christmas” is equated with the public preaching of Christianity and is punishable by death. According to Suleiman Yusuf, an international human rights activist, at the present time even an indirect suggestion of the festive mood that is reigning in homes of Christian families of the Nineveh Valley is dangerous. Thus, unusual activity on Christmas days may attract attention of inspectors-takfirists who take the law into their own hands and cruelly deal with “disturbers of the public peace.” “Needless to say hundreds and hundreds of Iraqi churches have not been decorated and adorned for the Christmas feast: today rain is pouring down either on ruins of the centuries-old churches or else on deserted and desecrated altars,” he said. Father Maysar Bahnam, Rector of the Catholic Church of St. George the Victory-Bearer in Baghdad, in his interview dispelled the myth of the safety of Christians in the Iraqi capital which is not under control of militants: “Around 400 people are present at my services; but we cannot arrange a procession of the cross or organize something for the feast outside the church—this is absolutely dangerous now.” The days of Nativity, joyless for 250,000 Christians of the Nineveh Valley, became a hectic period for believers of Lebanon. According to Lebanese Bishop Michel Qassarji, on an average, a Lebanese community has sheltered around 1,800 refugees since the beginning of the Iraqi conflict; 25 new families come to churches every week to ask for help. “All this is very difficult. But as the Church, we are doing our best to meet the needs of these unfortunate people, particularly in food and education,” the hierarch assured the journalists. 29 декабря 2014 г. Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| Family life : Bringing up children Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 Let’s Have More Teen Pregnancy By Frederica Mathewes-Green Dec 15, 2010, 10:00 Discuss this article Printer friendly page Source True Love Waits. Wait Training. Worth Waiting For. The slogans of teen abstinence programs reveal a basic fact of human nature: teens, sex, and waiting aren’t a natural combination. Over the last fifty years the wait has gotten longer. In 1950, the average first-time bride was just over 20; in 1998 she was five years older, and her husband was pushing 27. If that June groom had launched into puberty at 12, he’d been waiting more than half his life. If he been waiting, that is. Sex is the sugar coating on the drive to reproduce, and that drive is nearly overwhelming. It’s supposed to be; it’s the survival engine of the human race. Fighting it means fighting a basic bodily instinct, akin to fighting thirst. Yet despite the conflict between liberals and conservatives on nearly every topic available, this is one point on which they firmly agree: young people absolutely must not have children. Though they disagree on means-conservatives advocate abstinence, liberals favor contraception—they shake hands on that common goal. The younger generation must not produce a younger generation. But teen pregnancy, in itself, is not such a bad thing. By the age of 18, a young woman’s body is well prepared for childbearing. Young men are equally qualified to do their part. Both may have better success at the enterprise than they would in later years, as some health risks—Cesarean section and Down syndrome, for example— increase with passing years. (The dangers we associate with teen pregnancy, on the other hand, are behavioral, not biological: drug use, STD’s, prior abortion, extreme youth, and lack of prenatal care.) A woman’s fertility has already begun to decline at 25-one reason the population-control crowd promotes delayed childbearing. Early childbearing also rewards a woman’s health with added protection against breast cancer. |
| Chinese Christians Swelling In Number As Orthodox Christianity Gets Left Behind November 14, 2014 China, an officially atheist country that is converting into Christianity at breakneck speed, is bound to become the world " s largest Christian country with about 250 million faithful by 2030, save for one group-the Orthodox Christians. Yang Fenggang of Purdue University said that since the 1980s, the Chinese Christian community has been growing by an average of 10 percent per year. A Pew Research pegged their number at 67 million or roughly about five percent of the total population in mainland China in 2011. Unless something short of a miracle happens, however, the Orthodox Christian community-the supposedly prevailing Christian group because of its geographical and historical traces in China-will not see a rise in number. Present estimates suggest they are less than 0.1% of the population and will remain within their current number in the foreseeable future. Since the Communist Party of China (CPC) came to power, religions with western flavors have been tolerated but legally banned from the land. This is not the case with the Orthodox Christian church. According to an article published on The Economist, Orthodox Christianity has legal claims in China because it has historical roots in the land tracing as far back as the 17 th century. In northern China, two communities have been practicing the Orthodox faith for the last three centuries: the Albazinians who are of Russian descent and the Evenks who live near the Siberian border. The religion has since travelled to Harbin and Shanghai and has all but completely died during the communist takeover. At present, they are only numbering to about 15,000 Orthodox Christians who are largely untethered by priests and church leaders. Meanwhile, the Christian communities are swelling in mostly underground or " house " churches. Majority of Chinese Christians are forced to go underground because there are very few state-sanctioned places of worship in the country. |
| And by happiness is meant some average set of emotional-physical joys and conveniences. Having “waved away” the ascetical experience collected by the Church over the centuries, man handicaps himself, makes his life catastrophically truncated, because he rejects help in the most difficult and most important work—discovering the fullness of love and harmony with God. Moreover, having completely immersed himself in emotional-fleshly life, man completely loses the true concept of spiritual life. He may even know about it from books, can think about it and discuss it, but no more than that. This is because the living experience of discovering the grace of the Holy Spirit, the experience of growing in the knowledge of God is acquired in no other way than by “love for the very venerable commandments and sacredly fulfilling them.” Without this experience, eternal grace-filled life becomes a certain culturological fact, and nothing more. Any arch-complex and ultra-modern problem, if we look at it strictly, has its own spiritual dimension. And the laws of cause and effect in spiritual life have not changed since the time of Adam and Eve. Only the external trappings change. The holy fathers’ deep penetration into the essence of human life is just what’s needed to help each one of us to better understand ourselves, to make sense of the causes of many personal problems, and find the path to their proper resolution. The written experience of ascetic life is under no circumstances an example for mindless imitation, but rather a spiritual compass toward which all we Christians should strive, by which we should test all the many forms of our emotional and bodily life. You could call it a spiritual lighthouse that enables us to stay on course and not get lost forever in the darkness of this mad world. Departure from an understanding of the true dimensions of human life, from the awareness of what it should be in eternity, leads to a person’s shameful shallowness. The person lowers himself to the level of an irrational creature, differing only in that every irrational creature knows no sin, because it abides within the boundaries determined for it by the laws of nature. |
| Dr David Landrum, Director of Advocacy at Open Doors UK and Ireland, said: “Growing levels of control of the Internet in combination with increased physical surveillance means that China is on a path towards an Orwellian dystopia. “The technological capabilities are all in place, and the political will for this is a given. For Christians, the Internet has become less free than for the average citizen, as they are perceived as being allied with Western influences. ‘Cancelling’ Christianity in China seems to be a real goal for the CCP.” China is currently number 17 on Open Doors’ World Watch List of places where it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog China’s Internet Clampdown Is Step Closer to ‘Cancelling Christianity’ Donna Birrell Christian websites in China have been suspended as new digital content regulations take effect. The measures, which require internet users who wish to post religious content to obtain a permit, were introduced in March in an attempt to regulate religious content posted online. The Christian ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir. If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life " s purpose, family and society. |
| Due to ongoing and increasing surveillance and censorship of religious minorities, China re-entered the top 20 on the watch list for the first time in a decade. New data show China is using Western technology – including Facebook, Zoom, and Apple – to threaten and censor Christians. Curry explained, “There’s 100 million Christians right now in China, and they (the regime) are using their technology to surveil the church. They’re watching their every move. They’re seeing when they go into church. They’re using facial recognition. They’re looking at their searches online. They have a massive surveillance system which is monitoring religious practice in China and it is absolutely chilling, and I think it poses the greatest threat to human rights.” According to the report, extremist attacks spread further throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon to Burkina Faso, Mali, and beyond. In Nigeria alone, 10 Christians a day are murdered on average due to their religious beliefs. You can f ollow us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Telegram , or Parler Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Number of Christians Murdered for Faith Rose 60 Percent in 2020: 50 Most Dangerous Countries to Be a Christian Charlene Aaron The watchdog organization Open Doors USA says levels of Christian persecution are at a record high around the world. Open Doors reports that levels of Christian persecution are at a record high, revealing that the number of Christians murdered for their faith rose 60 percent in 2020. The group ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| Photo: Photosight.ru. Author: Siren1 When we had first come to our parish, many of the older parishioners expressed real concerns about our children not being in public schools. Now, however, the prevailing comment is totally in support of home schooling, and of our keeping the children out of the public school. We have heard many concerns about home schooling, and questioned ourselves thoroughly on these concerns, and discussed some of them at length. The most frequently repeated concern is about socialization for the children. The other concern is about our ability to teach advanced subjects to our children. At first glance the concern about socialization seems valid. However, in most homes this is not a problem. ‘First of all, we have an active family life and communicate freely with one another. Secondly, we are in Church and there our children’s friends vary widely in age, experience, and culture, but have a common Orthodox Christian foundation. Thirdly, the children are in town and in the stores and libraries and circulate successfully, without the aid of the “socialization” of a public school. The image of the children in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series rises to mind frequently, as well as all the pioneer and missionary children in the world. They tend to do well, even though they may only see other children who share their own values and culture infrequently. The concern about our ability to educate our children is also valid, but the history of home schooling shows the home to often be a healthier learning environment than the classroom. Every parent is a natural teacher. However, parents cannot teach all things. We, personally, certainly cannot do all of it. For reading, we didn’t need to teach our children to read; we only supported their efforts and they are fine readers. For math it has been the same. For history, biography, literature and science, the children are avid readers and gobble it up whether it is “assigned” or is for their own free reading pleasure. Of the more involved academic skills, we cannot really say from personal experience since our oldest child just turned twelve this year, but home school literature shows that home schoolers in general achieve their academic goals using a variety of resources other than the public school classroom that are available to the average family. There are the books available in nearly every subject. We have friends and neighbors in just about every major field of study who can often lend a hand to eager young learners. Recent statistics show that home schooled children as a whole score very highly on SAT exams. |
| We finally arrived in the small town of Kayanga located in the district of Karagwe in the northwestern tip of Tanzania, which was to be our temporary home. Karagwe is near the scenic southwestern shore of Lake Victoria. Our task was twofold: first, to teach courses on Orthodox faith and theology to one hundred students of various ages at a special seminar organized by the local Metropolitan, Jeronymos of Mwanza; and secondly, to be ‘eambassadors of good will’ to the people of Tanzania as we travelled with the Metropolitan to various communities throughout his diocese. Under the inspired leadership of Metropolitan Jeronymos, this particular region of Tanzania is experiencing an incredible thirty percent annual growth rate, with a new seminary, churches, clinics and schools. Metropolitan Jeronymos was born in Uganda and educated in Athens and is fluent in both Greek and English. It was a great honor to work with this man and his devoted staff in such a unique and blessed ministry. Our teaching mission was only one segment of the longer seminars organized by the Metropolitan, where he gathers selected young people, and future leaders and teachers from various villages of his diocese. Nurses, educators, tradesmen and other professionals are invited to provide workshops on agriculture, construction, economics, health and hygiene. The students return home and pass their newly acquired knowledge and skills to their fellow villagers, improving the overall quality of life in their village. The poverty we encountered was incredible. Tanzania is one of the poorest places on earth. Many homes in the rural areas are constructed out of mud-bricks and bamboo sticks. The average life expectancy for Tanzanians is only around fifty years. Many suffer from malaria and yellow fever, and in many areas there is no clean water or adequate sanitation. Despite such extreme poverty, the people were still so joyful and dignified. Most memorable were the smiling faces and joyful voices of the young children who would often flock around us wherever we went, with wide smiles spread across their eager- eyed faces shouting ‘Mzungu!’, ‘Mzungu!’, which means ‘White-man’ in Swahili. |
| Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili responded to the patriarch’s Easter message by saying an abortion ban was not the solution to Georgia’s demographic woes. He said improvements in the average standard of living were the surest way to reduce the number of abortions. Ivanishvili’s prescription on its own, however, might not address the sex-selective abortion problem. Journalist Hvistendahl says the long-held belief that sex selection is something practiced by the poor is not borne out by the evidence. “What is actually happening is that sex selection is something that hits first in urban areas, in rapidly developing countries, not in the poorest places in the world,” Hvistendahl explains. “That is why it hit China, that’s why it hit India. And that is why it is now hitting parts of Eastern Europe. And when it hits those countries, it is the elite that takes up the practice first.” Source: Radio Free Europe Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Georgians Wrestle With Abortion Issue As Gender Imbalance Grows admin May 8, 2013 [caption id="" align="" width="" ] Georgia " s Orthodox Church has urged the government to ban abortion to address the growing problem of gender imbalance caused by sex-selective abortions. But is an outright ban the ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir. |
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