Lessons from the Gulags – Part 1

Introduction

Apart from books on theology and Christianity, no book has had a bigger impact on me than The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The author was a decorated soldier in the Russian army who was later sentenced to eight years of hard labour in the Russian gulags. His great life’s work, The Gulag Archipelago, documents the atrocities of Communist doctrine applied to the people of Russia. His three-volume work brought the Soviet Union to its knees and made the label communist a slur among all reasonable people.

It is impossible to explain here just how horrible the gulags truly were, but I have said to several people that no horror movie would ever send a chill down my spine again. Compared to the poison, death, and evil explored on the pages of this book, every horror movie seems whimsical and childish.

While the gulags were a place of immeasurable suffering and torment, to my amazement, they were also a place of learning. A place where those with eyes to see could learn irreplaceable lessons about the depths of human depravity and the sovereignty of God over all the affairs of men. Lessons about the ugly face of evil and its many pretty disguises. And lessons about character and goodness. Upon reflecting on his time spent under the backbreaking burden of the grisly gulags, Solzhenitsyn penned these astounding words,

“All the writers who wrote about prison but who did not themselves serve time there considered it their duty to express sympathy for prisoners and to curse prison. I… have served enough time there. I nourished my soul there, and I say without hesitation: “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!”[1]

If anyone had reason to turn against God and humanity Solzhenitsyn would have been pretty close to the front of the line, yet he learned the lessons that were being taught. I want to share one such lesson with you today.

Real Punishment

While in a camp a doctor named Boris Kornfeld spoke some wise words to Solzhenitsyn that gave him much to reflect on. Kornfeld said this,

“And on the whole, do you know, I have become convinced that there is no punishment that comes to us in this life on earth which is undeserved. Superficially it can have nothing to do with what we are guilty of in actual fact, but if you go over your life with a fine-tooth comb and ponder it deeply, you will always be able to hunt down that transgression of yours for which you have now received this blow.”[2]

While reflecting on these words Solzhenitsyn began asking some deep questions. Questions like, “Are those of us who are in the gulags the worst of sinners?”, “Have we been so wicked that this fate has been allotted to us?”, “What about our tormenters? Aren’t they the most wicked?”, “Why does it seem that the innocent are receiving the harshest of punishments?”, “Why is it that the good men, the Christians, are so ruthlessly tortured and killed?”, “Where is the punishment for the beasts who persecute us day and night?”, “Where is the punishment for Stalin and these guards?”

While pondering these things, Solzhenitsyn had an amazing realisation.

“And the only solution to this would be that the meaning of earthly existence lies not, as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but… in the development of the soul. From that point of view our torturers have been punished most horribly of all: they are turning into swine, they are departing downward from humanity. From that point of view punishment is inflicted on those whose development… holds out hope.”[3]

What Solzhenitsyn learned was that punishment inflicted on our bodies is to be preferred to punishment inflicted on our souls. A man who witnessed the deepest recesses of physical torture and punishment realised that it was still worse to do harm to your own soul. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Not Whether, But Which

Many times, throughout life we will be faced with situations where we must make a decision that could have severe consequences. One of the lessons that Solzhenitsyn has taught me is that often we do not evaluate these situations properly.

Imagine you are a university student and you have been given an assignment by some woke professor. You know that if you write an essay that addresses their assigned task fairly and truthfully, you will likely fail. If you write what they want to hear, you could easily pass.

Now, in a situation like this, it is not whether you will face negative consequences for your decision. Instead, the question is, which consequences will you face? Once you find yourself in this kind of a position, avoiding the tough road is no longer an option. You will either embrace the difficulty of a bad grade, perhaps a failed university career, or you will face the repercussions of compromising your character.

When we are weighing up these kinds of decisions, we often neglect to account for the damage to our souls.

Is it worth failing university over taking a stand that will most likely change nobody’s mind? Probably not. But that is not the choice you are making. Would you rather fail a paper or make yourself a little bit less respectable as a person? Would you rather fail a course or water the seeds of cowardice that dwell in your heart? Would you rather drop out of university and pursue a different career or emasculate yourself and allow evil to gain another small victory?

There is always a price to be paid. It is not whether, but which. You will pay either way. The good news is that most of the time you get to choose which price it will be. Solzhenitsyn taught me that the price we pay with our bodies, our wealth, and our livelihoods, pale in comparison to the price paid by those who forfeit their souls.

Now, at times there may be wisdom in conceding ground for the purpose of tactical manouvering, with the goal of taking back the same ground and more. However, this is a skill that should be employed by experts, not cowards who want to use it as an excuse for caving to every wind of culture.

What’ll It Be?

So, will you wear the rainbow badge when your boss says that it is staff policy for pride month? Will you call a man “she” and “her” when it becomes ‘hate speech’ to do otherwise? Will you take the mandatory anti-racism training at work and sit through several hours of being told to “be less white”?

Every time we make a weak decision and debase ourselves, we become a little bit weaker and less likely to stand up the next time. Unfortunately, we live in a society where this kind of soul punishment has debilitated us. We have been morally abused, debased, and afflicted with endless lies that we are called to give our ascent to. This sort of thing does have an effect. It melts away our strength and erodes our character. And weak people are easy to control. If you have not realised yet, all the politically correct mandates of our time are nothing more than revolutionary visions of manipulation and control. Theodore Dalrymple aptly observed,

“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”

Take Back Your Strength

Understand that every time we make a strong decision, we become a little bit stronger and more likely to stand up again. As Christians and lovers of truth, we possess a kind of strength that cannot be taken from us. It can only be forfeited. Since this is the case, do not forfeit your strength. Let your conscience stand or fall before the Lord. This is the kind of Christianity that tyrants have feared for two thousand years.

Forsake your pragmatics and live by principles that will grow your character and benefit your soul. If the government says that meeting together with God’s people is illegal, then turn up to church with bells on! If they command you to use their preferred pronouns, or else; use the pronouns that God prefers for those people. If they offer you free KFC to get your vaccination[4], scoff at such a shallow insult of your character and tell them to kick rocks.

Walking this path will be tough, but I can assure you, it will be a much easier path than the alternative. While they might keep their jobs and their semblance of respectability in the eyes of pagans, the burden of looking in the mirror and seeing a pathetic and emasculated slave is more than I could bear.

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[1] Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. The Gulag Archipelago (Vintage Classics) . Random House. (p. 313)

[2] Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. The Gulag Archipelago (Vintage Classics) . Random House. (p. 310)

[3] Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. The Gulag Archipelago (Vintage Classics) . Random House. (pp. 310-311)

[4] https://tpplus.co.nz/events/rally-call-for-samoans-in-auckland-to-get-vaccinated/?fbclid=IwAR2nRyQwjkZedE3Q8CjKj9p1ck4lFWtZV5XvEOa70SzfxBEh4hQFtwkmxdM