Thursday, July 26, 2007

Putin and history

"Yes, we had terrible pages" in Russia's history, Putin said in remarks broadcast on state television. "Let us recall the events since 1937, let us not forget that.link(cash)">

via Japan Probe
Putin has a good point.
Russia should "never forget" the abuses of the Communist era, Putin said. But he also said no one had the right to make Russia feel guilty about those abuses.

In a way it is true. guilt should not be imposed by somebody else. The sense of guilt overwhelms you even when you are trying to hide it, even when nobody notice it, but you can also pretend you feel guilty without feeling guilty. It makes no sense to impose the sense of guilt on somebody.
What Putin should have said, however, is that no one should politicize history just as some people and journalists are doing.

I am not Christian but I am reminded,
He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone....

As for this, the author of this site rightly points out,
It is incorrect to equate the "throwing" of a "stone" with criticisms and confrontation.

God says people should not act hypocritically by pointing out the sins of others when they themselves are deeply involved in sin.

Now what happened after that is more interesting.
And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones,

Nowadays it seems there are even younger people who know little about their own nation's history.
The less people know their own history the more relentlessly they accuse the other of the sin she committed,
So the "hypocrite" might be too strong, but immature or ignorance might be the right word for them. The word "hypocrite" should be reserved for the people who persist in accusing people without correcting his attitude even after it is pointed out he committed the same crime.

No comments: