- Tartuffe.
Several decades before the 1692 in Paris under Louis the 14th an extraordinary event took place. The Royal Theatre of the King’s Brother presented to the audience a new comedy by Jean Batiste Molliers, the famous ‘Tartuffe or the Hypocrite’. The main negative character in that comedy was the compendium of all possible vices: he was malicious, evil, a traitor, a thief, a liar, a glutton and a lecher. At the same time he was dressed in a tunic and fortified all his bad deeds by quoting the Bible. He was also some kind of a dark philosopher and promoter of hypocrisy and the audience roared when he calmly stated his notorious,’ Whoever sins quietly doesn’t sin at all.’ The play had a great success in Paris but the reaction of the Church was so fierce that even Louis, despot as he was got cold feet and forbade it to stage. In one of the discussions Louis asked Prince Conde, his relative:
- Why are they so mad at Tartuffe? We can find many plays where Church is described pretty badly, even worse than here.
- They do not care for the Church,- answered the Prince, ’They care for themselves because they are all damned hypocrites and that is what Molliers had shown.’
Tartuffe survived until today and the play is staged regularly in Comedy Frances. As for the type described- just visit the White House.
- God and Communists.
Kamil Ikramov, the Russian writer of the Uzbek origin in his book ‘The Case of my Father’ tells about his father Akmal Ikramov who in 1920s –1930s was a Chairman of the Central Committee in Uzbekistan, kind off a First Communist. At that time they were still fighting the basmachi, the insurgents who did not recognize the new regime and also were formed by the formerly rich people. Once there was a big success- the communist forces managed to lure into the ambush and capture one of the most feared ones, the kurbashi (commander) Ibragimbeck. The special forces commissar Chabibulla reported to Akmal Ikramov:
- I told him that we wanted to talk to him and guaranteed his safety. He asked me to take an oath on the Quran and also on the bread. I did. I know all those things because I studied in the religious school. So I did and he then believed me and went right into a trap.
- So you deceived him?- asked Ikramov.
- Yes, so what? They do that all the time.
- You should not have done that. It was a blasphemy. People will now treat us as blasphemous dogs, nothing more.
- Whatever. Ibragimbeck was no angel, you know that.
- Yes I know. But he believed you when you took an oath on the Quran and the bread.
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