№17 (180) January, 2004
HONOR ALL MEN(I Peter 2:17)
Archpriest Gerasim Schoretz (†30 April/13 May, 1966)
In contemporary life there exist all kinds of failings, unpleasantness, difficulties and unexpected occurrences. In search of a reason for this phenomenon we often come to the word "war." War did this… war confused everything… We say "war is the culprit for everything," and feel better with the knowledge that we finally found the real blame for the world's problems. And truly, war left millions without a country, without a family, without belongings, without homes, without hands, without feet, without eyes, without lives. War contributed to a breakdown in morality, stopped the cultural life of whole nations, embittered people, bringing them to a condition of brutality. We do not even need to mention the atom bomb. Let us remember those that survived the bombing of peaceful cities and towns, the destruction of cultural riches built over the centuries, the deaths of innocent women and children.
Who is at fault for causing the war? Who is at fault, that people had not yet healed the wounds caused by the First World War (1914-18) when a new, crueler, more destructive and bloodier war began?
Who are the perpetrators of the war? We search for blame even among the poor DPs (displaced persons) in the camps. Who is at fault? There are many culprits. However, the greatest and main culprit of war is man's egotism, both individual and collective. Egotism destroyed man's respect for man.
Man is the king of nature, the most intelligent of God's creation. He carries within himself the "divine spark," the image and likeness of God, an inborn thirst for freedom. Now this man has become a slave, an animal; he has been turned into a machine, an instrument, an object. All of this, in a century which rightfully extols and prides itself for its inventions, unheard-of scientific achievements and technical advances…. At the same time man's worth as an individual has fallen because man's respect towards man has disappeared.
The loss of respect for man's value in general as an individual started with each separate person's egoism. Our individual egoism grew out of the absence of a proper upbringing. In his parents' house a child does not see that which nurtures and supports respect for people. A child hears how parents, especially in times of anger, "express" their opinions among themselves concerning relatives, neighbors, teachers, clergy, government officials. They hear how those people's honor is mixed with filth. At home a child is often brought up so that everyone and everything submits to his own will. He is the center of the family. He is a little despot. What can the finest school offer if in the child's consciousness all feeling of respect for people has been deadened, if all authority is undermined and he listens only to those whom he fears? As egotism grows, respect for people disappears.
The atmosphere in school is no better. Here school children are divided and distinguished depending upon their parents station in society, place of work, wealth, physical appearance, and the abilities of the students themselves. There are teachers who think that one can treat slower students as they please, degrading, humiliating them, and insulting the feelings of young people. Such pedagogical techniques destroy in children a respect for a person's individuality. These teachers do not recognize any authority except their own. They criticize everyone and everything and yet themselves fear criticism. This fear of criticism gives birth to egotism. Egotists more than anything always fear criticism.
Any unworthy deed is subject to judgement. This is understood. But not everybody understands that even after committing an evil deed a person remains a person. The Lord Jesus Christ judged sin severely while showing respect and love towards the sinner. They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Mark 2:17; Luke 19:10). It seems we also ought to act this way: hate the sin, but respect and love the sinner and assist in his correction and rebirth. The belief in one's moral superiority begets pride and moral fanaticism which leads to a hasty, superficial and very often a mistaken judgement of one's neighbor which in turn insults and kills respect for a person.
In society a man is judged, not on the basis of his worth as a person, but depending upon his material worth, education, and influence. We encounter this attitude everywhere: in cities and in villages, in stores and in mills, in parishes and in towns, in prisons and in offices, in homes and in restaurants….
Individual egotism becomes extremely dangerous when it seizes money or power. Where there is only egotism, the result is people's destruction; where there is dictatorship, there is mass slavery.
The degradation of man's worth as an individual accelerated collective egotism. A wrong understanding of love for one's country and people turns the people of other nations into second class citizens, outcasts. Territorial and economic problems give birth to national egotism and breed enmity towards other nations. Only in this soil could the theory of race grow and develop, a theory which holds that the success of the chosen country becomes the moral norm. The destruction of the weak is not only permitted, but necessary. Members of an inferior race, being worthless, must be wiped out and in a most radical fashion. Thus Dachau appeared. In this situation can we even discuss the existence of respect for man?
And what can one say about the eloquent words, "everything for the state, everything for the nation," behind which is concealed, as if behind an attractive mask, the most crude and naked egotism.
Collective egotism unites the rich into a special caste, in which not the individual is important, but his capital. A person is valued according to how many valuables he has. This is honor of gold, worship of the golden calf.
In contrast to this is the other extreme, placing above all else the demands of the working class. What is good for the workers becomes the highest norm of morality. All is good and is permitted if it is to the advantage of the workers. Who does not belong to the worker's class is a mortal enemy. There is no respect for the person, only for the worker.
Egotism is radical. It does not stop at the most brutal and base measures. It lit the fires of war. It destroyed all that supported man's respect for his fellow man. It continues to fight for its dominion even after a war.
The war ended, but egotism remains. Even the atom bomb cannot destroy it. Respect for man's individuality has not been restored. A long, patient, and wise nurturing in the family, the school, society, and the Church is needed. There will be fewer wars and other calamities when egotism is exposed and when there will be more respect for the person….
"The person - has a proud ring to it," declared Maxim Gorky. But pride is a mortal sin. Man is a little lower than the angels (Heb. 2:7). He is the crown of creation. By his spiritual/physical nature he himself is a stepping stone to the spiritual world. He is a "child of God," the heir of God, a co-heir with Christ. He is a co-citizen with the saints and God. He communes with the Divine Nature. Flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone, of the same family. His body is a temple in which abides the Holy Spirit.
During the divine services, after censing the holy icons, the priest censes the people: he censes the image of God in man, the temple of God in man and the Holy Spirit which lives within him….
Respect one another. Do not owe anything to one another except mutual love. Do not judge, so that you be not judged. Respect even the fallen man. "Christ did not come to save the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance." By belittling and judging others, we belittle and judge ourselves.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another (Rom. 12:10).
(Translated from "Pravoslavnaya Rus," #2, 1949, pp. 1-2)
