Archive for the ‘Communism’ Category

Pope in Slovakia will visit shrine that prevailed over communist rule – Aleteia EN

In the 1950s, the communists sought to suppress the Marian shrine of atin, as they did with other shrines in Slovakia. Today, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, patroness of the country, accompanies the nations families and those suffering in the pandemic.

This is what Fr. Martin Kramara, spokesman for the Bishops Conference of Slovakia, declared during a virtual meeting with journalists from Rome organized by ISCOM, in connection with the preparation of Pope Francis apostolic journey to Slovakia (September 12-15).

With Mary and Joseph on the way to Jesus: this is the motto for Pope Francis visit to Slovakia, which will be in the midst of a two-stage journey. The first will take place in Budapest, Hungary; there, the pope will preside at the Closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. The second will take place in Slovakia, where he will visit Bratislava, Koice, Preov and atin.

The communists took men and women religious to concentration camps. The monasteries were closed. They also tried to wipe out the Marian shrine in atin. The communists were pressuring Slovaks not to visit the shrine. But, this was not enough; it has always been a place loved by the people, said Fr. Kramara.

He added that the shrine is a symbol of peaceful resistance rooted in the values of faith: It shows that we are not afraid.

These words echo those of St. John Paul II when he visited the shrine on July 1, 1995; he compared it to the upper room where the apostles prayed with Mary and received the Holy Spirit, being transformed from being fearful to being courageous witnesses.

On the last day of his Apostolic Visit (Wednesday, September 15) the Latin American Pope will preside over Mass at the National Shrine of atin, after which, at 1:30 p.m., he will bid farewell at the International Airport of Bratislava where he will board the plane that will depart for Rome at 1:45 p.m. local time.

The spokesman for the Slovak Bishops Conference said that this is a significant last stop, given the history of the shrine.

Here, in 1564, a woman named Angelica was abandoned by her husband, a Hungarian nobleman named Imarich Czobor, who hated her. Heartbroken, sad, and now abandoned, Angelica prayed with all her might and asked for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, while promising to erect a statue in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows if she received the miracle she sought.

Her husband had an unexpected reaction: he returned to look for her and asked for her forgiveness. She kept her promise, and subsequently the place became a place of pilgrimage, even visited by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Up until the appearance of COVID-19, Slovaks flocked to the shrine every September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, to pay homage to their national patroness who has been by our side in difficult times, said Fr. Kramara.

Angelica kept her promise. Many people say that their prayers have been heard, he added. Miraculous healings have been reported around the shrine, which were recognized in 1732 by the bishop of Esztergom. In 1927, Pius XI proclaimed Our Lady of Sorrows the patroness of Slovakia.

The Soviet government tried to suppress the popular devotion, turning the shrine into a military barracks. The attempt failed; the images of the Mass presided over by John Paul II in 1995 at the shrine, after the fall of the Soviet regime, with the presence of more than 200,000 faithful from all over Slovakia, were a confirmation of this long history of unwavering popular piety. The resilience of this devotion reflects the legacy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (in the 9th century), also known as the apostles of the Slavs, missionaries of Christianity in those lands.

Pope John Paul II also had ties to the devotion of Marys Seven Sorrows, which he mentioned in particular in his first homily in Slovakia during his 1995 apostolic journey, six years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

This shrine, said the Polish pope, preserves the memory of all that makes up your lives: joys, but also sorrows and sufferings, which have not been lacking in your history, as in that of every person and nation of the earth. It is good that we have someone with whom to share our joys and sorrows. It is good that in your great Slovak family there is a Mother to whom you can confide and entrust your sorrows and hopes.

The pope, who was instrumental in the downfall of communism, said that Our Lady of Sorrows, the Mother of Seven Sorrows, is the Mother whose heart, at the foot of the Cross, was pierced by the seven swords of suffering, as tradition says.

This Marian shrine is where the Slovak people go on pilgrimage in search of consolation for their not at all easy existence, especially in the periods most marked by suffering, he noted. Here Mary, the Mother of Christ, wants to be a mother to you; she wants you to be especially sincere and simple with her. Here is her dwelling place and, thanks to the fact that there is a house of the Mother of God in your Slovak land, none of you is homeless. Everyone can come here and feel at home in the Mothers house.

Pope Francis has said that, as people think about the aftermath of the pandemic and all the problems that will arise: problems of poverty, work, hunger , we should pray to Our Lady of Sorrows. This veneration of the people of God has existed for centuries. Hymns have been written in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows: she was at the foot of the cross and they contemplate her there, suffering. Christian piety has collected Our Ladys sorrows and speaks of the seven sorrows.

The pope detailed the meaning of the seven sorrows:

Pope Francis prays to Our Lady of Sorrows every evening when he prays the Angelus, and comments that he prays the Seven Sorrows as a remembrance of the Mother of the Church, how the Mother of the Church gave birth to us all with so much pain.

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Pope in Slovakia will visit shrine that prevailed over communist rule - Aleteia EN

Communism in the Classroom – The Wall Street Journal

China wants the world to forget about its political takeover of Hong Kong, but well try to keep you as informed as we can. The latest news is the imposition of a Communist Party-friendly curriculum in the citys schools.

On Saturday the Education Bureau said it will no longer recognize the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, which has 95,000 members and is more a guild than a union in the American sense. The Education Bureau says the union has been engaging in political propaganda under the guise of being a professional education organisation. But authorities real fear is that teachers will resist imposing Beijings patriotic education on Hong Kong students.

The new national security law directs Hong Kong to promote national security education in schools and universities. The Education Bureau is revamping the curriculum so students develop a sense of belonging to the country, an affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, as well as an awareness of and a sense of responsibility for safeguarding national security. Public libraries have removed the books of pro-democracy figures.

Thus the purge of teachers. Authorities took particular issue with the unions longtime alliance with groups that organized peaceful pro-democracy protests and annual Tiananmen vigils. Authorities have warned teachers and students that political expression in classrooms or on campus may violate the national security law. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

In May the union reported that nearly one in five teachers surveyed said they planned to leave the profession. Most said the reason was increased political pressure.

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Communism in the Classroom - The Wall Street Journal

Letters to the Editor: I fled communism in Cuba. Everyone there is oppressed, no matter their ethnicity – Yahoo News

Supporters of the Cuban government demonstrate in Havana on July 11. (Associated Press)

To the editor: In her recent column urging a shift in Cuba policy, Jean Guerrero makes two tragic but typical mistakes.

First, she pits Cuban whites against Cuban persons of color, assuming that the prosperity of whites (it was the rich ones, after all, who fled the communist regime, wasn't it?) numbs them to the plight of their fellow Cubans.

As a white Marielito Cuban who lived in abject poverty for the first 13 years of his life under the Cuban regime's oppression, and having met many like me during my time in that country, I can assure Guerrero that in Cuba, people of all skin colors suffer the same plight.

Secondly, the assumption that economic relief will inspire Cubans to aspire to a more liberal system fails miserably when one considers China, another communist country. Anyone who thinks economic improvements or prosperity will necessarily bring about political change needs to understand the fact that regimes intent on retaining power have proved themselves unwilling to surrender any.

The U.S. economic embargo against Cuba may have failed miserably, but I was there when dollars from Miami and care packages with Lee jeans started rolling in. The communist regime and its oppression kept on ticking.

Eduardo Suastegui, Downey

..

To the editor: Cuba does have a communist government and is not a democracy, and that is also true for Vietnam and China, but companies still do business in the latter countries. Intel's largest chip plant is in Vietnam.

The U.S. was instrumental in the overthrow of democracies in Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Iran, Egypt and Peru, and it supported the dictators in those countries as well as in Cuba prior to the hasty departure in 1959 of Fulgencio Batista, with many millions of dollars of the Cuban government's money.

Cuba has a higher literacy rate and lower infant mortality rate than the United States. Heaven forbid that a country without white elites running it be allowed to prosper.

Story continues

Bruce Stenman, Prunedale, Calif.

..

To the editor: Brava and thank you to Guerrero. After weeks of shoddy and partisan reporting in U.S. media on the Cuba protests, here is a simple, clear analysis of the current situation between the two countries.

Crucially, Guerrero well explains the race and class dynamics that are rarely discussed in U.S. reporting on Cuba.

On the subject of embargoes, isn't it odd that no country has ever blockaded the United States for its actions in Vietnam, Central America, the Middle East and many other places?

John Newby, Studio City

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Letters to the Editor: I fled communism in Cuba. Everyone there is oppressed, no matter their ethnicity - Yahoo News

Plans for a Public Art Show in Florida Have Been Derailed After the Mayor Accused Two of the Artists of Being Communists – artnet News

The curator of a major public art show in Florida has resigned after the local mayor claimed two of the artists spoke too favorably about communism and pushed to defund the show. Shortly thereafter, the event fell apart.

In a marathon city commission meeting last month, Vince Lago, mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, objected to the inclusion of artists Sandra Ramos and Cai Guo-Qiang in the citys Illuminate Coral Gables art show. The recently elected official referenced interviews that Ramos and Cai had given in the past in which he felt the artists expressed sympathetic views toward the communist regimes of their respective home countries, Cuba and China. (Ramos currently lives in Havana; Cai in New York.)

I will continue to support the arts, but not at the expense of democracy and liberty, Lago said at the meeting, a video of which is available online. It is very easy to make comments on the record supporting communism and saying that communism is a great idea, but they are here in the United States taking American money. At the end of the day, that doesnt bode well for me.

Following Lagos comments, the commission voted to fund part of the 2022 edition of the art show on the condition that the two artists be dropped from the roster.

Days later, the board of Illuminate Coral Gables announced that the 2022 show had been postponed due to extenuating circumstances beyond our control, and that its chief curator, Lance Fung, had stepped down, according to the Miami Herald.

In an email to Artnet News, Fung clarified that he resigned primarily over the censorship of my curatorial work, as did John Talley, the executive director of Fungs company Fung Collaboratives who was helping in Coral Gables. However, we also knew we needed to support all 20-plus artists we were working with by not validating false claims and speaking up for their first-amendment rights.

Lago did not respond to a request for comment.

Sandra Ramos, 90 Miles: De-construction (2011-2021).

The first edition of Illuminate Coral Gables took place in February and March of this year. Eight site-specific projects, including video projections, sculptures, and installations, went on view throughout the city.

Both Ramos and Cai participated in the inaugural show, alongside artists including Kiki Smith and David Gumbs. Ramos, a Havana-born artist now based in Miami, installed a 32-foot walkway made of a dozen lightboxes as part of the project this year. The work, she said, was meant to symbolize a bridge between Florida and Cuba.

For his part, Cai, a major international artist who was born in Quanzhou, China, and now works in New York, transformed 27 pedicabs into roving, interactive sculptures, decking out each with handmade silk Chinese lanterns. The pieces belong to the artists ongoing Fireflies series.

I think the artwork is spectacular; hes an incredible artist, Lago said of Cai. But art doesnt trump my own personal beliefs, especially when youre talking about public funds.

Lago was prepared to increase the events budget from $100,000 to $300,000 prior to the postponement. The art world brings an opportunity to this community for dialogue, the mayor said at the meeting. Where my dialogue ends is people who sympathize with oppression, tyranny.

Fung, meanwhile, disagreed. With 100 percent certainty, I believe that both artists are not communist sympathizers, the curator told Artnet News. In addition to being passionate, visionary, and talented artists, they have become good friends of mine. They are compassionate, intellectual, and humanitarian people. All of these attributes, and others, led me to the decision to request their support by being a part of Illuminate Coral Gables.'

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Plans for a Public Art Show in Florida Have Been Derailed After the Mayor Accused Two of the Artists of Being Communists - artnet News

One Cuban immigrant’s story reminds us of the importance of fighting for individual liberty – Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF)

Anton spent most of his life in Cuba before political oppression pushed him to immigrate to America in 2013.

It was not a lack of love and respect for his country that caused Anton to leave. On the contrary, Cuba was his beloved home. He never dreamed he would have to leave his life behind, but without the freedom to own property and earn a living free from government coercion, he and his wife felt they had no choice but to come to America.

PLF had the great honor of speaking with Antonnot his real nameabout the circumstances that led him to flee his own country because his individual liberty, specifically his right to economic liberty and property, and thus, his ability to pursue happiness, were threatened.

Speaking of his feelings upon making this difficult decision, he quotes a Cuban poet he has always admired: To immigrate from the country that youre born to another country is like to take a tree, a big tree, and transplant the whole tree with the root in another land.

He added, It takes time, but at the end of the day, he knew it was the right decision.

Some immigrants speak of the material opportunity that led them to America, but for Anton it was the Cuban governments quest to squash the individual that led to his exodus.

Anton and his family had committed what he describes as the three cardinal sins under communism: They were religious, they owned property (a few acres of land), and they had a history of distrust for the communist government. This painted a target on their backs and earned them a reputation as being capitalist sympathizersthe worst trespass of them all.

Antons family owned a small farm where they planted fruit and raised livestock which they would then sell to their local community. Community was important to his family. They also built churches for communities around the country.

Anton embraced the individualist mindset and used his skills to improve himself, his family, and his broader communities.

Owning property was bad enough on its own, but having the nerve to privately sell goods was a direct violation of communist principles.

His familys reputation followed Anton everywhere he went, from grade school to his first job. Communist governments make the claim that everyone is equal under their system, but Anton and his family were not treated as such.

Their beliefs were contrary to the post-1959 revolution Cuban way of life, and the family was discriminated against accordingly.

But Anton was brave beyond measure. Despite the great danger he and his family faced, they continued to build churches and feed the community.

Building an enterprise of any scale was not the communist way. Any form of entrepreneurship not sponsored by the government needed to be squashed in the name of the collective good.

As a young boy in school, Anton was taught to follow the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He and his classmates were told that they would one day have one society where money would be useless. Under this ideal system, the Cuban people would work in factories, they were promised. When they finished their nine-hour shifts, the government would provide them with everything they needed. If they needed clothes, they would be given clothes. If they needed food, they would be given food.

This was the utopia the Cuban socialists strived to create. But such a system can never exist unless the individual is sacrificed to the masses.

Human nature dictates that individuals each have different wants and needs. It was of little importance to communist supporters that some may not want to work in a factory. Others may prefer goods and services not provided to them by the government. And some may not be willing to sacrifice the freedom to own property and keep the income they earn for whatever is deemed in the interest of the public good.

This ideal society does not and cannot exist.

As Anton expressed, We are not in a perfect world. And, what happened in Cuba in 1959 when the revolution took power, they took everything from the rich people. They made everybody equal. So, everybody in the end was very poor. There was no incentive for people to work, no incentive for the farmers to grow food. There was no incentive for people to go to factories to work because, again, in a perfect world, this idea that they are talking about is nice, but like I say, were not in perfect world.

Communist regimes make grandiose promises of free stuff and equality, but there is no such thing as a free lunch, and equality of outcome is a perverse distortion of equality of opportunity. As Anton explained:

In my opinion, nothing in life is free, because yeah, its like that you are try to kill me and give my stuff away for free. Really?

He continued: People have good intentions, I understand this, but I will have to say that the way to the hell is good intentions.

The sanctity of the individual is undermined by collectivists ideologies, both in our own country and abroad. By placing the collective good before the sanctity of the individual, socialism and its more extreme form, communism, jeopardize our ability to live freely, peacefully, and productively without interference by government.

While our free-market, democratic system has helped keep full-fledged socialism and communism at bay, other countries have not fared so well absent these economic principles, as Antons story shows. We should use his story to be vigilant in protecting our capitalist system from the threat of socialism.

Anton laments that, thanks to American filmmaker Michael Moore, westerners have developed a false perception of socialism, especially when it comes to Cuban healthcare.

Michael Moore never went to our hometown hospital. He went to the best government hospitals. When he came back, he said that Cuba is a paradise.

He does not deny that the doctors in his country are talented, but they are underpaid. Doctors are expected to work without incentives. They bring home $40 to $50 per month, according to Anton.

The concept is free, he says, but in the reality it is very expensive, and as a Cuban, we are paying for this. Instead of bringing home an income and deciding for yourself if you would like to spend the money on a doctor, you are left with no choice.

And the education in Cuba is often not sufficient to train doctors; they have to go to other countries, like Brazil or Venezuela.

When we say free things, personally, we dont believe it. They are not free. This is a lie.

It was with a heavy heart that he and his wife eventually had to make the painful decision to leave their children, grandchildren, and friends behind in Cuba. It wasnt just their own lives they feared forthey also feared for those involved in the organizations they were active in.

If we dont leave the country, he thought, We will have serious problems, especially the part of the organization that we work over there in Cuba. The motive that I had to leave Cuba was more for safety and security, not just for me and my wife, but also for what was being done in Cuba.

So they left their old life behind and came to America.

The textbook definition of socialism is when the collective, or the government, controls the means of production, distribution, and exchange. Communism takes this further, giving the government total control over economic and even social issues.

Anton explains that each self-described socialist and communist country has adopted its own version of what this economic system means, despite what the actual definition may be. When asked the difference between socialism and communism, Anton explained that there is very little difference between the two.

In America today, many people push for socialism as a means of getting to equality. Anton would like to give advocates of such a system, like Senator Bernie Sanders, the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they arent talking about the same kind of socialism that destroyed his own country. But having seen the horrors of collectivism first-hand, he knows to be wary of such ideologies.

Anton has adapted to his new life in America. The freedom to hold and express ones own opinion is among his favorite aspects of American way of life. Unlike Cuba, in America, he loves talking to people with a host of different beliefs. He may not always agree, but he treasures the freedom they are allowed to exercise.

Our American government was instituted to keep each individual sovereign, possessing an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of our own happiness, something Anton did not have in Cuba.

One core concept all our Pacific Legal Foundation cases have in common is the principle of individualism. Whether we are fighting for equality before the law, property rights, economic liberty, free speech, or separation of powers, protecting the individual stands at the center of all we do.

When organizations like PLF fight for the dignity of the individual here in America, we are doing it to protect our countrys founding principles that have helped us maintain our freedom while other countries have crumbled.

PLFs main focus is law. But Antons story gives an example of how law and economics go hand in hand. Without the freedom to pursue his own happiness and earn his own living, there was no individual liberty. Socialism cant work on a foundation of individual liberty.And under such an oppressive government, there was no one to fight for him.

We should remember Antons powerful words: Cuba was heaven before 1959; when he left, he says, it was hell.

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One Cuban immigrant's story reminds us of the importance of fighting for individual liberty - Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF)