Decapitating Statues of Historical Figures

Address snapshot ... Pope Francis

"[Beware] a form of ideological colonization, one that leaves no room for freedom of expression and is now taking the form of the 'cancel culture' invading many circles and public institutions."

"This view of history risks cancelling identity under the guise of defending diversity. [Representing a type of] one-track thinking [taking shape and developing fully as constraining or denial of history; rewriting it in terms of present-day sensibilities]."

"[Some attitudes] leave no room for freedom of expression and are now taking the form of the 'cancel culture'. Under the guise of defending diversity, it ends up cancelling all sense of identity, with the risk of silencing positions."

"As a result, agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many people."

"Diplomacy is called to be truly inclusive, not canceling but cherishing the differences and sensibilities that have historically marked various peoples."

"What is needed instead is a recovery of our sense of shared identity as a single human family. [The] alternative can only be growing isolation."

Pope Francis

Cancel culture, the darling methodology of silencing voices that progressives in their culture of 'wokeism' infiltrating all facets of human communication, has many newly emerging critics, none of whom voice concerns from the pulpit of the progressives, but from within society's conservatives and none is more conservative that traditionalists. More neutral sources that speak with indignation of the damning work of the progressives are historians along with individuals and groups who find themselves targeted for their 'controversial' positions, deemed so by progressives whose aim is silencing their critics.

 

A leaflet distributed at the Montreal protest described Sir John A. Macdonald as "a white supremacist who orchestrated the genocide of Indigenous peoples with the creation of the brutal residential schools system"

 

It is hardly surprising that the Catholic Pontiff now sees fit to add his voice to the growing chorus of condemnation of this pernicious, insulting and leftist insularity that rejects reality and history claiming it to reek of colonialism and 'white privilege' while elevating the victimhood issues of 'people of colour' and the socially and gender-deprived in traditional society. At a time when convention with respect to polarizing discrimination has turned in the opposite direction expressing remorse and conciliation.

Woke progressives accept nothing but abject admissions of present-day 'colonialists' that they are guilty of all the sins of their predecessors, presumably by historical inheritance. Unctuous salutations expressed in new language forms of address become compulsory as proof of deserved guilt and condemnation. The wronged will be forever wronged and deserve and expect to be elevated above the descendants of their former tormentors. Demands that society reinvent itself so that exceptional privileges be extended to 'victims' satisfy vengeance-drooling accusers.

 

Damned white society is slowly picking itself up, recalling that dignity must be apportioned to all, even themselves and now question the veracity of claims of victimhood, asking when endless reproaches will come to an end and all people be enabled to live together as individuals no longer divided into groups of 'the guilty' and 'the victims'. The voice of Catholic Christianity speaks from a fear of marginalization, the accumulating loss of faith and worship, the incidentalism of religion, and the relegation of 'Christmas' to mere 'holiday' status. 

 

A statue of Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Va .Credit...@Thicketoftrash, via Associated Press

The re-write of history pivots from Holocaust denial and trivialization of resurgent anti-Semitism as just desserts in a puzzling portrayal of Jews as oriental 'others' while classifying them as part of the subset of 'white privileged' colonialists. Figures of European and North American history with its interminable conflicts and its subjugation of less-'developed' nations, to secure their valuable natural resources, including the enslavement of aboriginals and indiginals, and trading in Black slaves for forced labour is the only history recognized by the woke. Those instrumental in maintaining white supremacy must no longer be regarded as part of history, but trashed.

At the Vatican, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed his concern with a draft European Union communications manual playing with the suggestion of excising the long-venerated term Christmas, and presumably with that, the very Christian religion itself in an increasingly less religious continent. Who best to speak to diplomats assembled at the Vatican, representing 163 nations of the world than a Catholic Pontiff whose authority as god's spokesman on Earth still resonates?

And so, he spoke of historical situations that must logically be viewed and interpreted in the context of their times, not by the standards of the present day, for this is history that must be unadulterated to suit the surly moods of its new critics, and presented as time and tide viewed all  human interactions when and where they occurred and to whom they referred and whose circumstances they affected; not through the lens of today's critics.

Pictured: Pope Francis warned against attempts to cancel culture, decrying 'one-track thinking' which he said attempts to deny or rewrite history according to today's standards

 

Vladimir Putin Redeeming the Glory of the USSR

"Memorial is a special organization with its own ideology. We combine what's called relevant human rights activities with historical studies and comprehending the historical path of Russia in the 20th century."

"It seems that such a union does not please someone in the Russian leadership."

Oleg Orlov, Memorial board member

"The decision ...confirmed that the history of political terror ... does not remain an academic theme for Russia of interest for just specialists but an acute problem for modern Russia."

"Our country needs an honest and scrupulous reflection on its Soviet past."

"Memorial is the need for Russia's citizens to know the truth. Nobody will succeed in 'liquidating' this need."

Memorial statement

Supporters hold placards saying "we will live forever" with Memorial's flame symbol above the Russian word "we"    Reuters

 

The Supreme Court of Russia has found the country's most seasoned human rights group, Memorial International, to have offended the country's dignity and pride in its past. The group has been ordered to disband. Critics within Russia of the Kremlin, of its policies, of its crackdown on dissenting voices, and above all, of its president-for-life, disturb the peace and serenity that Moscow enjoys in the capable hands of its new czar who aspires to return Russia to its former glory days.

The order for Memorial International to cease and desist, to fold up and be no more, more or less caps a few successful years of silencing and setting aside critics of the regime. As explained by Moscow, it owes the nation protection from those involved in extremism, who plan to do harm and destabilize Russia, with the considerable encouragement, incitement to violence, and funding from abroad. Clearly, foreign agencies are at the heart of nefarious plots to unseat the government and the Kremlin will not stand for it.

Memorial's mission is to document and to remind the nation of what Josef Stalin wrought in his "Great Terror", when those inconvenient to and critical of his brutal regime were sacrificed to the altar of Communism. The mass killings of intellectuals, Bolshevik officials, political officials, members of the military, writers, ethnic minorities, scientists, writers, foreigners and peasant land-owners. Along with any other groups Stalin conceived of as saboteurs. 

 

The number of dead during the great purge has been variously estimated to be between three-quarters of a million, to two million people, while political prisoners numbered around a million, sent to the Gulags, as Stalin's reign consolidated its position by eliminating challengers and suspected challengers. Since Vladimir Putin ascended to power and changed the constitution to allow him to reign in perpetuity, he has imprisoned critics, assassinated others, a silencing mechanism hugely relied upon for its finality, however clumsily undertaken.

 

He has banned political groups critical of his administration, and imprisoned their leaders on implausible charges. He has taken to emulating Stalin's purges to silence his critics. And he seems determined to restore the reputation of the USSR as a force for good, both for Russia and for its satellite states. Memorial was established during the period of 'glasnost' introduced to Russia by then-president Mikhail Gorbachev, determined to modernize Russia and move it away from a closed state. 

Addressing the court, a state prosecutor stated that Memorial had promoted a 'false image' of the USSR as 'a terrorist state', besmirching its proud memory during the Second World War. "Someone" was paying Memorial for such treachery, he averred. Subsequently, Memorial was found to have broken a controversial law on foreign agents by repeatedly failing to use a disclaimer in its materials and its website relating to receiving foreign funds.

This, despite that Memorial is quite openly frank that it receives funding from abroad, where its website lists funding from Poland, Germany, Canada and the Czech Republic. The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, spoke of the court order as "a blatant and tragic attempt to suppress freedom of expression and erase history". Memorial had been co-established by nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov.

It had recently challenged the repression of critics, publishing lists of people it considers to be political prisoners. In 2015, Russian authorities had placed Memorial on an official list of "foreign agents", burdening it with restrictions on its activities. The Memorial Human Rights Centre and Memorial International were accused of violating the foreign agent law.

Memorial International, according to prosecutors, breached regulations through failing to mark all its publications, including posts on social media with the distinguishing label. They also accused the group of condoning terrorism and extremism. According to President Putin, Memorial had defended organizations that Russia labels extremist and terrorist; its list of victims of Soviet-era repression included Nazi collaborators.

Disposing of Critics

Medical specialists carry Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on a stretcher into an ambulance on their way to an airport before his medical evacuation to Germany [Alexey Malgavko/ Reuters]

"Tests were immediately taken for the presence of toxic substances in the body. Already today we can say that oxybutyrates, barbiturates, strychnine, convulsive or synthetic poisons have not been found. Alcohol and caffeine were found in the urine." 
Omsk regional health ministry

"So clearly, being an outspoken opposition leader or being a corruption fighter or a whistle-blower in Russia is a dangerous business indeed."                               "Navalny was doing a lot of work exposing corruption, including at the highest level … and this is what they do to retaliate against their critics."                                     Ariel Cohen, senior fellow, Atlantic Council

"He survived the flight and he's stable. It's obvious that something terrible happened. He's a healthy, strong man with a good constitution -- the night before the attack he was swimming in a river."                                                       "Obviously this was an attack on his life ... A healthy man suddenly was in life danger and maybe could have died and maybe he can still die."                           Jaka Ibzili, German organization Cinema For Peace   

"It takes a while to rule things out. And particularly if something is highly toxic — it will be there in very low concentrations, and many screening tests would just not pick that substance up."                                                                                             Alastair Hay,  emeritus professor, toxicology expert, school of medicine, University of Leeds

Mr Navalny is on a ventilator after drinking what is thought to have been poisoned tea. Pic: @djpavlin

A standoff between doctors and allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny came to a head on Friday when official clearance was granted for his transfer to a Berlin hospital from the Omsk Emergency Hospital where he was being treated after collapsing and falling into a coma on a routine flight from Siberia to Moscow. It is assumed that he was poisoned, a not-incongruent method frequently used to silence critics of the Kremlin and of Vladimir Putin, and possibly the second time poison was used on Mr. Navalny himself who survived the first attempt and may this one as well.

Others have been less fortunate. Conflicting accounts on Mr. Navalny's condition and whether he might be taken aboard a specially outfitted German medical evacuation flight waiting to receive him at the Omsk airport were eventually concluded. Omsk Emergency Hospital chief physician, Alexander Murakhovsky early on Friday said the patient's state of health mandated he not be moved, but hours later he reversed himself, saying transfer to German care could proceed.

Anti-Kremlins: 'Navalny was poisoned. We know who is guilty. Alexei, live'

Dr.Murakhovsky also stated that no indication presented itself that Mr. Navalny had been a victim of poisoning, despite that he had said earlier it would take two days before laboratory results would be received. Those speaking for Mr. Navalny were under no illusions that he hadn't been a poisoning target, the most recent victim of state-ordered poisoning. His condition had improved from Thursday when he had been stricken, but no details were available from attending doctors.

The human rights activist Jaka Bizilj's Cinema for Peace Foundation was eager to leave Saturday with the patient on a chartered ambulance aircraft, for Berlin. When it arrived in Omsk Friday, three German physicians were aboard who eventually were permitted to examine Mr. Navalny. The German doctors were made unavailable -- forcibly escorted elsewhere by Russian authorities -- for their conclusions to be shared with Yulia Navalnava, Mr. Navalny's wife, nor with his colleagues; all blocked from speaking with them.

As far as Mr. Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh was concerned, Russian doctors were guilty of endangering the stricken man's life by prolonging his Omsk Hospital stay rather than assent to his immediate departure for Berlin, as a reflection of their intentions to hinder an investigation "until the poison in his body can no longer be traced". She charged that "The ban on transporting Navalny is an attempt on his life, which is now being carried out by the doctors and the deceitful authorities who sanctioned it."

Doctors in Omsk hospital said there was no trace of poison in Mr Navalny's body  Sky News

Doctors at his hospital, said Dr.Murakhovsky, were possessed of "five working diagnoses", without divulging any details. The most likely cause of the coma that Mr. Navalny fell into, he later stated is "a metabolic disorder caused by a sharp drop in blood sugar levels during the flight [from Siberia to Moscow, which was aborted when Mr. Navalny fell suddenly ill]." Transportation police, on the other hand, had informed a Navalny associate, Ivan Zhdanov, that they had discovered poison deemed a danger not only to Mr. Navalny but anyone else close to him, meaning access to Navalny not be permitted without the protection of a full haz-mat suit.

The explanation proffered by the Omsk physicians was an industrial chemical substance found on Mr. Navalny's clothing, denying that the chemical poisoned Mr. Navalny. Mr. Navalny's enemies are those of whom he has been ultra critical; his Anti-Corruption Foundation served to expose excesses and corruption carried out by members of Russia's elite, enriched through their Kremlin connections.

"The plane with Alexei has taken off for Berlin. A huge thank you to everyone for your support." "The struggle for Alexei's life and health is just beginning and there will be much more to go through, but at least now the first step has been taken."  Kira Yarmysh

The emergency medical plane transporting Mr Navalny lands at the Tegel airport in Berlin