US and THEM

Us and them. And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me and you. God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.
Forward he cried from the rear and the front rank died.
And the General sat, as the lines on the map moved from side to side
Black and Blue. And who knows which is which and who is who?
Pink Floyed

Irina Prokhorova http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/year2013/1122522-echo/:

In the recent years those unbelievable hideous words “we” and “they” have been brought up. And who, excuse my asking, are we and who are they?

That is the question!!! Is there the answer to it? Although some people take it as a rhetorical question, I think Irina and other Russian intellectuals want it answered. The future of the so called civil society highly depends on it. The global mankind development might lead to both civil disturbancies and wars or civil peace and harmony. And the problem is obviously not exclusively Russian. But Russia due to its tremendous philosophical and cultural legacy might be more likely than other nations to come up with the right roadmap to show the way. It there is a Will, of course.

Irina pointed out that there is a theory that we are surrounded by the ring of enemies (and America is one of them). In addition to that there are “internal enemies”. Nothing’s new here. Those conspiracy theories aimed to generate hatred and intolerance toward people who look or speak differently seem to work all the time. But now thanks to Internet and other open mass media all the “brainwashing” used by official sources is getting less and less powerful.

The founder of the Russian communist party V.Lenin once said to M.Gorky: Those who aren’t with us are against us. I used to think of myself as one of “us”. Now I’m definitely on the other side.

We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out.

(John Lennon)

However it wasn’t The Beatles though who opened my eyes. They only prepared the soil. Years after I heard a phrase in a sermon in a Baptist church that brought back memories. The pastor quoted the words of Jesus:

^{Mt 12:30} “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

That’s it! That’s how people should tell “us” from “them”. Before the revolution of 1917 Russia’s State Emblem had a motto that read “God with us”. Bolsheviks changed it for another one, which had a different motto “Proletarians of all countries unite!” Naturally, in the long run it didn’t work out. But how come Bolsheviks managed to brainwash so many people in a country that had discovered God’s truth? What happened to their faith?  Were true Christians a minority? Looks like it.

A Russian Christian publicist and theologian Vladimir Martsinkovskii (1884-1971) wrote that he asked one soldier in the days of violence at the beginning of the revolution: “Is all this what Jesus Christ taught in the Gospel?” The answer was: “As if we’ve ever read it! We’ve only been kissing the cover of the Bible, but what it says, we have no idea.” Explain the Gospel to the people since they are doomed to death without God’s Word. These are the words of Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov by F. Dostoevsky.

Last week the Russian Orthodox church celebrated the 1025^th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus. Price Vladimir is honored for Baptizing Rus. I just hope that Vladimir and all people who got baptized back then knew that they had to repent first. Apostle Peter said:

^{Ac 2:38} Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

If that was the case, it was a super country to live in. All citizens of Rus regardless of their ethnic origin or social status confessed their sins and they got Holy Spirit. According to the Bible:

^{Jn 1:12} Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

They became a family – brothers and sisters, so I think they had no problem figuring out who was “us” and who was “them”. “Brothers and sisters”: it’s a powerful way to address people. It wasn’t accidental that I.Stalin used it in his speech on the radio on July 3, 1941.

I think Russia is in trouble once again. But this time our leaders should encourage us to rally NOT AROUND the party of Lenin-Stalin and the government (like I.Stalin did) but AROUND Jesus. It can’t be wrong. Even if some people choose not to become Christians they will still get advantages to improve their life. In other words people who don’t want to become one of “us”, won’t be against us if they agree to go along with us.

^{Mk 9:40} for whoever is not against us is for us.

Amen.