Nina: Yes, that's why in the book George Harris represents that active, more revolutionary person who makes his own destiny. But Tom made his choice willingly, as a free man and he actually endured much more than George to stick to his guts. At the same time his influence was overwhelming. There seem to be two kinds of courage, equally paramount: the one that calls to fight and the one who tells you to stay firm on what you are. The first is more admired but the second is more noble.
Kolya; I think we are avoiding something: Tom was very religious. We here do not understand it but it does seem that for him Christ was not just God; He was Tom's only connection to Humanity.
Teacher: We know from the history of our country that many truly religious people were very progressive- they considered that true piousness was to be in serving people. We here declined religion as an opiate for masses but only due to the fact that it was actively used to fortify oppression. Historically both here and in the West religion was used by the ruling classes to help them to oppress people spiritually. As Inquisition was used by Spaniards against the rebellious Holland, here, in Russia the rebels from the so-called "military settlements' were excommunicated. Examples are numerous. In Tom's times in the US the Bible was interpreted by white preachers as the one which justified slavery.
Nina: So there were two Gods in the US -- one for the whites and one for the black- skinned?
Sasha: Yes, as soon as the whites would never go to the same Church as the black -- skinned. I think that as soon as St. Clare defined slavery as "coming from the devil' it is a message in the book that the a lot of white people lost their way and the only true Christians were in fact Uncle Tom and those who helped him or other runaways.
Teacher: if we believe that message, than it is no wonder the book ignited the fire that lead to war. But also if that is feasible, what is that unusual in Uncle Tom? Something we had met before in our history and our real people, something we learn. Don't you feel uneasy when you read about such character whether fictional or real?
Natasha: Yes, that is when you read about that person and try to imagine thyself in his or her place and realize that you would not be able to achieve such level of a feat, such high raise of spiritual perfection. We here call them heroes or "provozvestniki' -- the drivers for the future.
Teacher: Good call, But our country is very ancient and we have other words in our language maybe more suitable for Tom's times if we consider the religious upbringing of his; something more relevant to his environment. We don't use these words anymore but others still do. Anyone knows a word?
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