And just take a look at this: this is what the sensational experiment of colliding proton beams at the unprecedented energy of 13 TeV looks like.
Oh, wait a second. My mistake: proton beams are in Switzerland, while here we have an Orthodox priest riding on a sinner, and he—the priest, not the sinner—isn’t being kicked out of the Russian Orthodox Church (RPC) with a note in his employment record book—or whatever they call it—saying “for paganism and shamanism.”
The immediate trigger for the rally organized by members of the scientific community was, of course, the situation surrounding the Dynasty Foundation. But the issue is broader than that, of course—especially since Dynasty itself specifically asked people not to rally on its behalf.
The theme is: for science and enlightenment, and against obscurantism and ignorance. Just look at what has become the public mainstream of social thought in Russia: some kind of polygamy, bikers in leather pants with three years of schooling, bearded Islamists wearing machine-gun belts and carrying police IDs. We have a minister of culture with a fake dissertation! And not just ministers—half the university rectors in the country have fake dissertations.
The mayor of one of the country’s largest cities has officially come out against teaching the theory of evolution in schools.
Christianity is being distorted and, as I already said, turned into paganism. They haul a flame across the country by train and call on people to worship it. Zoroastrians would be jealous. And not only Zoroastrians, but the natives of some Mumbo Jumbo tribe as well, since the RPC has also SUDDENLY started looking favorably on polygamy.
The authority of science and education has been dragged below rock bottom. Not only is the money not there—it all goes into the military and police budget—but on top of that they impose things like “unified history textbooks,” and put such outstanding thinkers as Volodin at the head of the supervisory boards of the “National Research Centers.”
The best scientists, internationally recognized, are leaving in droves, and they’re jeered after as they go: good riddance, fifth column.
A new standard is being imposed on Russia: no need to read books or respect science. Our strength, supposedly, lies in tying St. George ribbons (a Russian military remembrance symbol) onto everything in sight, giving up soap, and waging an endless struggle against some mythical Obama who lives on the other side of the globe.
On television they babble about special spirituality and health-giving conservatism, even though almost no one in the country goes to church, and the levels of alcoholism and drug addiction are staggering. By any indicator of “conservatism,” from intentional homicides to abortions per capita, we compare unfavorably with any European country.
So it turns out that our “conservatism” is a postmodern cocktail of hijabs, polygamy, St. George ribbons, a cult of Putin worship, and the persecution of science and enlightenment—all of which have been lumped into the category of “liberal,” now cast as the public enemy.
As officials of Russia’s principal republic write: “Liberals, fascists, terrorists, and scumbags of every stripe.”
Apparently, this is now the main dividing line between the authorities and the opposition in Russia in 2015: unwashed, jeering Islamo-bikers in hijabs versus those who believe in progress, science, and enlightenment.
The rally has been officially authorized. The Facebook group is here. June 6. Moscow. Suvorov Square. 2:00 p.m.
P.S. As reported, the video with the priest-rider is from Transnistria (a breakaway region of Moldova). That is also the RPC, but still not Russia, so let’s treat it as merely an artistic metaphor—one that nonetheless fully matches the spirit of the times.