A COMMENDABLE PROPOSAL

On the day of the 37th anniversary of the catastrophic 1988 earthquake in Spitak and the entire surrounding region, we learned from the Facebook page of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia that His Excellency proposes that “before the Sunday liturgies, at 10:55 a.m., in all churches the choirs perform the state anthem of the Republic of Armenia,” as “in the year 301 the Armenian Apostolic Church was created by the state, by decision of the state.”

Any person familiar with history, Armenian or not, knows that the Armenian Apostolic Church was not created in the year 301 by the state and by a decision of the state, but was founded already in the very first century by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew and consecrated by their martyrdom. And as is commonly accepted, in the year 301, the king—after being healed of an incurable illness that had rendered him boar-like—proclaimed Christianity the state religion.
 
After this small remark, let us of course state that the above proposal is commendable, for it reflects the Prime Minister’s exceptional punctiliousness about the symbolic unification of the Armenian Church and the State, never mind that the sliver of homeland soil that remains is being further amputated day by day, to the detriment of the homeland exalted for millennia by the blood of Armenian heroes, and to the glory of the executioner nation which, ever whetting its wolfish appetite, does not conceal its urge to gulp down the lamb, yesterday its tail—Artsakh—, today its little legs—Syunik and Sevan—and, at the right time, by swallowing the whole lamb, to turn it through fabricated “facts” into “historic Western Azerbaijan.” 

We are certain that if the immortal poet Yeghishe Charents were alive, he would rework his poem to write:

“Search the world, there is no white peak like Ararat’s,
and there is no prime minister like our Prime Minister.”

In any case, returning to the above-mentioned proposal, let us say that this welcome zeal is in itself eloquent proof of how, day and night—surely to the point of losing sleep—His Excellency is consumed by inner anxiety and turmoil over his zeal and commitment to popularizing the Armenian Church, while at the same time securing for himself the reputation of a Church and Nation lover, and becoming a worthy candidate for an international prize yet to be established. Indeed, the monarchs of England, who for five centuries have proclaimed themselves the self-appointed heads of the Church of England, never having made such an invention, would in admiration propose that the sole candidate for that prize be rewarded. 

Nevertheless, we repeat once again that this is a commendable and most welcome idea, for which we must congratulate its inventor, naturally in the understanding that: 

1. The fair-minded Prime Minister will issue a decree that the followers of every religion and confession within the borders of the country will begin their worship with the state anthem.

2. Versed as he is in classical literature, the Prime Minister is well aware that when Christianity was proclaimed the state religion, the clear and unique seal of faith was stamped upon statehood; therefore it is to be expected that the bold, pious and reform-minded Prime Minister also take the initiative that Parliament open its sittings with the Lord’s Prayer and with the prayer of Catholicos Nerses the Gracious, “Jesus, wisdom of the Father, grant me the wisdom,” so that the leaders of the Republic of Armenia may, with the wisdom of the Heavenly One, govern Armenia, the Eden-like land that welcomed Noah’s Ark and is the cradle of humanity.