Post by Gerard Mendes on May 25, 2005 12:47:47 GMT -5
LETTERS FROM ROMANIA--PART 1
Hello again, Gerard. I thought to start my letter about Romania and what's happening here, because it will be pretty long, I guess. Today the first part.
You asked me to tell you about Romanian Christianity, but first of all I have to tell you about Romania as a nation, because I think it's usefull to have a general view.
So... We have about 22 million people and we are placed in the south-western part of Europe. We have a latin background, so our language sounds similar with italian, I guess. We had a king until the second world war, but after 1944-1945, we were caught by the ugly hands of communism. And the communist ideology destroyed people's hearts, minds and lives. There is much to say about communism, and if you are interested, I can tell you more, because I was raised under it. I was 18 when our revolution came, so I remember everything very well.
One of the things communism did was the fact that we were not allowed to travel outside the country (except visiting the other communist countries from Europe), and also the foreigners could enter Romania very hard, being watched by the Political Police of those times.This fact had influences over the Christianity in Romania, too. (I will explain later.) We were a "closed" country somehow. Closed to the influences from outside - both good and bad influences. And I must say here that this thing had its advantages, too. No drugs, weapons, pornography, harsh discipline in schools. (For example, we had to wear uniformes in schools until at the age of 18, when we finished the high-school, and the girls could not wear make-up or big jewels. Also, the pupils could not be unpolite with a teacher. This way, teen-agers had a sort of protection, I guess. But brain-washing as well.)
In december 1989 we raised against the communism. It was a popular revolution, and the army was sent to shut all the people involved. But the army turned against the communist leaders too, and they fought BESIDE the people. So, our president and his wife, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, had to run with an helicopter. After a few days they were caught and sentenced to death by a military judge. They were shut.
Now, after 15 years from the revolution, Romania is still trying to find its way. Not by seeking and ideology to follow - here we know what we want: we are a free country, with every human right. It's about the fact that our PRACTICAL situation changes very slow. We fight against poverty, coruption, against the fact that the big ones don't care about the small ones (but I guess that this is happening all over the world).We are still treated by other nations as being a "second quality" people. Now we are free to leave our country, but there are not many other countries which want us.
Still, we have a certain kind of values that the Occident is forgetting more and more: a family is a family, a marriage is a marriage, a woman is a woman. Because we are placed somewhere between Occident and Orient, we still have some values and accents that the Occident is losing, generally speaking. Good, traditional values. We know to open our hearts without being afraid of it, we know to communicate, we value friendship and doing things together, we are warm and compassionate, and we don't live just for money. Am I harsh with the Occidentals?... Well, I am speaking about a pattern here, not about EVERY human being. There are a lot of exceptions, I agree. Still, it is about a pattern, but, of course, according to MY opinion, and I might be wrong.
Well, actually I began to write this letter wanting to be critical with my people, but it seems I ended being boastful... It must be my Romanian subconscious part...
Now, this was a VERY short "resume" of the secular Romanian world. Christianity here is certainly influenced by it, so that's why I began with this informations. In the next letter I will be more "spiritual", speaking about the Romanian Church.
Until next time, all the best for you.
Corina
Hello again, Gerard. I thought to start my letter about Romania and what's happening here, because it will be pretty long, I guess. Today the first part.
You asked me to tell you about Romanian Christianity, but first of all I have to tell you about Romania as a nation, because I think it's usefull to have a general view.
So... We have about 22 million people and we are placed in the south-western part of Europe. We have a latin background, so our language sounds similar with italian, I guess. We had a king until the second world war, but after 1944-1945, we were caught by the ugly hands of communism. And the communist ideology destroyed people's hearts, minds and lives. There is much to say about communism, and if you are interested, I can tell you more, because I was raised under it. I was 18 when our revolution came, so I remember everything very well.
One of the things communism did was the fact that we were not allowed to travel outside the country (except visiting the other communist countries from Europe), and also the foreigners could enter Romania very hard, being watched by the Political Police of those times.This fact had influences over the Christianity in Romania, too. (I will explain later.) We were a "closed" country somehow. Closed to the influences from outside - both good and bad influences. And I must say here that this thing had its advantages, too. No drugs, weapons, pornography, harsh discipline in schools. (For example, we had to wear uniformes in schools until at the age of 18, when we finished the high-school, and the girls could not wear make-up or big jewels. Also, the pupils could not be unpolite with a teacher. This way, teen-agers had a sort of protection, I guess. But brain-washing as well.)
In december 1989 we raised against the communism. It was a popular revolution, and the army was sent to shut all the people involved. But the army turned against the communist leaders too, and they fought BESIDE the people. So, our president and his wife, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, had to run with an helicopter. After a few days they were caught and sentenced to death by a military judge. They were shut.
Now, after 15 years from the revolution, Romania is still trying to find its way. Not by seeking and ideology to follow - here we know what we want: we are a free country, with every human right. It's about the fact that our PRACTICAL situation changes very slow. We fight against poverty, coruption, against the fact that the big ones don't care about the small ones (but I guess that this is happening all over the world).We are still treated by other nations as being a "second quality" people. Now we are free to leave our country, but there are not many other countries which want us.
Still, we have a certain kind of values that the Occident is forgetting more and more: a family is a family, a marriage is a marriage, a woman is a woman. Because we are placed somewhere between Occident and Orient, we still have some values and accents that the Occident is losing, generally speaking. Good, traditional values. We know to open our hearts without being afraid of it, we know to communicate, we value friendship and doing things together, we are warm and compassionate, and we don't live just for money. Am I harsh with the Occidentals?... Well, I am speaking about a pattern here, not about EVERY human being. There are a lot of exceptions, I agree. Still, it is about a pattern, but, of course, according to MY opinion, and I might be wrong.
Well, actually I began to write this letter wanting to be critical with my people, but it seems I ended being boastful... It must be my Romanian subconscious part...
Now, this was a VERY short "resume" of the secular Romanian world. Christianity here is certainly influenced by it, so that's why I began with this informations. In the next letter I will be more "spiritual", speaking about the Romanian Church.
Until next time, all the best for you.
Corina