The world learned recently of the sad passing of who many consider to be the greatest writer of Twentieth century, a Russia and a genuine prophet: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Humanity will forever be in his debt for exposing the horror of Soviet totalitariainism and the moral bankruptcy of Marxist-Leninism.Here is a link to one of many obituaries to come. It contains a wonderful quote comes from the Russian writer Aleksandr Genis, who described the Solzhenitsyn as "the last remaining prophet in the abandoned temple of absolute truth".
Solzhenitsyn was a devout Christian and a critic of evil wherever he saw it. He was a dissident Russian writer and Nobel laureate whose portrayals of Josef Stalins labour camps and political oppression helped undermine the Soviet grip on power. He was 89.
He died of heart failure. Solzhenitsyn revealed to the Western world the inner workings of the gulag, the network of prisons and camps that held as many as 20 million people during Stalins reign of terror and killed at least 1.5 million. He became a thorn in the side of Soviet authorities and was an icon for Russian intellectuals, helping trigger the demise of the communist regime with his calls for social conscience and historical justice.
He criticized the West for its godlessness, hedonism, moral relativism and shallow consumerism. Here is a link to his famous Harvard Commencement Address "A World Split Apart," which caused him to fall out of favor with Western liberal intellectuals.My favorite quote from this speech:
"It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times."
He rejected both of the great religions to emerge out of the European Enlightenment as replacements for Christianity: Capitalism and Marxism. He was a prophet. He will be missed but never forgotten and his writings live on.
source Craig Carter
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