Russia, Culture, Lawlessness and Dictators

I have just completed a four day visit of St. Petersburg, Russia. Photographing the Russian orthodox churches was invaluable for visually exhibiting the transition in Christianity that occurred nearly sixteen centuries ago. Understanding how the Christian Church adapted and altered the thinking of the East and the West is crucial. These influences shaped our thinking today. Documenting them visually helps us examine our own heritage.

Unfortunately, I also experienced first-hand the results of the transition from Soviet rule to quasi-democracy. As we were walking to the Hermitage, I was confronted by what appeared to be a very aggressive street vendor. In fact, he and his accomplice set the distraction long enough for the few seconds it took to steal lenses from my two cameras. Needless to say, my photographic tour of St. Petersburg ended. But what transpired next was truly insightful. The lenses were worth more than $1500, so I dutifully reported the incident to the police. The policeman informed me that they knew very well the gang that operates in that part of the city. In fact, the policeman knew the perpetrator by name. He said that the law was basically useless in stopping this gang. According to the courts, unless you catch the man with his hand on the stolen material, it is not considered proof of a crime. Video surveillance is not accepted. Witnesses are dismissed. As a result, these men are almost never prosecuted, and when they are, they usually buy their way out of jail in a few days. The policeman told me that they estimate this gang is currently stealing about $5000 a day from tourists. There is virtually nothing they can do.

Further discussion gave more insight. Everyone agreed that under Soviet rule this situation would have been impossible. Thieves would be so severely punished that no one would take the risk. But democracy ushered in a new breed of judges and personal rights are being rewritten in the courts much like what is happening in America. Dictators bring the rule of law. It might be scary, but it works. The will of the people rarely provides protection for individuals. What happens is the protection of the criminals.

Most people here are just like everyone else I meet in the world. They are hard working, ethically minded, helpful and kind. That seems to be built into what it means to be human. I have been blessed by personal care and kindness all over the world—in Muslim, Jewish, Christian cultures and everything in-between. But despite the good will of the majority, some governmental systems seem less capable of actually protecting average people, the same people who put these system in place in the name of freedom. Freedom becomes the vehicle of criminal abuse. It’s like the argument that the government should take guns away from ordinary citizens. The result will be that only the criminals have guns. In the end, history more or less teaches us that democracy is far less effective as a system of government than dictatorship. The only problem is that dictatorship seduces human beings into power at any cost.

My Russian experience highlights the tension we face in the modern world. Because we no longer have cultures based on the common law assumptions of the Judeo-Christian heritage, law becomes whatever the State says it is. When the State fails to uphold simple ethical principles, citizens are left to fend for themselves. Most of the time this is an exercise in frustration, even for the police. It seems to me that Russia and the United States are far more alike than they are different, and they both face the same cultural decline. I guess we will have to wait for the Millennial Kingdom before a dictator with holy principles will make things right.

But the most important experience happened AFTER all this.  I couldn’t sleep.  I kept thinking, “Why didn’t you take care of me, God?”  I had images of being a Hollywood superhero and zapping these men.  I wanted revenge.  I want to go to the head of the Russian mafia here and make a deal to punish them–severely.  It didn’t make any difference to me that eventually they would be judged.  In fact, if they ever repented, they would be forgiven–and I still wouldn’t have my two lenses.  I kept thinking how unfair all of this was.  Then I realized what an enormous statement Job made when he said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  That isn’t what I felt.  I felt violated.  My personal space had been breached.  Yes, it was just two lenses, but they belonged to me!  I started thinking about the experience Job had.  Everything gone!  And yet he could still bless the Lord.  I was so far away from that.  The theory of Job is one thing, but now I had the reality.  My emotions betrayed my pristine theology.  Once it got personal, vengeance raised its head.

Oh my, I have such a long way to go.