Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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‘Work to Eat, Steal to Have’
What a beautiful country and what a heartbreaking spectacle of anarchy and self-hatred. A friend forwarded me this note that he received from a relative in Athens. The matter-of-fact closing line is revealing. Athenians have been coping with this malaise for a long, long time: Every person you ask will have his own take on…
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Alexy II: A ‘Transitional’ Patriarch
Vladimir Berezansky, Jr., a U.S. lawyer with experience in Russia and former Soviet republics, recalls an interview with Patriarch Alexy II in 1991. Like many Russians at the time, the Patriarch was coping with a “disorienting change” following the fall of the Soviet Empire, Berezansky writes. At the time, he seemed overcome by the changes…
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The Church and the Terror State
The Moscow Times reports on the funeral of Russian Patriarch Alexy II: Candles flickered and white-robed elders chanted prayers as the country bade farewell Tuesday to Patriarch Alexy II, who guided the country’s dominant Russian Orthodox Church through its remarkable recovery after decades of Communist-era repression. Nuns, believers and government officials looked on as prayers…
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‘Greece in Self-Destruct Mode’
From the Toronto Star: “The central core of Athens has been in chaos,” says Andre Gerolymatos, a professor of Hellenic studies at Simon Fraser University, who was caught in the rioting when he arrived at his hotel. “There are anarchists, students, hoodlums and thieves breaking windows of stores and looting.” From Alexis Papachelas, writing in…
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Russia Prays for its Patriarch
The death of Russian Patriarch Aleksy II, the man who guided the world’s largest Orthodox Church during Soviet repression and then into a period of recovery and growth, will occasion a time of deep reflection and prayer for Orthodox Christians the world over. The Zenit News Service has published this touching account of the Patriarch’s…
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