To All the Doves
Growing up as a kid in the early 1970’s and 1980’s, the great enemy was the Communist USSR. Religion was completely banned from 1917 to the 1960’s, until the Communist Government allowed some the Russian Orthodox Churches to re-open, but the priests and bishops were hand picked to preach the wonders of Communism first, and to distract from the truth of the Gospel. The Russian Orthodox Church (under Communist rule) did not answer to God but to "The Party". True Christians had to practice in secret, and if caught there were severe penalties.
Under Communist rule Soviet citizens could be detained indefinitely forever, and were convicted in secrets courts and with secret evidence. To win favour with "The Party”, citizens were actively encouraged to spy on their neighbours. Every person was suspect, as the government saw its citizens as a threat to the country. People could not travel without proper identification, and papers were required to travel between provinces. People could be detained and searched for any reason, but interestingly enough strip searches, and body cavity searches were the exception rather than the rule: even under a dictatorship some human dignity was preserved. Only government approved media, news, and television was allowed. The Secret Police used torture to extract confessions, and the Secret Police were feared as they could be anyone, anywhere.
Living in Canada, much like in the US such ruthless control of citizens was considered unthinkable. Canadian and US soldiers fought and died protecting “freedom”. The US was a model of “The land of the brave, and the home of the free”. In Canada we lived freely with the exception of a few incidents where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) infiltrated leftist political parties. When the general public found out, reform was enacted and RCMP powers were curbed. People were not routinely strip searched or subject to body cavity searches, as human dignity still meant something.
Today however our freedoms have been given up in exchange for “peace and security”. As an outsider looking in, it appears as if US Citizens have lost far more freedoms than in Canada, however human dignity is a thing of the past. It is common practice for people to be stripped, and given only disposable paper gowns if they are being held in jail for even very short periods of time. When police over-step their boundaries, they are charged with criminal offences, but very rarely convicted.
And now today everything is backwards. The USSR is long dead, and Russia has a conservative Orthodox Christian President: Vladimir Putin isn’t afraid to discuss moral issues like homesexuality, gay marriage, or abortion. The Russian Government is helping rebuild churches, and Russia views itself as Christian nation. Last year (2013) when there were concerns about chemical weapons in Syria, Putin acted as a statesman, as opposed to a politician, averting the possibility of more war and bloodshed. Russian citizens do not have any formal protection protection for the rights and freedoms they have won back from the Communist regime, but they are making progress. The Secret Police state is gone, torture is frowned upon, and there is still some respect for human dignity.
So where is freedom? Today’s western governments are sure looking more and more like the Fascists and Communist dictatorships of years passed. It is all upside down.
Robert G.