MSI Press Blog

  Khatyn Khatyn was a small rural village in what is now Belarus. On March 22, 1943, Nazi forces and local collaborators carried out a retaliatory massacre there. They burned the entire village, locked the residents — mostly women, children, and the elderly — in a barn, and set it on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot. Only a handful survived—not unlike Belarus at large, where, overall, about 25% of the entire Belrusian population perished during WWII. After the war, the Soviet government chose Khatyn as a national memorial site, not because it was the only village destroyed, but because it could stand for the hundreds of Belarusian villages that were wiped out in similar ways. The memorial was built in 1969. The design is stark and symbolic. Concrete outlines mark where each home once stood. A bell stands at each outline, ringing softly whenever the wind moves it, reminiscent of Pyotr’s peace bell, only less hopeful—and haunting. A sculpture of the lone adult surviv...

  WORDS MATTER “If I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong, a clanging symbol.” --I Corinthians 13: 1   My three brothers recently visited from afar. We spent a week together crammed into my small apartment. We exhausted ourselves talking about our lives and our favorite subjects--religion, psychology, and politics. I daily used up my quota of words. Many family and friends avoid talking about these subjects to avoid conflict. But we relish the give-and-take of debate. Coincidentally, the Republican National Convention was televised each night. We watched it diligently and exchanged views. Our convictions ranged across the political spectrum. So our conversations were animated, our disagreements passionate. However, at the end of the week, we learned something from each other and parted friends. Words matter. They have power. Our traditions attest to this fact. For example, God created the world with His word. He be...