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The Doukhobor Peace Day
by
Koozma J. Tarasoff
A centuries-old
festival honouring the Apostles Peter and Paul, Peter's Day (June
29th Old Calendar, July 12th New Calendar) coincides with the birth of
Doukhobor leader Peter "Lordly" Verigin in 1859 and the "Burning of Arms"
in 1895. Author Koozma J. Tarasoff explores the enormous significance of
this "Peace Day" to the Doukhobor movement.
The
significance of the Burning of Arms event for the Doukhobors is enormous.
It is the concrete act which catapulted the Doukhobors into the international
arena. It was a moment when civilization was presented with an alternative
strategy of living without resorting to the use of excessive force particularly
the barrel of the gun, the bomb, and the deadly missile.
St.
Peter's Day is one of the centuries-old feast days celebrated by
the Russian Orthodox church in honour of the Apostles and martyrs of Christ
St. Peter and St. Paul. Doukhobors evolved out of the Orthodox church environment.
And while they rejected most of the trappings of the church, it was inevitable
that some habits would remain. For example, Doukhobors adopted the practice
of standing up at a sobranie with men on one side an women on the other.
And many continued to observe certain old church holidays (e.g. Easter,
Christmas, and St. Peter's Day) as natural times in which to come together
to meditate, socialize, and have a feast. They argued that participating
in any one of these or other external rituals does not negate their inner
core values of love, beauty, and the God within.
It
was therefore natural for the Doukhobors (at the inspiration of Peter V.
Verigin) to choose June 29th (Old Style Calendar; new style is July 11th)
to hold a manifestation for peace. This date was at the end of the rebirth
season of Spring and the beginning of Summer. The fact that the event
fell on Peter V. Verigin's birthday is coincidental. Moreover, the centuries-old
custom of naming a child after the Orthodox saint on whose feast day the
child was born continued among the Doukhobors in isolated cases. Peter
V. Verigin (1859-1924), for example, was born on the 29th of June and was
named for the already-important feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul. Thus,
the soil for this major happening was well prepared. The manifestation
had already been preceded with the first acts of civil disobedience
that year on Easter Sunday by Matvey Lebedev and ten other collegues who
refused to do military training. The soil was prepared for a major happening.
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| Burning
of Arms, June 29, 1895 |
The
June 29th event was a historic first. For the Doukhobors this arms burning
event is primarily known as Peter's Day or St. Peter's Day. However, it
ought to be called a Doukhobor Peace Day. Why? Because this Peace
Day is pitched at the wider public if not the world. This symbolic humanitarian
act is one of the most remarkable acts that the world has ever known. A
group of some 7000 Doukhobors in three areas of the Russian Caucasus on
the 29th June 1895 totally refused to kill other human beings regardless
of
consequences.
This was a new direction for the human race, one that gave hope to the
notion of getting rid of militarism and the scourge of war.
This
big idea of these Russian peasants was visionary, revolutionary and non-sectarian.
From the message that there is God, love and beauty in every person (in
which they moved the divine from the walls and halls of the church as well
as the minister and the Bible and relocated it in their hearts), they developed
in simplistic fashion a full philosophy of nonviolence, equality
and love. This 1895 event transformed the Russian Spirit Wrestlers into
the category of a social movement out of the narrow confines of a sect.
They became true pioneers of the spirit.
We
all know that language is not static; it is an organic entity that changes
with the times to be more in conformity with the new living meanings of
the day. Hence today there is an urgent need for a new terminology
which fits closer the meaning of Spirit Wrestlers and their outstanding
action in 1895. For me, the Doukhobor Peace Day is closer to the intended
message of our ancestors -- and therefore this pregnant title ought to
be used as much as possible. Of course, people are free to use Petrov Dien
or Peter's Day if they like. But there is strong rationale to use the more
universalistic, the more comprehensive as well as the more accurate designation.
In brief, we need to embrace the joyous spirit of the real meaning of the
momentous 1895 Burning of Arms event.
Perhaps the Doukhobors
were ahead of their time. Perhaps not. It was Lev N. Tolstoy who described the
Russian Doukhobors as 'people of the 25th century'. I like to look upon
the 1895 message as bringing hope to a troubled society today. Guns, bombs, and
missiles destroy the very notion of civilized men, women, and children in
society. Getting rid of these diabolical weapons is perhaps the first step to
finding a solution to our human problems.
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