Think it cannot happen that Christians will be banned from teaching? It already has happened in countless countries in the twentieth century. When I read this news article, a hilarious short story from exiled Czech, Milan Kundera, leapt to mind. He was exiled for exposing the ruthless intolerance of the socialist state in its march of progress. In his collection titled Laughable Loves webs of lies are woven to woo women but instead catch the deceiver in risible and sticky situations. Edward and God tells of a young teacher who pretends to grow in faith to win the heart (and more importantly to Edward, parts of her body below the heart) of a spankingly attractive young lady who herself may be feigning her faith for appearances sake. Ill jump to the part where he lands in hot water because there are witnesses to his acts of faith: They were standing on the broad steps of the church and Edwards soul was full of laughter. Unfortunately, just at the moment the directress [of the school at which he taught] was walking by and she saw them. This was bad. We must recall (for the sake of those to whom perhaps the historical background of the story is missing) that although it is true people werent forbidden to go to church, all the same, churchgoing was not without a certain danger. This is not so difficult to understand. Those had been leading the fight for what they called the revolution were very proud, and their pride went by the name of: standing on the correct side of the front lines. When ten or twelve years have already passed since the revolution (as had happened approximately at the time of our story), the front lines began to melt away, and with them the correct side. No wonder former adherents of the revolution feel cheated and are quick to seek substitute fronts; thanks to religion they can (as atheists opposing believers0 stand again in all their glory on the correct side and retain that so habitual and precious sense of their own superiority. But to tell the truth, the substitute front was also useful to others, and it will perhaps not be too premature to disclose that Alice was one of them. Just as the directress wanted to be on the correct side, Alice wanted to be on the opposite side. During the revolution they had nationalized her dads business and Alice hated those who had done this to him. But now how should she show her hatred? Perhaps by taking a knife and avenging her father? But this sort of thing is not the custom in Bohemia. Alice had a better alternative for expressing her opposition: she began to believe in God Thus the Lord came to the aid of both sides and, thanks to Him, Edward found himself between two fires. In the room four judges awaited him: the directress, the woman janitor [who had reported seeing him cross himself on the street in front of a cross while showing off his faith to the girl he was trying to woo], one of Edwards colleagues (a tiny man with glasses), and an unknown (gray-haired) gentleman, whom the others called Comrade Inspector. The directress asked Edward to be seated, and told him they had invited him for just a friendly and unofficial talk. For, she said, the manner in which Edward had been conducting himself in his extracurricular life was making them all uneasy. As she said this she looked at the inspector, who nodded his head in agreement, then at the bespectacled teacher, who had been watching her attentively the whole time; now, intercepting her glance, he launched into a fluent speech about how we wanted to bring up healthy young people without prejudices and how we had complete responsibility for them because we (the teachers) served as models for them. Precisely for this reason, he said, we could not countenance a religious person within our walls. He developed this thought at length and finally declared that Edwards behavior was a disgrace to the whole school. Even a few minutes earlier Edward had convinced himself that he would deny his recently acquired God and admit that his church attendance and his crossing himself in public were only jokes. Now, however, face to face with the real situation, he felt that he couldnt do it. He could not, after all, say to these four people, so serious and so excited, that they were getting excited about some misunderstanding, some bit of foolishness. He understood that to do that would be to involuntarily to mock their earnestness, and he also realized that what they were expecting from him were only quibbles and excuses which they were prepared in advance to reject. He understood (in a flash, there wasnt time for lengthy cogitation) that at that moment the most important thing was for him to appear truthful--more precisely, that his statements should resemble the ideas they had constructed about him. If he was to succeed in correcting these ideas to a certain extent, he would also have to play their game to a certain extent. Therefore he said: Comrades, may I be frank? Of course, said the directress. After all, thats why youre here. And you wont be angry? Just talk, said the directress. Very well, I shall confess to you then. I really do believe in God. He glanced at his judges and it seemed to him that they all exhaled with satisfaction. Only the woman janitor snapped at him. In this day and age, comrade? In this day and age? Edward went on. I knew you would get angry if I told the truth. But I dont know how to lie. Dont ask me to lie to you. The directress said (gently): No one wants you to lie. Its good that you are telling the truth. Only, please tell me how you, a young man, can believe in God! Today, when we fly to the moon! The teacher lost his temper. I cant help it, said Edward. I dont want to believe in Him. Really, I dont. How come you say you dont want to believe, if you do? The gray-haired gentleman (in an exceedingly kind tone of voice) joined the conversation. I dont want to believe, but I do believe. Edward quietly repeated his confession. The teacher laughed, But theres a contradiction in that! Comrades, Im telling it the way it is, said Edward. I know very well that faith in God leads us away from reality. What would socialism come to if everyone believed that the world was in Gods hands? No one would do anything and everyone would just rely on God. Exactly, agreed the directress. No one has ever yet proved that God exists, stated the teacher with glasses. Edward continued: The history of mankind is distinguished from prehistory by the fact that people have taken their fate into their own hands and not need God. Faith in God leads to fatalism, said the directress. Faith in God belongs to the Middle Ages, said Edward and then directress said something again and the teacher said something and Edward said something and the inspector said something, and they were all in complete accord, until finally the teacher with glasses exploded, interrupting Edward: So why do you cross yourself in the street, when you know all this? Edward looked at him with an immensely sad expression and then said, Because I believe in God. But theres a contradiction in that! repeated the teacher joyfully. Yes, admitted Edward, there is. There is a contradiction between knowledge and faith. Knowledge is one thing and faith another. I recognize that faith in God will lead us to obscurantism. I recognize that it would be better if He didnt exist. But when here inside I . . . he pointed with his finger to his heart, feel that He exists . . . You see, comrades, Im telling you the way it is. Its better that I confess to you, because I dont want to be a hypocrite. I want you to know what Im really like, and he hung his head. The teachers brain was no larger, proportionately, than his body; he didnt know that even the strictest revolutionary considers force only a necessary evil and believes the intrinsic good of the revolution lies in re-education. He, who had become a revolutionary overnight, did not enjoy too much respect from the directress and did not suspect that at this moment Edward, who had placed himself at his judges disposal as a difficult case and yet as an object capable of being remolded, had a thousand times more value than the he. And because he didnt suspect it, he attacked Edward with severity and declared that people who did not know how to part with their medieval faith belonged in the Middle Ages and should leave the modern school. The directress let him finish his speech then administered her rebuke: I dont like it when heads roll. This comrade was frank; he told us everything just as it was. We must know how to respect this. Then she turned to Edward. The comrades are right, of course, when they said that religious people cannot educate our youth. What do you yourself suggest? I dont know, comrades, said Edward unhappily. This is what I think, said the inspector. The struggle between the old and the new goes on not only between classes, but also within each individual man. Just such a struggle is going on inside our comrade here. With his reason he knows, but feeling pulls him back. We must help our comrade in this struggle, so that reason may triumph. The directress nodded. Then she said; I myself will take charge of him. Edward has thus averted the most pressing danger: his fate as a teacher was now in the hands of the directress exclusively, which was entirely to his satisfaction: he remembered his brothers observation that the directress was always after young men, and with all his vacillating, youthful self-confidence (now deflated, then exaggerated) he resolved to win the contest by gaining as a man the favor of his ruler. blog.heritage.org/2014/03/21/special-consideration-non-christian-job-applicants/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 02:57:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015