Thanks for the comment Elizabeth.
While there is certainly blame to go around, I find disheartening the willingness of some Orthodox Christian to remain silent in the complicity of the ROC in the invasion of Ukraine. Recently, I read something from a social scientist looking at the departure of young adults (and others) from Evangelical Christianity. I'll try and find the post the thesis of which is young people are looking at how Evangelical live and concluding that since Evangelical Christians…
A couple of thoughts: (1) Reading the description of the intellectual abuse going on today in Russian schools feels like looking in a mirror at what is happening in US public schools: the trumpist right's weaponization of critical race theory to prevent students from learning hard, indispensable truths about their own history; the banning of books like "Maus" that help teach the young how to be moral human beings. As Tucker Carlson and his ilk keep reminding us, the authoritarian right in Ameri…
Note the parallels with efforts in the US to promote myth-based history to justify political agendas and inequality now, and setting the stage for future atrocities.
"Violence on this scale requires taming the past, monopolizing innocence, and creating a false certainty that whatever one's country actually does in the present and future must be correct. We came first, we were always on the defensive, we always helped others, even if they themselves don't always understand that."
This article about totalitarian manipulation of history serves as a critical reminder that 'history' - not fiction - must be taught in our schools. I attended an excellent high school where critical thinking was taught. Original sources were essential ingredients of history courses. I converse from time to time with the new Head of School at my alma mater. Not so long ago, I told her that I believed the curriculum had sacrificed history by incorporating the subject into 'inter-disciplinary' cou…