Posted on 08/06/2018 2:01:56 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
Jehovah speaks!
Will never forget how enraged the audience at Harvard became when he spoke those words. It was as if someone was dripping acid directly into their brains. Their behavior no doubt inspired the famous dictum a few years later that “you can’t handle the truth”. Today those same people and their ilk can’t even handle listening to an alternative argument that does not fit their narrative. Solzentsn was a man of great physical and intellectual courage. He fought the Nazis, loved Russia and its cultural heritage, spoke the truth to the Party bosses and even earned their respect and admiration. Pity that his books are not read by young Americans who sadly are embracing the decadence of those Harvard fools.
You are correct. Gulag Archipelago should be required reading in high school.
You are correct. Gulag Archipelago should be required reading in high school.
Later for SURE
My God, Solzhenitsyn spoke way back in 1978.
What would he have to say today???
“First Circle” is one of the greatest books I have ever read, and that is a lot. AS rates up with Dickens, Austin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Melville for insight into our souls.
He watched as Russia went through the Holocaust of Communism.
Dostoevsky pointed to the same human depravity as being the source of our problems. It doesn’t matter how society is organized it cannot overcome this flaw in humanity.
I just finished “The Devils” (”Demons” or “The Possessed”) which examines these themes in Russia around 1865. He traced all the Evil of those times to Westernizing influences that at their root were atheistic. Within this hothouse Nihilism got its foothold.
The Ruling Class had turned against the society it profited from and no longer had faith in it or anything associated with it. Russians of that time were Nuts in about every direction.
Bureaucratization was a major reason for the collapse of the Roman Empire. Its citizens were so weak they could not even preserve its army, formerly the greatest in the world, and had to hire barbarians to be the Empire’s military.
Czarist Russia was a madhouse run by an idiotic system and under the Soviets it was worse. There was no real law there, everything was arbitrary.
Pastor Bill,
Thanks for posting this. It’s a good summary of key points in the speech.
Listening to Jordan Peterson by podcast these days I have heard him mention the Gulag as a very important book. And we must be sure to keep Solzenitsyn’s wisdom alive in our times.
There’s great power in the content of this speech. However, as I’m sure you noticed as you studied the speech, Solzhenitsyn’s text is academic, cumbersome to read, and doesn’t flow well to the average American’s ear.
So when I have some spare time, I thought I might try editing the speech somewhat.
What say ye to that idea?
Nothing like high hopes. Getting these kids through “Hard Times” or “A Tale of Two Cities” would be a miracle. They couldn’t get halfway through GA. “A Day....” might be their speed.
He would not and say: I predicted it all.
Solzhenitsyn is the greatest novelist of the 20th century even more so than Faulkner.
Might need a better translation.
Let me try that again: he would nod and say: I predicted it all.
good idea. The speech is too powerful to go down the memory hole!
Solzhenitsyn's right - this explains how Deep State denizens can 'give speeches' for half a million and NOT see it for what it is - a bribe.
Yes, Bill Clinton accepted a bribe from Russia. They knew it, the folks in flyover knew it, and most of the world knew it. Washington DC didn't because Bill Clinton wore red socks, turned toward the west 5 times while whistling "Dixie" backwards.... (Letter of the Law BS)
It also explains why the FBI and DOJ who should be freaking out about Hillary selling 20% of our uranium for obvious bribes don't appear to care.. THE DEEP STATE HAS MOVED "LETTER OF THE LAW" INTO THE REALM OF ACCEPTANCE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IF SILLY DOTS ARE DOTTED AND TWISTED TEES CROSSED.
It why the people in flyover are screaming 'LOCK HER UP' and the FBI is yawning. Solzhenitsyn - as always - gets it.
This was the Halfrican's plan from the getgo.
Every focus-grouped campaign slogan known to man came out of his mouth to dupe the electorate.
Can you believe?......the half-caste ding-dong even said, "I want to be another Reagan."
It'll take awhile....we are still digging out from the monstrous pile of hate-American dirt he bequeathed us.
Mike Gallagher, the 8th most recognized talk radio personality in the U.S.A. compiled and wrote the following essay.
It was you who spoke these words at an Islamic dinner -”I am one of you.”
It was you who on ABC News referenced -”My Muslim faith.”
It was you who gave $100 million in U.S. taxpayer funds to re-build foreign mosques.
It was you who wrote that in the event of a conflict-”I will stand with the Muslims.”
It was you who assured the Egyptian Foreign Minister that, “I am a Muslim.”
It was you who bowed in submission before the Saudi King.
It was you who sat for 20 years in a Liberation Theology Church condemning Christianity and professing Marxism.
It was you who exempted Muslims from penalties under Obamacare that the rest of us have to pay.
It was you who purposefully omitted - “endowed by our Creator “ - from your recitation of The Declaration Of Independence.
It was you who mocked the Bible and Jesus Christ’s Sermon On The Mount while repeatedly referring to the ‘HOLY’ Qur’an.
It was you who traveled the Islamic world denigrating the United States Of America.
It was you who instantly threw the support of your administration behind the building of the Ground Zero Victory mosque overlooking the hallowed crater of the World Trade Center.
It was you who refused to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, but hastened to host an Islamic prayer breakfast at the White House.
It was you who ordered Georgetown Univ. and Notre Dame to shroud all vestiges of Jesus Christ BEFORE you would agree to go there to speak, but in contrast, you have NEVER requested the mosques you have visited to adjust their decor.
It was you who appointed anti-Christian fanatics to your Czar Corps.
It was you who appointed rabid Islamists to Homeland Security.
It was you who said that NASA’s “foremost mission” was an outreach to Muslim communities.
It was you who as an Illinois Senator was the ONLY individual who would speak in favor of infanticide.
It was you who was the first President not to give a Christmas Greeting from the White House, and went so far as to hang photos of Chairman Mao on the White House tree.
It was you who curtailed the military tribunals of all Islamic terrorists.
It was you who refused to condemn the Ft. Hood killer as an Islamic terrorist.
It is you who has refused to speak-out concerning the horrific executions of women throughout the Muslim culture, but yet, have submitted Arizona to the UN for investigation of hypothetical human-rights abuses.
It was you who when queried in India refused to acknowledge the true extent of radical global Jihadists, and instead profusely praised Islam in a country that is 82% Hindu and the victim of numerous Islamic terrorists assaults.
It was you who funneled $900 Million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to Hamas.
It was you who ordered the United States Postal Service to honor the MUSLIM holiday with a new commemorative stamp.
It was you who directed our UK Embassy to conduct outreach to help “empower” the British Muslim community.
It was you who funded mandatory Arabic language and culture studies in Grammar schools across our country.
It is you who follows the Muslim custom of not wearing any form of jewelry during Ramadan.
It is you who departs for Hawaii over the Christmas season so as to avoid past criticism for NOT participating in seasonal White House religious events.
It was you who was uncharacteristically quick to join the chorus of the Muslim Brotherhood to depose Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, formerly America’s strongest ally in North Africa; but, remain muted in your non-response to the Brotherhood led slaughter of Egyptian Christians.
It was you who appointed your chief adviser, Valerie Jarrett, an Iranian, who is a member of the Muslim Sisterhood, an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
It was you who said this country is not a Christian nation.
What a Great and Historical post!
Bump for later
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