We celebrated the 21st anniversary of the Velvet Revolution a while ago and tweeted about it this: “21 let od Sametové revoluce – díky Bohu za ni /// 21st anniversary of Velvet Revolution – thank you God for it ///#freedom #nomorecommunism”. This tweet showed up in my FB account too and one of my friends posted a question for me there: “Milan when you thank to God for the Revolution… Have you ever been thinking why He sent at us the communists?”
I told myself that I wouldn’t just go over it with some cheap answer but I would think more about it, because it is worth it.
Why did God send on us the communists?
Each of us is an individuality who has a free will to decide what to do with his/her life. Everyone of us also decides according to what seems to be the best for him/her.
As a Christian I do believe that God respects this free will and if we decide to not to listen to him or not to follow his advices (how they are described in the Bible for example) He takes as a fact and He lets us do whatever we want to.
I believe that God created this world perfect. I believe that the world went wrong because of the sin that man committed on the base of his free will decision to not to listen to. I believe that this was the start of all the problems of the world, which we have to face throughout our existence. I believe that God loves all people equally and He cares how is everybody doing. I believe that the devil exists also and he wants to destroy the mankind and so he does all possible to accomplish it.
I believe that the Christians are supposed to play a important part in the God’s desire to help to the world. But I see that as Christians we are failing in many ways – we aren’t doing the stuff we are here for – and that’s a big problem, which I can see even in my own life and I want to do something about it.
On the base of what I described above I think that the 40 years of communist government is not the result of God telling himself that we need punishment and that we need our lesson. I think that this fact has two main reasons and it’s the decision of “normal” people – the majority of people seamed that in compare with the First Republic this is gonna be better and that everybody would live in better way.
I personally see that it was free decision of our nation – yes on the base of communist propaganda, later on intimidation, putting unwanted people to jail etc. (almost the same was as in Jacobin’s era), but almost nobody resisted and so it ended as it ended. God could intervene definitely in some supernatural way (I believe that) but after that He would break the rule of the free will of the man and he didn’t want to do that. I guess that God just respected that decision. He respected that we have decided to go some way. It did cost a lot of our nation but I am not that sure to say that the principal is God.
I guess that the thing could go in different way if Christians would act a bit differently. I think that the other reason why communists were in charge here was the irresolution (weakness) of the church – the believers didn’t see the consequences of the outcome and of what the communism would mean for them personally. I think that it is also kind of mistake of the church that it ended as it ended.
I always recall very interesting comparison of the influence of two men on their contemporaries in this context and how it ended with their legacy afterwards.
First is John Wesley a the second is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They lived in the same time (second half of the 18th century) and they influenced their nations by their thoughts and acts very much – Wesley England and Rousseau France. The influence of Rousseau started the French Revolution. The influence of Wesley started the return of almost the whole England back to Christianity and it saved the England from similar revolution as was the French one.
That one has devastating effect not just on the whole nation but subsequently on the whole Europe and then for almost the entire world. Karl Marx and his followers just draw on its legacy and teachings – till it ended with the Russian revolution and the creation of the communism and stalinism etc.
I guess that it can’t be marked just one principal or just one main reason given. I guess that there are several reasons for the communism coming to Czechoslovakia. I have to admit that I considered the communism as a God’s punishment. Now I do not see it that way. If I go to the bones I guess that it is consequence of that the man dumped God and that’s it. By this decision the man called the wrong stuff upon himself because he denied the good one. I see that it is quite simplified but why not?
What is your perspective? I’m looking forward to your comments and opinions…
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