free speech

Sunday, January 30, 2011
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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When I was young I was exposed to the wisdom of our elder statesmen.
Now that I am old I am exposed to the insults of the young.
But I shouldn't complain.
Compared to many others I have been the luckiest of men.
Very few Armenian writers were lucky enough to live past the age of forty;
and those who did, spent a good number of years in fear
of Siberian exile or starvation.
*
To the poor everyone is generous with advice, my mother used to say.
“Write more like Saroyan.”
“Be as critical as you can provided
you also amuse and entertain your readers, like Mark Twain.”
“Be more positive and constructive.”
The implication of this final line is that so far Armenian literature
has failed in its mission because Armenians remain as divided today
as they were a thousand years ago.
But I believe Armenians remain divided today
not because Armenian writers have failed
but because the dominant mindset of our leadership has been self-interest.
If it's good for me, my family, my party, or my tribe,
it must be good for the nation.
Even when they preach patriotism
they legitimize treason by dividing the nation into tribes.
They confuse nationalism with tribalism,
and ultimately Armenianism with Ottomanism.
No amount of sermons, speeches, editorials, and commentaries
can alter this fact and the only Armenians who cannot see this clearly
are the ones who have been so thoroughly brainwashed
that they have lost all ability to see, think, and speak for themselves.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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There are Armenocentric Turkish ghazetajis
as surely as there are Turcocentric Armenian ghazetajis.
These gentlemen (if you will forgive the overstatement)
operate on the assumption that
they discharge their patriotic duty
whenever they emphasize the criminal conduct
and lies of the opposition.
On the day they fall silent,
Armenians and Turks may have a better chance
to reach a consensus and establish peaceful coexistence
that may well be of benefit to both.
*
One of our elder statesmen once wrote me a letter
in which he said that I had a better chance
to achieve fame and fortune as a writer
if I were to accept his advice on what to write and how to write it --
one such advice being, “Write more like Saroyan.”
Shortly before he died he informed me
that he had 43 unpublished manuscripts to his credit
and asked me if I would be willing to edit and revise them.
Moral of the story:
After shaking hands with an Armenian
willing to share his wisdom
count your fingers.
*
I have noticed that Armenians who have met Saroyan
on even one occasions
never call him Saroyan but Bill.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011
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THE HEART OF THE MATTER
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A private blessing, religious faith becomes a collective nightmare
when it acquires a leader, dogmas,
commandments, rituals, and mumbo jumbo.
*
Where there is a leader
there will be power and authority.
Where there is power there will also be greed for more power.
This is as true of emperors, kings, and dictators
as it is of popes, imams, and rabbis.
And where there is greed for power
there will be wars and massacres.
This is not theory or anti-religious bias
but historic reality.
*
Historians speak of holy wars but not of holy massacres.
And yet, when Voltaire said,
“Because it was a religious war, there were no survivors,”
he knew what he was saying.
*
If you know the right words, even if you are blind,
you can lead men with 20/20 vision into the ditch.
The trick is to ascribe your words not to yourself
or to any man dead or alive,
but to God.
*
Faith moves mountains, we are told.
What we are not told is that
it can also slaughter millions
with a clear conscience.
*
Everything I say is open to error
because I speak as a man
and all men are prone to error.
But if I were to speak in the name of God
I would become infallible by proxy.
*
God does not contradict Himself.
But men do. And when men who speak in the name of God
contradict one another, it is safe to assume that
they speak not in the name of God but in the name of the Devil.
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Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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According to an American pundit,
Americans are such “know-nothings” that
some of them quote lines from Marx's Communist Manifesto
thinking they are quoting the Constitution of the Unites States.
Even their congressmen and senators, it seems,
can't tell the difference between the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution.
What about us?
Do we have a Constitution?
And if we do, who takes it seriously?
Can you quote a single line from it?
Is there a paragraph in it in defense
of the fundamental human right of free speech?
Why is it that whenever I am silenced
by an editor or forum moderator,
no one raises an objection?
Why is it that these editors and moderators
consider censorship a patriotic duty?
Is it some kind of conditioned reflex
that we acquired during a thousand years
of blind obedience to alien and brutal tyrants?
Do you have answers to these questions?
If yes, please let's have them.
Because I don't!
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