Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn: Ideology Emboldens, Gives a Justification
Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian novelist and historian
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
“Itikadi potovu—hiyo ndiyo inayoupa uovu uhalali wake uliotakiwa sana na humpa mtenda maovu uthabiti na azma inayohitajika. Hiyo ndiyo nadharia ya kijamii ambayo husaidia kufanya matendo ya mfuasi yake yaonekane kuwa mazuri badala ya kuwa mabaya kulingana na macho yake na ya wengine, ili asisikie lawama na laana bali apate sifa na heshima.
“Itikadi potovu ilikuwa jinsi maajenti wa Mahakama ya Kanisa Katoliki ya Kukomesha Uasi Dhidi ya Kanisa walivyoimarisha utashi wao: kwa kusihi Ukristo; washindi wa nchi za kigeni, kwa kusifu ukuu wa nchi yao ya asili; wakoloni, kwa [kudai kuwa nao] ustaarabu; Wanazi, kwa rangi…. Kwa sababu ya itikadi, karne ya ishirini ilikusudiwa kupitia maovu kwa kadiri iliyohesabiwa katika mamilioni.”
- Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), mwandishi wa Kirusi na mwanahistoria.
[Mmerikani anaulize wasomaji: Je, ni itikadi zipi ambazo ni bora tunazofae kuachilia?]
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“Ideology—that is what gives evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors.
“Ideology was how the agents of the Inquisition fortified their wills: by invoking Christianity; the conquerors of foreign lands, by extolling the grandeur of their Motherland; the colonizers, by [invoking] civilization; the Nazis, by race…. Thanks to ideology, the twentieth century was fated to experience evildoing on a scale calculated in the millions.”
- Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian novelist and historian.
[Mmerikani asks readers: Which ideologies do we hold, of which, perhaps, we should loosen our grip?]
Chanzo (source): Solzhenitsyn, Alexander I. The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956—The Authorized Abridgement. HarperCollins, 1985, pages 127-128. Reissued in Harper Perennial Modern Classics with a Foreword by Anne Appelbaum, 2007. Digital edition, 2020. Kindle Edition. This work was originally published in three separate volumes in Russian in from 1973 to 1976, with English translations in 1974, 1975, and 1978 from Harper & Row Publishers.