| The mass media can play various socio-political roles by both being a unifying, enlightening and peace-making force in society, as well as by being a destructive and inflammatory force inciting enmity and hatred. Unfortunately, modern-day tendencies show that journalism can be easily transformed into a weapon for the manipulation of human consciousness. Today we Christians of both West and East are confronted by many challenges and problems which our conscience has to respond to. “The power of the word is stronger than the power of money or arms. All that has happened in history, all great transformations began with the word … The word contains within itself the potential for salvation and the potential for ruin, and the past twentieth century illustrated in an astonishing way the power of the word,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill The average person today mainly believes that which he/she reads in print or in the electronic media, or sees on television. A script read aloud in authoritative tones on television accompanied by a video footage has no need of proof. It is not the conclusions that convince but the reader’s intonation and pictures on the screen. The paradox of the modern-day world is that in an apparent surfeit of information, people and society as a whole are in receipt of less concrete, evidential and proven information and become ever more victims of mythalogization and manipulation. It is these devices which are often used by new so-called religious organizations and fundamentalists for whom the recruiting of new followers is the primary objective. We mean here totalitarian sect It is within this new reality, when the volume of news reports overwhelms the consumer of information and he/she has no time to check their veracity, that ‘fake news’ is more often used. The technology of creating fake news is varied but, as a rule, by applying the discernment approach it is possible to recognize a fake. The problem is that people today, weighed down by the cares of their day-to-day lives, lack time to analyze the information they get and to determine what is true and what is a lie. |
| Obgleich Fürst Andrei von sich selbst glaubte, daß es ihm ganz gleich sei, ob die Feinde nun auch noch Moskau nähmen wie vorher Smolensk, mußte er doch auf einmal infolge eines plötzlichen Krampfes, der seine Kehle befiel, in seiner Rede innehalten. Er ging ein paarmal schweigend auf und ab; aber seine Augen glänzten fieberhaft und seine Lippen zitterten, als er wieder weitersprach: »Wenn diese Sucht, im Krieg den Edelmütigen zu spielen, in Verruf käme, so würden wir nur in solchen Fällen in den Krieg ziehen, wo sein Zweck es wert ist, daß man um seinetwillen in den sicheren Tod geht. Dann würde kein Krieg deswegen geführt werden, weil Pawel Iwanowitsch den Michail Iwanowitsch beleidigt hat. Sondern wenn Krieg geführt würde, wie jetzt, so würde es ein wirklicher Krieg sein. Auch die seelische Beteiligung der Truppen würde dann eine andere sein als jetzt. Dann wären alle diese Westfalen und Hessen, die Napoleon mit sich führt, ihm nicht nach Rußland gefolgt, und wir wären nicht nach Österreich und Preußen gezogen, um dort zu kämpfen, ohne selbst zu wissen warum. Der Krieg ist keine Liebenswürdigkeit, sondern die garstigste Handlung im menschlichen Leben; das muß man sich klarmachen und ihn nicht als Spiel betreiben. Ernsten, strengen Sinnes muß man diese furchtbare Notwendigkeit hinnehmen. Alles kommt darauf an, die Unwahrhaftigkeit fernzuhalten und den Krieg als Krieg zu behandeln und nicht als Spielerei. Jetzt aber ist der Krieg das Lieblingsamüsement müßiger, leichtsinniger Menschen. Der Militärstand ist der geachtetste. Und was ist das Wesen des Krieges? Was ist beim Kriegshandwerk zum Erfolg nötig? Wie beschaffen sind die Sitten des Militärs? Der Zweck des Krieges ist der Mord; die Mittel des Krieges sind Spionage, Verrat, Anstiftung zum Verrat, der Ruin der Einwohner, die ausgeplündert oder bestohlen werden, um die Armee zu versorgen, Betrug und Lüge, die als Kriegslist bezeichnet werden; die Sitten des Militärstandes sind: jener Mangel an persönlicher Freiheit, welcher Disziplin heißt, Müßiggang, Roheit, Grausamkeit, Unzucht, Trunksucht. Und trotzdem ist dies der höchste, allgemein geachtete Stand. Alle Herrscher, mit Ausnahme des Kaisers von China, tragen militärische Uniform, und demjenigen Soldaten, der die meisten Menschen getötet hat, werden die größten Belohnungen erteilt. |
| »Sechshundert Rubel, As, Paroli, die Neun … Den Verlust wieder einzubringen, ist unmöglich! … Und wie vergnügt hätte ich zu Hause sein können … Der Bube auf paix … Es ist ja gar nicht möglich! … Warum tut er mir das nur an?« dachte Rostow und suchte in seinem Gedächtnis. Manchmal besetzte er eine Karte außerordentlich hoch; aber Dolochow weigerte sich, einen solchen Einsatz zu akzeptieren, und bestimmte selbst einen niedrigeren. Nikolai fügte sich ihm und betete bald zu Gott, wie er es auf dem Kampfplatz an der Ennsbrücke getan hatte; bald machte er sich ein Orakel zurecht, daß diejenige Karte, die ihm aus einem Haufen verbogener Karten unter dem Tisch zuerst in die Hände komme, ihn retten werde, bald zählte er, wieviel Schnüre er an seiner Husarenjacke hatte, und besetzte eine Karte, die die gleiche Augenzahl aufwies, mit dem Betrag seines letzten Verlustes; bald blickte er, gleichsam um Hilfe flehend, die Mitspieler an; bald betrachtete er das jetzt völlig kalt erscheinende Gesicht Dolochows und bemühte sich zu ergründen, was in dessen Innerm vorging. »Er weiß doch, was dieser Verlust für mich zu bedeuten hat; kann er denn wirklich meinen Ruin wollen? Er war ja doch mein Freund; ich habe ihn ja geliebt … … Aber auch er kann nichts dafür; was soll er machen, wenn das Glück ihn begünstigt? Und auch ich trage keine Schuld«, sagte er zu sich selbst. »Ich habe nichts Böses getan. Habe ich etwa jemand ermordet, jemand beleidigt, jemandem Übles gewünscht? Womit habe ich denn dieses furchtbare Unglück verdient? Und wann hat es angefangen? Es ist noch gar nicht so lange her, da trat ich an diesen Tisch heran in der Absicht, hundert Rubel zu gewinnen, für meine Mama die Schatulle zu kaufen, die ihr so gefallen hat, und wieder nach Hause zu fahren. Ich war so glücklich, so frei, so froh! Und ich wußte damals nicht einmal, wie glücklich ich war! Wann hat denn das aufgehört, und wann hat dieser neue, furchtbare Zustand begonnen? Durch welches Merkmal war dieser Umschwung gekennzeichnet? Ich habe immer ebenso auf diesem Platz an diesem Tisch gesessen und ebenso Karten ausgesucht und Karten gezogen und nach diesen breitknochigen, gewandten Händen hingeblickt. Wann hat sich das denn vollzogen, und was hat sich eigentlich vollzogen? Ich bin gesund und kräftig und immer noch derselbe, der ich war, und befinde mich immer noch auf demselben Platz. Nein, es kann nicht sein! Das Ganze wird sich in nichts auflösen!« |
| Give Hagia Sophia back to Christianity I came to Istanbul for two months just after its 2010 reign as a European Capital of Culture. In bookstores and billboards, I saw Istanbul wants to be a bridge between cultures, to a world beyond Turkey. I saw the claim that Istanbul is an almost exclusively Turkish-Muslim metropolis, not accidentally the least ethnically and religiously diverse of the great modern cities. While population exchange lies in the past, Turkish minorities still charge that an excessive monism dominates the national consciousness. A politics of enforced absence prevails over a politics of multicultural presence. So I dare to commit the sin Orhan Pamuk deplores (and curiously celebrates) of foreign visitors staying a short time but reaching monumental conclusions. I propose Istanbul give Hagia Sophia back to the world of Christianity. Is this really outrageous? The history of Hagia Sophia is well known. From its dedication in 360 until 1453, this Byzantine landmark was the Orthodox cathedral of Constantinople. It became a mosque from 1453 until 1934, when it was secularized, and re-opened as a museum in 1935. What was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk thinking when he secularized Hagia Sophia? His biographers portray him as decidedly unsympathetic to religion. Perhaps he dreamed of secularizing the Blue Mosque as well. But even if Atatürk’s predilections might have relegated all living religion to museum status, not everything in his worldview is slavishly followed today. Turkey spent the last century evolving into a modern state. Both secularization and “re-sacralization” are simultaneously developing under the present government. If Istanbul, or Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan, were to give Hagia Sophia back to Christianity, it would be a symbolically powerful and indeed electrifying act. The erasure of religion is not required for modernity, certainly not in the United States, but also not in the European Union. Is there a not-so-subtle theological argument in the relegation of Hagia Sophia to museum status? In the 20th century, Jewish theologians accused Christians of “supersessionism,” the claim that the Christian covenant with God supersedes the Jewish covenant, and Judaism is no longer a valid religion. In the heavy symbolism of a secularized Hagia Sophia, does Turkey relegate Christianity to an outdated ruin now superseded by Islam? Can this be the agenda of a cosmopolitan city? |
| In any case, if such family exists now then one can say that it is very different from the modern world. Therefore, these families are often excluded from the modern world, which has a great impact on the social position of their children. These families follow rather different rules when it comes to raising their children, and what I do not recommend for “regular” children, can be successfully done with children from the so-called “medieval” families. For example, forcing children to do certain things is regarded as something normal and is accepted by all members of the family. They can use the recommendations of the holy Fathers regarding children’s fasting as well as preparing children for Holy Communion as if they were adults. In these families younger children naturally imitate older ones, but it does not ruin their attitude towards the sacraments. Unfortunately, children from this type of family often cannot socially adapt to the modern world and are often intimidated by it. They prefer to stay within the clerical circle. However, I would not advise newly married couples to aspire to “medieval” families. It is almost impossible to build such family from scratch. There is a great danger of faking it, which will inevitably lead to traumas and casualties, just like in a real war. Unfortunately, people sometimes try to enforce “medieval” rules on their modern-minded families. This often results in various distortions within the family and even in a complete loss of faith, once children reach adolescence or even sooner. This fake “medieval” order can often cause a total collapse of the family. Now let us talk about the more frequent types of modern families. It is obvious that the medieval rules cannot be applied to our society; they do not work any longer. Whatever criteria one chooses for classifying modern families, one has to admit that all those families lack something, although they display a great deal of democracy, just like the modern world. Indeed, there is a strong connection between our life and the time we live in. Families simply adapt the same standards of life as the rest of secular society. One can only hope that the traditions of Christianity will be continued. |
| Pro-marriage revolution building in France: up to 1 million march Paris, May 28, 2013 Analysis The French have done it again. Two weeks after same-sex “marriage” became legal, the odds seemed against a major turnout for the latest national demonstration against the new law. And the minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls, certainly did his best to discourage would-be participants from joining the march: all day Saturday, he sent out alarming messages on television and on the radio warning that in view of expected violence families with children would do best to stay at home. But on Sunday, organizers estimated that up to a million people marched from three different points in Paris towards the Invalides, including large numbers of young people and families with children and babies in push-cars. One mother answering the press said she had originally intended to come without her kids – Valls’ intimidation tactics encouraged her to bring them along. The estimate given by organizers is more than six times the number given out by the ministry of the Interior. However, having walked in the dense crowds from the Austerlitz station to Invalides and seen photos and films of the other two walks, a million seems more plausible than the “150,000” noted by the police – and Valls has proved over recent months that minimizing participation statistics by any means is a specialty of his administration. Not to mention hampering and hindrances of all kinds: the number of regional trains coming in from the western suburbs where many more conservative families live was unexplainably halved on Sunday without notice, and specially hired coaches coming in from the north of Paris were stopped for customs controls. The spirit of the marches was grave and determined, but as always largely peaceful. Less than two weeks previous, riots broke out in Paris when fans of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club were to celebrate the clubs victory in the national football league: hundreds of ethnic youths from the suburbs came to join (and ruin) the party, burning cars, smashing shop windows and placing the more luxurious parts of Paris in a state of siege. The riots only gave rise to 21 arrests and the government was heavily criticized for not having handled the crisis adequately – the police was even called away when the “disturbances” began. Manuel Valls capitalized on those incidents by announcing that on May 26th, when the “well-behaved French” who pay their taxes and leave demonstration venues impeccably unscathed came for their rally, he would deploy 4,500 law enforcement officers to prevent the “violence” he was expecting - not to say hoping for. |
| Tweet Нравится Holy Martyrs of Kvabtakhevi Monastery (†1386) Memory 10 (23) April Holy Martyrs of Kvabtakhevi Monastery. Holy Martyrs of Kvabtakhevi Monastery. In the 14th century, during the reign of King Bagrat V (1360–1394), Timur (Tamerlane) invaded Georgia seven times. His troops inflicted irreparable damage on the country, seizing centuries-old treasures and razing ancient churches and monasteries. Timur’s armies ravaged Kartli, then took the king, queen, and the entire royal court captive and sent them to Karabakh (in present-day Azerbaijan). Later Timur attempted to entice King Bagrat to renounce the Christian Faith in exchange for permission to return to the throne and for the release of the other Georgian prisoners. For some time Timur was unable to subjugate King Bagrat, but in the end, being powerless and isolated from his kinsmen, the king began to falter. He devised a sly scheme: to confess Islam before the enemy, but to remain a Christian at heart. Satisfied with King Bagrat’s decision to “convert to Islam,” Timur permitted the king to return to the throne of Kartli. At the request of King Bagrat, Timur sent twelve thousand troops with him to complete Georgia’s forcible conversion to Islam. When they were approaching the village of Khunani in southeastern Georgia, Bagrat secretly informed his son Giorgi of everything that had happened and called upon him and his army to massacre the invaders. The news of Bagrat’s betrayal and the ruin of his army infuriated Timur, and he called for immediate revenge. At their leader’s command, his followers destroyed everything in their path, set fire to cities and villages, devastated churches, and thus forced their way through to Kvabtakhevi Monastery. Monastics and laymen alike were gathered in Kvabtakhevi when the enemy came thundering in. Having forced open the gate, the attackers burst into the monastery, then plundered and seized all its treasures. They captured the young and strong, carrying them away. Kvabtakhevi Church in southeastern Georgia. Kvabtakhevi Church in southeastern Georgia. The old and infirm were put to the sword. As the greatest humiliation, they mocked the clergy and monastics by strapping them with sleigh bells and jumping and dancing around them. |
| This consciousness added strength. – Your father was arrested for writing the word “God” with a capital letter in his notes, wasn’t he? – He was jailed because such was the plan of the Leningrad authorities of that time who took advantage of the assassination of Sergei Kirov (the first secretary of the Leningrad branch of the Communist Party) to quietly eradicate the Orthodox Church’s youth and intellectual activist group in the city. The authorities carried out a wide raid campaign, arresting a lot of people and bringing completely idiotic charges against innocent victims. They said these people were allegedly part of the Anglo-Turkish plot designed to destroy the Soviet regime with reliance on white émigrés represented by Metropolitan Evlogy of Paris, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Patriarch of Constantinople. – Rich imaginations! – But this is not the most striking thing! I read the materials of the case and never ceased to be amazed by how smoothly the repressive machine worked! If I had not known how things had been in reality, I would have surely believed that this was true and a monstrous conspiracy was uncovered. Outstanding people of Leningrad, including former professors of the Theological Academy, wrote terrible things about themselves, confessed to the wildest crimes, which they could not commit in principle. I don’t know, possibly these confessions were forced under torture or by threats and blackmail but the materials I read produced the gravest impression on me. The point is that it would have never come into the mind of any investigator to link together Metropolitan Evlogy, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Ecumenical Patriarch! My father was charged with an attempt to kill none other but Stalin. He was arrested together with other parishioners at the mission of the Kiev-Pechersk Laura in Leningrad. My father studied at an institute and went to a church during his free time. On Sundays, he sang in an amateur church choir, which was the place where he actually got acquainted with my mother. |
| The Attraction of the Russian North An interview with Tatiana Yushmanova Tatiana Yushmanova. In the north. There has long been talk of the ruin of " Wooden Rus " . " This theme inspires few today, when everyone considers that there are no longer any material or living witnesses to the intelligent yet simple structure of bygone villages. Nevertheless, the well-known Moscow artist, Tatiana Yushmanova, feels that if we acquaint ourselves with this very important part of Russian life we can no longer remain indifferent. For ten years now, she has travelled across Russia in order to know her country better, and she expresses her impressions in her art. Tatiana Yushmanova. She has managed to also draw her husband, priest Alexei Yakovlev of the Tikhvin Mother of God Church in Moscow " s Alexeyevsky district, into the depths of the Russian land. Now Fr. Alexei " s family and the parish community are working to restore these unique wooden churches, which are becoming more and more rare. But they can still be seen here and there, scattered across the boundless expanses of the Russian north. A recent exhibit opened in the Ismailovo Gallery in Moscow, called " The Russian North, " with over one hundred pictures by Tatiana Yushmanova, many of which can be viewed (for now, with Russian titles only) in our picture gallery , and the photo exhibition entitled, " Mutual Concern. Restoration of the Wooden Churches of the North , " which shows the churches that are being restored in the north. Tatiana spoke with Pravoslavie.ru about her creative work, and the unique project for the conservation and restoration of wooden churches. —Tatiana, there are many portraits in your exhibition. What sort of people do you choose for your subjects? Tatiana Yushmanov. Village get-togethers. 2000 . Oil and canvas. 200х300 см —I really like to paint simple, rural people. Children are also interesting subjects, but I especially like to work on portraits of elderly people. This really catches my attention. Their faces reflect a lifetime of experience and their thoughts about it; they have a particularly deep look in their eyes. |
| ‘Did you know Vladyka Sabbas Trlaich’, asked the stranger’, ‘I heard that he was priest here’. ‘Of course, Vladyka was my teacher. I’m grateful to him for everything I have managed to do in life’. How do you know Vladyka?’ ‘I was an eyewitness of his sufferings’, answered the stranger. ‘The Ustashi butchers took Vladyka to a clearing and continued to torture him there. They tore his skin off him and then covered him with salt. Then they buried him alive, with just his head protruding, brought an iron harrow and pulled it across his head until he gave up his soul to God. What happened after that, I don’t know. Maybe the Ustashi threw him into one of the many precipices there, which they used as graves for the Serbs. So even in death he wasn’t separated from his people’. Unfortunately, this is almost all we know about Bishop Sabbas’ martyr’s death. Unfortunately, having suffered losses which could never be made up for, after the war the Gornokarlovatsky Diocese could not be restored to its former prosperity. The destruction of its holy places and shrines also continued under the Communist regime, so that churches which had been damaged often fell into total ruin. Dire tribulations hit the diocese again during the 1991-1995 war. Half a century after the first, a second act of spiritual genocide unfolded for the Serbs. At Orthodox Christmas in 1992 the St Nicholas Cathedral, built in the eighteenth century, was blown up by the new Ustashi. Subjected to an artillery bombardment, the bishops’ residence in Karlovtsy, with its library, records and museum, was looted. The bishops’ residence of the Gornokarlovatsky Diocese was destroyed at Catholic Christmas 1993. After the Croat attack on the Serbian Kraina Republic, during ‘Operation Storm’ in August 1995, Serbian people were expelled from their ancient diocese and many of its holy places were desecrated and destroyed. During the war of 1991-1995, 11 churches were destroyed and 45 damaged. After the expulsion of the Serbs, many churches and other church premises were abandoned and neglected. |
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