Posted on 01/13/2014 5:58:26 AM PST by marshmallow
Moscow, January 13, Interfax -Legendary weapons constructor Mikhail Kalashnikov deceased in December wrote a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Russia half a year before his death, the Izvestia paper wrote on Monday.
"My soul aches, it is unbearable, I face the same unsolvable question: if my gun killed people, then I, Mikhailo Kalashnikov, ninety three years old, a peasant's son, a Christian and Orthodox believer, is guilty in people's death, even if they were enemies," the edition quotes Kalashnikov's letter.
Besides, his inner emotions, the letter also contains his thoughts about the future of the country and humanity.
"Yes, the number of churches and monasteries grow in our country, but the evil does not decrease! The good and the bad live as neighbors, fight and, what is the most terrific, submit to one another in people's souls - that is what I discovered in the dawn of my earthily life. It is similar to the eternal engine which I wanted to invent in my early years. Light and shadow, good and evil are the opposites of the whole thing and they can't live without each other? Is it possible that the Lord set this order?" the author writes.
The weapons constructor expressed his thoughts about the future of Russian defense industry and the role of the Russian Orthodox Church that according to him "bears holy values of good and mercy to the world."
Head of the patriarchal press-service Protodeacon Alexander Volkov told the paper that "the Patriarch's received Kalashnikov's letter and wrote an answer."
"This letter was very appropriate at the time of attacks against the Church. The Patriarch thanked the legendary constructor for his attention and position and answered that Mikhail Timofeyevich was an example of patriotism and right attitude to the country," Father Alexander said.
He added that as to the constructor's responsibility for people's death, the Church has a very definite position: when the weapons serve to protect the Motherland, the Church supports both his creators and militants who use it.
"He invented this gun to defend his country, not for the Saudi Arabian terrorists," Volkov stressed.
He does not sound like a bad man. I truly hope we are not embracing the liberal idea that the gun is to blame for any killing. It is the holder who fires the weapon.
I can see a man who developed a weapon to help his country be tormented on seeing that same weapon used to enslave and kill others.
I will tip my glass to him tonight. May be rest in peace, and let us meet in the heavenly halls of God.
I watched the documentary ‘World War II From Space’ a couple of days ago. There is no doubt we were right to use the nukes. The Japanese were nuts (still are?), civilians throwing themselves off cliffs, donning suicide vests and throwing themselves under tanks. The nukes saved countless lives.
If the world is going to blame the weapon look no farther than the M-98 Mauser and the Arisaka.
Throw in a British SMLE for good measure.
Then there was Oliver Winchester’s widow who went to a fortune teller who convinced her that the spirits of the dead killed by her husband’s rifle were after her. Keep Building!
We now have other nuts living among us who do not disdain the wearing of suicide vests.
Any chance of finding that story online? I already tried my best and got nothing
Yes. I met Gen Tibbetts, and he was a wonderful man. He served his country, helped end a World war, and probably saved the lives of millions of Americans AND Japanese.
I read it years ago in a collection of Chekhov’s “humorous short stories”, most of which I recall were depressing.
Good for us that the devil can’t read minds.
This guy like others have said is not guilty for the people killed. It’s just a tool, it’s who uses it and how that’s responsible.
Yeah, right. Rest easy, Mikhail. I’m not about to believe the Soviets wouldn’t have gladly murdered their own with a weapon designed by Tokarev, Simonov, or Dragunov.
I saw the quote but there's no mention of when he said it. Meanwhile, the stories about him expressing regret say this was a position that he'd reached very recently.
He could have had later regrets, it wouldn't be that unusual for someone facing their own mortality.
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