“The nation that has the wrong notion of God, has the wrong state order as well. Any nation has an order which suits them, is convenient for them. The nation is bad only if the government is bad”. These words belong to German philosopher Hegel. Notice that he said “the order that suits them”(“passt zu ihm”), not “has the authorities they deserve ”, which is usually what people quote other pholosfers’ words.
Moreover, Hegel was not inclined to put the blame on the people. It’s quite the opposite – the nation is bad IF the government is bad. If representatives of the nation used to be bribed to vote, it would demonstrate the vulgarity and immorality of authorities who created that mechanism and order, not the mentioned people. If today the majority of the same nation is not interested in the fate of a dozen of thousands of their compatriots in Artsakh, again, you should not rush to blame the majority. They receive that message, that direction from the authorities. Furthermore, in this case the authority has complete legitimacy. The state order which exists today is suitable, beneficial to the nation. But God knows who deserves what.
When talking about God, Hegel, as far as I understand, means a plan, an aim, a pattern or if we repeat the word – an order. In that sense, us Armenians have lost our way, I reckon. Who is to show the direction, on which platforms should those develop? I think the right platforms are the ones people with intellect and knowledge gather on. But the problem is that the government has declared war to those people through virtual and real propagandists, same as to clergymen, the diaspora, the generals, the universities etc. All of it, summed up, creates what the German philosopher called “wrong notion of God”.
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Aram ABRAHAMYAN
