“If the Church’s relationship with the government is not good, then the Church’s relationship with God is not good,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said yesterday, thus confirming my hypothesis that he identifies himself with God. Of course, these ideas strongly contradict the entire European (including Armenian) theological and philosophical thought, but the discussion of this issue would take us too far.
Let’s focus on the practical consequences of this pathological identification. Convinced that the power of the “people” given to him is of a divine nature, the leader of Armenia allows himself to think that no rational justification is needed for his government’s actions. It follows that one can claim three contradictory things in one day and justify the strange, incomprehensible steps in the security of Artsakh and Armenia. All the same, God (that is, “the people”) gave him that right. Perhaps the prime minister is referring to the “people” who write on Facebook: “Nicol is the second person in this world after God.” (“es ashxarum astcuc heto erkrord mard@ Nikoln a).
I do not rule out that the part of citizens of Armenia think so. But, it would be wrong to form an idea about the Armenian people, the nation of Grigor Tatevatsi, Yeznik Koghbatsi, and Narekatsi, based on the instincts of that mass. The Armenian people have much more severe potential than our 680 thousand fellow citizens. And belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church is part of that people’s identity. It is not wise, even pragmatically, to spoil relations with that national institution because of some morbid ambitions.
The prime minister said this extraordinary thought in response to the concerns expressed by Garegin B the previous day. Knowing the working style of the current government, I do not rule out that soon, “sensational revelations” about Patriarch (Vehapar) will be made public.
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Aram ABRAHAMYAN
