The Nicene Creed in the Era of Arshakunis: The Confession of Faith – 1/2

Vahe H Apelian

The cover of the Eastern Prelacy 2025 handbook)

This year the Armenian Church celebrates the 1700^th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, the Armenian Church cites to this day. 

I quote the prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church Eastern Prelacy, Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian. “The Universal Church founded by Christ emerged from three centuries of persecution in 313 thanks to Emperor Constantine’s edict of tolerance. Soon after gaining freedom, however, it faced an internal division because of the heretical Egyptian presbyter Arius. He refused to believe in the divine nature of Jesus Christ and rather he confessed him as a created being.

Upon the invitation of Emperor Constantine 318 patriarchs, theologians, clergymen, and deacons, including Armenian Catholicos Aristakes, took part in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 in the city of Nicaea. They condemned Arianism and formulated the Confession of Faith, which later was expanded particularly emphasizing that Christ, the Only Begotten Son, is consubstantial with God the Father, in other words, He is of the same nature.

Sectarian movements in all their variants, have a common characteristic, they constrict the infinite and divine Deep Mystery to the limits of human mind. This temptation still exists today, as it did yesterday, and as it will tomorrow. 

This is why the holy Council of Nicaea, even though it has 1700 years of history, still serves as a guide to the true faith fof the believers of the present and the future. With this goal, the Universal Church, especially during the Divine Liturgy, reaffirms the Holy Trinity, the spiritual unity of the Church, the Body of Christ, and the truth of eternal life, by singing or reciting the Nicaean Creed.

May the 1700^tth anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea afford an opportunity to every believer to renew and strengthen the true faith, and to stay away from the tenets of all sorts of evil movements.”  (Copied from the 2025 Armenian Eastern Prelacy’s 2025 handbook.)  

The Armenian participant in the Council of Nicaea, as prelate Anoushavan noted, was Catholicos Aristakes. Quoting Wikipedia: “Aristaces or Aristakes I (Armenian: Արիստակէս Ա, romanized: Aristakēs) was the second Catholicos of the Armenian Church from 325 until his death in 333. He was the younger son and successor of Gregory the Illuminator, the founder and first head of the Armenian Church and his wife, Julitta (or Mariam) of Armenia.”

In the later part of last year 2024, Deacon Shant Kazanjian of the Armenian Prelacy conducted a weekly online study of the Nicaean Creed that lasted for a few week.  Throughout the study I remained reflective of the following statement Catholicos Aram I said in his book “The Armenian Church”. I quote: ““The Christianization of Armenia and the Armeniainization of the Christianity” because “The Armenian Church is the birthplace of Armenian culture and since the beginning of the 5thCentury it has been its epicenter, not only creating the wonder of the Armenian Alphabet, but also playing a pivotal part in promoting, enriching, and protecting all manifestations of Armenian culture.” (see the caption below), It will be the understatement of the Armenian history if I say that the Armenian church is the backbone of the Armenian nation. 

Read the upcoming blog “The Nicaean Creed in the era of Arshakunis: two dynastic families ”, if you like to know why I titled the blog, as I did.

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/search?q=Armenian+church

  

The Trump administration is set to conquer the penny and remove it from circulation.

Vahe H. Apelian

"“Penny has its honored place in our language and American culture. A penny left on the headstone lets the deceased soldier's family know that someone stopped by to pay their respect. There are so many sayings referencing penny."

I read today that “President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is looking into stopping production of the penny to save taxpayers money. In a post on X Tuesday night, the Elon Musk-run group pointed out that a penny now cost three cents to make – triple its value. The cost of taxpayers a whopping $170 million in. a fiscal year 2023 the post said.” It is ut  not the first time that phasing out the lowly penny was considered but without such fanfare. 

Several years ago, I wrote a blog about seigniorage, which according to Wikipedia, is the “the profit made by a government by issuing currency, especially the difference between the face value of coins and their production costs.” Yes, not all currencies make a profit to the government, but most do.

According to a report in Coinnews.net, dated February 7, 2020 by Mike Unser, “in FY 2019 the price of producing U.S. coins for circulation climbed again last year, the U.S. Mint disclosed in its 2019 report…..in FY 2019 the to make, administer and distribute the 1-cent coin eased to 1.99 cents form 2.06 cents.” The cost to print a penny apparently is now 3 cents

There is also no profit from seigniorage of 5-cents. But the same report noted that the U.S. Mint realized $138.8 million for minting the dime and $285.2 million form minting the quarter. It turns out that the U.S. Mint transfers seigniorage, that is to say the profit it makes, to a Treasury General Fund that helps finance the national debt. I wonder if the same fund subsidizes the mining of the penny. FY is the acronym for fiscal year.

Other interesting tid-bits about the penny:

- Lincoln cents are composed of 2.5% copper. The rest is zinc.

- Pennies have an estimated 25-year life span.

- Coistar, the green-and-white coin collecting kiosk in supermarkets has processed18.5 million pennies in 2015.

Obviously the cost of minting penny varies depending on the cost of the metals involved. Copper is pretty much sought metal. Along with the cost, there is also the impact on the environment. No wonder, our northern neighbor Canada ceased minting penny in 2019. Bills have been introduced in the U.S. congress to phase out minting the costly penny but to no avail thus far, primarily for sentimental reasons. The penny is very much American. It is hard to imagine America without its penny. 

Let us face it. The “lowly penny” evokes tender sentiments. I bet many of us have picked a penny somewhere and have set aside pennies in a jar. I have. Penny has its honored place in our language and American culture. A penny left on the headstone lets the deceased soldier's family know that someone stopped by to pay their respect. There are so many sayings referencing penny, such as “penny saved is penny earned”, “penny-wise, dollar-foolish”, and many, many and many more. But, tt appears that the costly penny may not remain with us in the foreseeable future.

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Learning about seigniorage, I was remined of the fate of the early 50 Lebanese piasters, i.e. the Lebanese “50-cents”. Sometimes in the 1960’s the 50 piasters disappeared from circulation in Lebanon. It turned out that tis silver content was for more valuable than its trading face value. Surely there remained 50 piasters already in circulation.

Lebanon being Lebanon, it would not surprise me a bit if those in the higher up bought all the available piasters from the banks at their face value and had them processed for their silver content. It even would not surprise me, Lebanese officials being Lebanese officials, had the government continue on minting the silver containing piasters while they hoarded the mint, until the government ran out of its silver stock and legislation was passed to have its composition changed to what it is now.

After the news, or should I say after the rumors became widely known, I too kept the few silver-containing 50 piasters I laid my hands on. They surely felt different in the pocket. They were heavier than the 50 piasters that replaced them.

I do not know what happened to my few silver-containing 50 piasters. Recently I checked on line about them and found out that they are available for purchase by those interested, especially for those to whom the silver-containing 50 piasters evoke memories of the bygone days in Lebanon. It turns out that in good condition each is retailed up to $38 U.S. dollars. 

The 50 Lebanese piasters are now worthless and are not minted any longer. There as a time when a 50-piaster coin is all you needed to secure a seating in the circulating taxicabs in the city or have a tasty manaesh from the baker across the American University of Beirut.

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 As to the costly penny, let us be mindful that the U.S. government makes a lot of money by minting the dime and the quarter.  I mean the U.S. government gets a hefty return. I mean to say old fashioned profit, by selling the goods way more than its costs.  I wonde, have the profits made there, trickled down to the taxpayers, that phasing out the minting the costly penny will?

As far as the penny is concerned, hoard your pennies and pass them to your grandchildren. But do not expect to see your taxes getting lower once the Trump administration conquers the lowly penny and removes it from the face of the earth..

 

 

Eight Presidential Inauguration Traditions

BY: CHRISTOPHER KLEIN

Long-established customs around the transition and Inauguration have helped insure the orderly handover of power from one president to the next. History will tell whether these traditions were observed a the 2025 Trump presidential inauguration. (https://www.history.com/news/presidential-inauguration-and-transition-traditions)

 

They are different aircraft. The first on (smaller with deeper blue bottom) looks like 
a C32A, probably carrying Kamala Harris. The second one looks like the VC-25A that carried Joe Biden, January 20, 2025

1. Post-election White House Visits

 

Within days of a presidential election—and sometimes personal defeat—the chief executive typically invites the president-elect to the White House to tour the private quarters, facilitate the transition and signal national unity after a bruising campaign. The tradition began in 1841 when President-elect William Henry Harrison met President Martin Van Buren at the White House multiple times before his inauguration. (President Donald Trump did not extend an invitation following Joe Biden’s election, but Biden revived the tradition days after the 2024 vote.)

 

Several encounters between political rivals have proven not only awkward—but downright hostile. President Herbert Hoover thought his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, “very badly informed and of comparably little vision” after their first post-election meeting. The relationship further eroded when Roosevelt rebuffed Hoover’s plea to jointly address the Great Depression. After Hoover arrived 30 minutes late to an afternoon tea with Roosevelt’s family on inauguration eve, an argument between the incoming and outgoing presidents over the country’s banking crisis left Roosevelt’s eldest son infuriated at Hoover. “I was sure Jimmy wanted to punch him in the eye,” Roosevelt recalled.

 

2. Joint Procession to the Capitol

 

Presidents and presidents-elect traveled separately to the inauguration until 1837. That’s when Andrew Jackson shared a carriage with his vice president and successor, Van Buren, in the first joint procession to the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Forty years later, Rutherford B. Hayes became the first president-elect to meet the sitting president at the White House before journeying together to the inauguration.

 

On occasion, the shared ride between the incoming and outgoing presidents has been as frosty as the winter wind whipping Capitol Hill. After their contentious White House visits, Hoover spent much of the automobile ride to the ceremony refusing to look at Roosevelt—let alone speak to him. (Following testy transitions, four presidents—John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Johnson and Trump—skipped the inaugural ceremonies of their successors altogether.)

 

3. Letters to Presidential Successors

 

A modern inaugural tradition started in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan scribbled a note of encouragement to his successor, George H.W. Bush, on a pad featuring a cartoon of turkeys surrounding an elephant, the Republican Party symbol, and the caption “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.” Each successive president has penned a similar letter of congratulations and support on White House stationery—even to political foes. “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good luck,” Bush wrote to President-elect Bill Clinton in 1993.

 

4. Oath of Office

 

In addition to the oath of office specified in the Constitution, every incoming president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 has punctuated the 35 words with “so help me God.” According to inauguration historian Jim Bendat, the phrase was added by Chester A. Arthur in 1881—and not by Washington, as some have speculated.

Several slip-ups have occurred in the oath’s administration. Twenty years after taking his own oath as president, Chief Justice William Howard Taft flubbed a word when swearing in Hoover. Listening on the radio, 13-year-old Helen Terwilliger noticed the mistake and sent Taft a note. The jurist stubbornly denied the error but eventually conceded when newsreels proved the eighth grader correct.

 

5. Outgoing President’s Honorary Departure

 

During the 1800s, outgoing presidents often accompanied new presidents back to the White House following their inaugurations. Theodore Roosevelt started a new tradition in 1909 by departing for home directly from the Capitol after the swearing-in ceremony. Since 1977, new presidents and first ladies have escorted their predecessors to the presidential helicopter for a short flight to Joint Base Andrews and an awaiting airplane. As the helicopter circled the White House one final time in 1989, Reagan gazed out at his former residence and quipped to his tearful wife, Nancy, “Honey, there’s our little bungalow down there.”

 

6. Inaugural Luncheon

 

A lunch break is among the new president’s first orders of business after taking the oath. Starting in the mid-1800s, the outgoing president and first lady hosted their successors at White House luncheons. Since 1953, the incoming president has been the guest of honor at a Capitol luncheon sponsored by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Senators and representatives welcome the new administration with gifts, speeches and toasts. Menu items usually include regional favorites of the new president and vice president, such as the New England stuffed lobster and Texas ribs served at the 1961 inaugural luncheon for President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.

 

7. Inaugural Parade

 

Starting with George Washington’s 1789 swearing-in, inaugural parades were held on the way to the ceremony, serving essentially as a fancy escort for incoming presidents. In 1841, the parade tradition shifted to after the swearing in. Forty years later, James Garfield became the first president to review the parade from a specially built stand outside the White House.

 

Organizers of Richard Nixon’s second inaugural in 1973 sought to “pigeon-proof” the parade by spending $13,000 to spray Roost No More, a repellant designed to irritate birds’ feet, on Pennsylvania Avenue’s trees and buildings. When the pigeons unexpectedly ate the chemical, birds dropping dead—rather than bird droppings—became the primary overhead hazard to spectators.

 

8. Inaugural Balls

 

While Washington attended a gala in his honor a week after assuming office, 400 invited guests attended the first formal Inauguration Day ball in 1809, for James Madison. When the shindig grew too stifling, guests reportedly shattered the windows of the Capitol Hill hotel to let in fresh air. Future president John Quincy Adams panned the festivities: “The crowd there was excessive, the room suffocating and the entertainment bad.”

 

Climate concerns of an opposite kind put the 1873 inaugural ball for Ulysses S. Grant’s second term on ice. With wind chills well below zero, guests inside a poorly heated temporary structure shivered under their heavy overcoats. Food and champagne froze solid, along with 100 caged canaries hanging from the ceiling, killing this inaugural ball’s designated party animals.

 

BY: CHRISTOPHER KLEIN

Christopher Klein is the author of four books, including When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland’s Freedom and Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National GeographicTraveler. Follow Chris at @historyauthor.

Vahe H Apelian

January 20, 2025

One of the righteous ten - Տասը արդարներից մեկը

Բնագիրը կցուած է ներքեւը։ I attached my Google aided abridged translation of an excerpt PM Nikol Pashinyan posted on January 18, 2025, on his Facebook page. The posting is from his "Prison Diary": One of the righteous / just ten. He had penned it on September 19, 2009, when he was incarcerated in the "Yerevan-Kentron" Penitentiary. The passage reflects the PM’s core belief in the responsibility of the individual he has repeatedly noted. I have included the original. Vahe H Apelian. 

Discussions about the role of the individual in public life ultimately come down to large-caliber people. There is nothing strange in this, because it is large-caliber individuals who create history and change the course of history. This realization, as a rule, leads to the conclusion that an ordinary person cannot be held responsible for the course of global processes. In essence, this is exactly how historical science approaches the issue. The object of interest of historians is kings, princes, generals, heroes. Historiography does not address the question of how, say, the behavior of the most ordinary shoemaker, his morals at work and in the family affect the course of history. But such an influence exists. Western scientists, not so long ago, came with the concept of the "butterfly effect". ( See note 1).

 Western philosophers began to talk about the fact that the most insignificant events are directly related to global, even to cosmic processes, and that storms can arise from the movement of a butterfly's wing. If, then, modern philosophy has begun to treat the flight of a butterfly so seriously, how much more serious is then the influence of the behavior of the most ordinary individual on objective reality.

However, such an influence is not calculable and is not measurable, at least for science. But where science is powerless to quantify or is just taking its first steps to quantify, the Bible comes to the rescue. 

In the very first part, Genesis, the Holy Scripture emphasizes the direct impact of an individual’s behavior on global processes. But in the case of Adam, Eve, and Cain we are dealing with, so to speak, large-caliber individuals. But we encounter a completely different situation when we get acquainted with the background of the destruction of Sodom. In this episode, we are introduced to a story whose outcome is determined by the behavior of an ordinary person, unknown to us. When the Lord informed Abraham of His intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham posed a question to Him: “Will You really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? Will the righteous suffer the same fate as the wicked? If there are fifty righteous within the city, will You destroy them and not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there?” (Genesis 18:23, 24).

 The Lord promised Abraham not to destroy Sodom if there were fifty righteous people in the city. Abraham, however, was not satisfied with what he had achieved and again turned to God in fear: “What if there are five less than fifty righteous people? Will you destroy the whole city because of the five?”

The Lord promised Abraham not to destroy the city if there were forty-five righteous people there. Abraham, however, was not satisfied with this either and wondered if God will destroy the entire city if there are thirty righteous people there. The Lord promised to spare the entire city if there are thirty righteous people there. Finally, the Lord promised Abraham not to destroy the city if there are ten righteous people there.

In Sodom, however, God found only one righteous person, Lot, and urged him to leave the city with his family, and then destroyed the city.

 Who, then, is responsible for the destruction of Sodom? The city’s rulers, the wealthy? Of course. They are the ones who are primarily responsible for the lawlessness, sins, and adultery that had engulfed the city. However, the Bible, by narrating the background of the city’s destruction, brought forth the fact that in this case the cause of the city’s destruction was not the wickedness of many, but the monstrous fact that there were not ten righteous people found there.

The Lord would have spared the city if there had been ten, just ten righteous people there - ten laborers, potters, gardeners. The leaders are guilty of making the city a den of wickedness, but the common people are guilty of failing to save it from destruction, although this did not require much: just being righteous. Note, not innocent, not sinless, but righteous. It is difficult to believe that everyone in Sodom was unjust and sinful from the beginning.

The destruction of the city came when the righteous sacrificed their righteousness for some pleasure, when they put up with injustice, when they assimilated to wickedness, when they forgot to defend their right to be righteous, when they forgot to separate themselves from injustice and wickedness. Thus, at some point, the city was deprived of the righteous, and no one guessed about this, hoping that the righteous continued to live next to them, somewhere, in one of the nearby houses. And so, no one took care to become one of the required ten righteous.

I understand all those citizens, the so-called “ordinary citizens,” who insist that they are not subjects bearing historical responsibility, and that responsibility lies on the shoulders of political, intellectual, and spiritual figures. This is a correct position, and leaders must always feel their responsibility. But calling leaders to account is the work of the entire “ordinary citizens,” that is, the people.

Perhaps this is precisely the work that should be considered justice. In any case, every citizen, close and distant in his cares at home, has a historical mission: the mission of becoming one of the ten righteous. And when injustice knocks on his door, he must leave his house and establish his justice on the street as well.

As for leaders, God himself will endow a righteous people with righteous leaders. An unjust people will also be deprived of the grace of having righteous leaders.

Butterfly Effect: The idea that something small, like getting coffee, can have much larger effects, such as altering your career is called the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is a property of our incredibly complex, deeply interconnected world, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system. (Wikipedia)

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Բնագիրը՝ «Բանտային օրագիր». տասը արդարներից մեկը

19-ը սեպտեմբերի, 2009թ., «Երևան-Կենտրոն» ՔԿՀ

Հանրային կյանքում անհատի դերի քննարկումները ի վերջո հանգում են խոշոր տրամաչափի մարդկանց։ Սրանում տարօրինակ ոչինչ չկա, որովհետև հենց խոշոր տրամաչափի անհատներն են պատմություն կերտում և փոխում պատմության ընթացքը։ Այս գիտակցումը, ահա, որպես կանոն հանգեցնում է եզրակացության, թե շարքային մարդու վրա չի կարելի պատասխանատվություն դնել գլոբալ պրոցեսների ընթացքի համար։ Ըստ էության, պատմագիտությունն էլ հենց այսպես է մոտենում խնդրին։ Պատմաբանների հետաքրքրության օբյեկտը թագավորներն են, իշխանները, զորավարները, հերոսները։ Պատմաբանությունը, սակայն, չի անդրադառնում այն հարցին, թե, ասենք, ամենասովորական կոշկակարի վարքը, բարքը աշխատանքի մեջ և ընտանիքում ինչպես են ազդում պատմության ընթացքի վրա։

Իսկ որ նման ազդեցություն գոյություն ունի, արևմտյան գիտնականները սկսել են կռահել ոչ հեռավոր անցյալում, երբ շրջանառության մեջ դրվեց «թիթեռնիկի էֆեկտ» հասկացությունը։ Այս արտահայտությունը հատկապես լայն տարածում ստացավ ֆանտաստ գրող Ռեյ Բրեդբերիի հանրահայտ «Եվ թնդաց որոտը» պատմվածքի լույս ընծայումից հետո։ Պատմվածքի հերոսը, ճամփորդելով ժամանակի մեջ՝ մի քանի հազար տարի ետ է գնում և հայտնվում նախնադարյան ժամանակներում։

Այստեղ ահա, պատահաբար տրորում-սպանում է մի թիթեռի, ու երբ վերադառնում է մեր ժամանակներ, խոշոր, դարակազմիկ, դրամատիկ տարբերություններ է հայտնաբերում։ Արևմտյան փիլիսոփաները, ահա, սկսեցին խոսել այն մասին, որ ամենաաննշան իրադարձությունները ուղիղ կապ ունեն գլոբալ, անգամ տիեզերական պրոցեսների հետ, և փոթորիկները կարող են ծագել թիթեռի թևի շարժումից։ Եթե, ուրեմն, ժամանակակից փիլիսոփայությունը սկսել է այդքան լուրջ վերաբերվել թիթեռի թռիչքին, որքան ավելի լուրջ է ամենասովորական անհատի վարքի ազդեցությունը օբյեկտիվ իրականության վրա։

Նման ազդեցությունը, սակայն, անհաշվելի և անչափելի է՝ գոնե գիտության համար։ Բայց այնտեղ, որտեղ գիտությունը անզոր է կամ իր առաջին քայլերն է անում, օգնության է գալիս Աստվածաշունչը։ Հենց առաջին մասում՝ Ծննդոցում, Սուրբ Գիրքն ընդգծում է անհատի վարքի ուղղակի ազդեցությունը գլոբալ գործընթացների վրա։ Ու եթե Ադամի, Եվայի, Կայենի դեպքում գործ ունենք, այսպես ասած, խոշոր տրամաչափի անհատների հետ, բոլորովին ուրիշ վիճակի ենք հանդիպում Սոդոմի կործանման նախապատմությանը ծանոթանալիս։ Այս դրվագում, ահա, մենք ծանոթանում ենք մի պատմության, որի ելքը վճռվում է մեզ անհայտ, շարքային մարդու վարքագծով։

Երբ Տերը Աբրահամին տեղյակ է պահում Սոդոմը և Գոմորը կործանելու իր մտադրության մասին, Աբրահամը հարց է դնում նրա առաջ. «Մի՞թե դու արդարին ամբարիշտի հետ կոչնչացնես, և արդարը նույն բանին կենթարկվի, ինչ որ ամբարիշտը։ Եթե քաղաքում հիսուն արդար լինի, կոչնչացնե՞ս նրանց, չե՞ս խնայի ամբողջ քաղաքը՝ հանուն այնտեղ գտնվող հիսուն արդարների» (Ծննդոց 18։23, 24)։ Տերը Աբրահամին խոստանում է չկործանել Սոդոմը, եթե այնտեղ հիսուն արդար գտնվի։ Աբրահամը, սակայն, չի բավարարվում ձեռք բերվածով և կրկին վախվորած դիմում է Աստծուն. «Իսկ եթե հիսուն արդարները պակասեն հինգ հոգով, այդ հինգի պատճառով դարձյա՞լ կկործանես ողջ քաղաքը»։

Տերը Աբրահամին խոստացավ չկործանել քաղաքը, եթե այնտեղ քառասունհինգ արդար գտնվի։ Աբրահամը, սակայն, սրանով նույնպես չի բավարարվում և հետաքրքրվում է, թե արդյո՞ք Աստված կկործանի ողջ քաղաքը, եթե այնտեղ երեսուն արդար գտնվի։ Տերը խոստանում է խնայել ողջ քաղաքը, եթե այնտեղ երեսուն արդար գտնվի։ Ի վերջո, Տերը Աբրահամին խոստացավ քաղաքը չկործանել, եթե այնտեղ տասը արդար գտնվի։

Սոդոմում, սակայն, Աստված միայն մեկ արդար գտավ՝ Ղովտին, և նրան հորդորեց չորս հոգանոց ընտանիքի հետ հեռանալ, ապա և կործանեց քաղաքը։ Ո՞ւմ վրա է ուրեմն, Սոդոմի կործանման պատասխանատվությունը։ Քաղաքի իշխանների՞, մեծատունների՞. անշուշտ։ Հենց նրանք են առաջին հերթին պատասխանատու քաղաքը համակած ապօրինությունների, մեղքերի, շնության համար։ Աստվածաշունչը, սակայն, քաղաքի կործանման նախապատմության նմանօրինակ շարադրմամբ առաջին պլան է մղում այն իրողությունը, որ տվյալ դեպքում քաղաքի կործանման պատճառը ոչ թե շատերի ամբարշտությունն է, այլ հրեշավոր իրողությունը, որ այնտեղ չգտնվեց տասը արդար։

Տերը կխնայեր քաղաքը, եթե այնտեղ տասը, ընդամենը տասը արդար լիներ՝ տասը բանվոր, բրուտ, այգեգործ։ Լիդերները մեղավոր են քաղաքը ամբարշտության որջ դարձնելու համար, բայց շարքային բնակիչներինն է այն կործանումից փրկել չկարողանալու մեղքը, որովհետև սրա համար շատ բան չէր պահանջվում. ընդամենը արդար լինել։ Ուշադրություն դարձրեք, ոչ թե անմեղ, ոչ թե մեղքից զուրկ, այլ արդար։ Դժվար է կարծել, թե Սոդոմում բոլորը անարդար ու մեղսագործ են եղել ի սկզբանե։

Քաղաքի կործանումը վրա է հասել այն ժամանակ, երբ արդարները իրենց արդարությունը զոհաբերել են ինչ-որ վայելքների դիմաց, երբ համակերպվել են անարդարության հետ, երբ ձուլվել են ամբարշտությանը, երբ զլացել են պաշտպանել արդար լինելու իրենց իրավունքը, երբ զլացել են տարանջատվել անարդարությունից և ամբարշտությունից։ Մի ինչ-որ պահի քաղաքը զրկվել է արդարներից, և այս մասին ոչ ոք չի կռահել՝ հույս ունենալով, որ արդարները շարունակում են ապրել իրենց կողքին, ինչ-որ տեղ, մոտակա տներից մեկում։ Եվ այսպես՝ ոչ ոք հոգ չի տարել պահանջվող տասը արդարներից մեկը դառնալու համար։

Ես հասկանում եմ բոլոր այն քաղաքացիներին, այսպես կոչված՝ «շարքային քաղաքացիներին», ովքեր պնդում են, թե իրենք պատմական պատասխանատվություն կրող սուբյեկտ չեն, և պատասխանատվությունը քաղաքական, մտավորական, հոգևոր այրերի ուսերին է։ Սա ճշգրիտ դիրքորոշում է, և լիդերները պետք է մշտապես զգան իրենց պատասխանատվությունը։ Բայց լիդերներին պատասխանատվության կանչելը «շարքային քաղաքացիների» ամբողջության, այսինքն՝ ժողովրդի գործն է։

Գուցե սա հենց այն գործն է, որ պետք է համարվի արդարություն։ Ամեն դեպքում՝ տանն իր հոգսի մեջ փակված ու հեռու ամեն քաղաքացի պատմական առաքելություն ունի. տասը արդարներից մեկը դառնալու առաքելություն։ Իսկ երբ անարդարությունը բախում է իր դուռը, նա պետք է դուրս գա իր տնից և իր արդարությունը հաստատի նաև փողոցում։

Ինչ վերաբերում է լիդերներին, արդար ժողովրդին Աստված ինքը կօժտի արդար լիդերներով։ Անարդար ժողովուրդն էլ կզրկվի արդար լիդերներ ունենալու շնորհից։

Remembering Massis Araratian

Vahe H Apelian

His literary two volume opus: "The Smile is Light". Massis Araratian by Massis Araratian. 
Massis Araratian passport size picture

Political cartoon, and cartoon in general, have been inherent in journalism. The Armenians have been fortunate to have a few such gifted giants in their midst, such as Sarukhan, Diran Ajemian and Massis Araratian. They also became well-known if not famous in their greater host societies. 

Facebook reminded that today is the second anniversary of Massis Araratian’s death. We were friends. The last time I met him was at mother’s funeral, which took place on February 9, 2017. He passed away on a few years later, on Thursdays, January 19, 2023 at the ripe age of 93. 

Massis Araratian served the Armenian community throughout his life starting from Aleppo, to Beirut and then to Los Angeles. Massis and his wife Maro, née Der Ghougassian, were married in Beirut in 1965.  They  are the proud parents of two sons and four grandchildren

We all know that Ararat is also a well-known mountain in Christendom.. It might be less known that the Armenians call its twin peaks Big Massis and Little Massis. When these two names came together as Massis Araradian, they formed an unforgettable combination  for the legendary Diaspora Armenian cartoonist and caricaturist baptized as the moutnain's namesake.

The naming of the family name is no less legendary. It was upon the urging of Catholicos Megerdich Kefsizian (1871-1894) of the Sis (Cilician) Catholicosate that Massis’ ardently patriotic grandfather Khacher had changed his family name to Araradian. Khacher was outspoken in the closely-knit Aintab Armenian community and was unconcerned that Turkish officials would look with suspicion his hosting of Simon Zavarian, one of the founders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (A.R.F). Years later, Khacher's son Megerdich, who had survived the Genocide and lived in Aleppo,  named his firstborn-son and seventh child, Massis. Khachig Araradian, a cousin of Massis, was a noted stage actor and a solo reciter.

A few years ago, when I was in Glendale, California, I purchased from Abril Bookstore its last copies of the two-volume “The Smile is Light”  (Ժպիտը լոյս է), Massis Araradian's massive opus.  The set measures 11x8.5 inches in landscape. The first volume is 544 pages and the second 399. Together they weigh a hefty 6 pounds and 14 ounces. Each contains an index under almost all the 39 Armenian alphabet characters. Save for the few pages of introduction and testimonials, the two volumes are "wall-to-wall" cartoons and caricatures. They are not only a pleasure to view but are also educational because the Armenian Diaspora of the last six decades, with its denizens and events, unfolds right in the lap of the reader.

Massis was born in Aleppo on December 29, 1929. As a young boy he found out that not only could he draw but also had an uncanny ability to observe and distill a person’s character and the essence of events and present them with his agile pen. He started drawing on the margins of his textbooks, to the chagrin of his teachers who noticed they were often the subject of his acute pencil. But his well-meaning parents were  concerned that their son had an obsession with drawing, and was totally disinterest in learning a trade, to be able to make a living .

But Massis found encouragement too. During the Second World War, when paper was scarce, his family and relatives collected the 3 by 4 inch daily sheets of their calendars that were blank at the back and gave them to Massis to draw on. Thus was born his life-long habit of drawing on similar size pads, he says while standing, sitting and kneeling.

But the gift, nature had bestowed upon the young man did not go unnoticed. Aleppo Arabic newspapers soon invited him to draw for their pages. In 1953 he  moved to Beirut where he worked  for Antranig Dzarougian’s "Nairi” weekly and “Aztag” daily. From 1955 to 1975 Massis was employed by now-defunct U.S. Information Service (USIS) where he worked his way up to its art director. The USIS shuttered its operations after its American directors were kidnapped. Massis recalls fondly and in appreciation his time with the American service.  A year later, in 1976, he immigrated to the United States with his family and settled in Los Angeles where the family still resides. Right after his arrival he was hired by the "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner” and contributed to “Asbarez” daily. Within a few years he was promoted art director of the "Herald-Examiner's" California Living section. After the daily folded in November 1989, Massis continued to draw for the "Asbarez” daily.

Along with his cartoons and caricatures, Massis has designed more than 35 Armenian and Arabic fonts. The soul of his cartoons, caricatures and art works remain Armenian. His daring  cartoon depictions continue to stir emotions, such as his rdrawing of President Serzh Sargsyan which depicted Armenia's third president with a comfortable girth in military fatigue and holding a sling shot, post April 1, 2016 Nakorno-Karabagh Four-Day War, or the April War. 

Massis continued to draw at a prodigious rate. His latest drawings can be seen on his Facebook page and on his website. He pointed out that while his hair, age, milieu, social circumstance and everything else around him had changed since he started drawing, the only things he claimed were not changed in his life were  the pencil he held with his right hand and the 3x4 inch size pads in his left hand, much like the calendar sheets his family and relatives gave him when he was a lad. He reminished and said that he continued to draw as he had done, while standing, sitting and kneeling.

75 years drawing, kneeling, sitting or standing. From 1942 to 1943, as a student at Zavarian School in Aleppo, Massis illustrated, his “hero” teachers and instructors on the margins of his books and notebooks, with innocent cartoons of a child. Those were the oppressing days of the war. There was famine. There was no bread, water, smile and paper. Looking for notebooks to draw was an impossible task.  A discovery came about. It was the palm size 365 daily calander sheets. One side was printed the day’s date, but the other side was blank. That blank side served its purpose well to Massis to draw. His relatives saved and gifted to the little boy the past daily calendar sheets. Massis could not get rid of that discovery to have a small notebook in his left palm and a pen in his right hand. And for the next 75 years, as a child, young man, an adult and then in his later years, Massis continued to draw. Massis’ hair, age, milieu, status and everything else changed. Only the pen and palm size notebook in his hands remained unchanged. A- at the age of 13. B. at the age of 63. C. at the age of 83. (noted in 2012)

 

 

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Senseless deaths in Armenia – 2/2 -: In Memory of Virginia Apelian

 Vahe H Apelian

Virginia Apelian, Armenian women protesting against domestic violence.

On January 16, 2025, Armenpress reported that the Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan has said that crime rate has dropped in Armenia. On the same day Azatutyuan.am reported that the “Minister Arpine Sargsian downplayed a 16% increase in armed robberies shootouts and other firearm-related crimes registered by the Armenian police.”

Has crime rate dropped or increased in Armenia? Instead of dwelling on numbers and percentages, let us read what Lucy Deukmejian from Armenia wrote about such crimes. Surely there is much more than statistics to these violent crimes. A few days ago, I posted Lucy Deukmejian’s take on the senseless deaths in Armenia due to car accidents. See the link below.

In this blog I will present what Lucy Deukmejian reported about violent crime in the same article she posted in Keghart.com. See the first link below.

She wrote:

“The second type of senseless deaths is much more dangerous. Almost every day, arguments occur that end in stabbing or murder. This phenomenon is recorded happening not only between minors, or people who have a quarrel or disagreement, or even among friends, but also among relatives. The victim or the murdered sometimes is an elderly mother/father, mother-in-law or a relative be it a family member. It is a sad and shameful phenomenon that is not appropriate for any community, let alone the Armenian people who consider themselves civilized.

Other nations and peoples are not free from such criminal behavior, but for a people with a thousand-year civilization, who lead in culture and in art, believe in God’s judgment and have faith, violence and bloodshed have no place and should not be the way out of a disagreement or a retribution by any “possible” means, even resorting to “kitchen pan”. How disturbing it is to often read about such incidents in the news as rescue workers discover human bodies in various places.

This alarming phenomenon has become an everyday occurrence, and is also reflected in the scripts of local TV series. Violence is presented as a normal phenomenon, which serves as a wrong example for viewers, especially the new generation. Do we really want to have a generation growing up, imitating their parents, who start by shouting “I’ll break your head”, during a disagreement and end with “I’ll beat you to death”? And perhaps a few moments later actually beat and kill.

We must definitely work to reform this fundamentally wrong “upbringing.” We, as Armenians, are not guided by the “law of the jungle,” while we as a nation have the ambition to “get closer” to the European value system, where, despite the presence of many features that are alien or incompatible to us, there are elementary laws and rights that respect human values.”

In stating crime toward “elderly mother/father, mother-in-law or a relative be it a family member”, Lucy Deukmejian was alluding to domestic violence. On the same day, January 16, 2025, during the government session, the PM Pashinyan noted that the government may interfere in domestic violence cases. The social structure in Armenia is highly patriarchal and conservative. The family is sacrosanct and any hint from the government interfering in domestic issues is considered interfering in the sanctity of the family.

I dedicated this second part of the “senseless deaths in Armenia” to Mrs. Virginia Apelian. She passed away a few months ago. Virginia took a trip to Armenia from April 28 to May 9, 2017, to address domestic violence. In Armenia she was hosted by Maro Matossian who runs a shelter for battered women in Armenia. Virginia reported grim statistics about domestic violence in Armenia. She also noted that Diaspora organization have shied from addressing domestic violence concerned that they will be perceived intruding in the family. Driven by such concerns she founded the Armenian American Alliance Against Domestic Abuse. See the link below.

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“We do not need senseless deaths – Մեզի անիմաստ մահեր պէտք չեն» by Lucy Deukmejian.

https://keghart.org/lucy-deukmejiandeukmejian-meaningless-deaths/

We do not need senseless deaths -1/2 -: In memory of MP Mher Sargsyan, by Vahe H Apelian

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2025/01/senseless-deaths-in-armenia-in-memory.html

Virgina Apelian, Armenian-American Alliance Against Domestic Abuse, by Vahe H Apelian

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/10/american-armenian-alliance-against.html 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Armenian-American Doomfest:

Where Even Global Warming Is Pashinyan’s Fault.

By Berge Jololian, Yerevan, 16 January 2025 

Courtesy Keghart.com

https://keghart.org/jololian-doomfest/