Václav Havel

Providence editors Mark Tooley and Marc LiVecche discuss Abigail Lindner and Eric Patterson’s article on G.K. Chesterton and war memorials, Lubomir Ondrasek’s piece on Czech leader Vaclav Havel’s warning against hatred, and Lee Trepanier’s counsel for how Russian Orthodoxy, lacking the Just War tradition, can oppose injustice with church teaching on personhood.

The courage of Václav Havel was grounded in a sense of responsibility for promoting ideals and values that transcend material goods, confront human decadence, and endure beyond our earthly existence.

The prophet Václav Havel wants Americans to know that there is an important connection between remembering God and living in freedom.

Someone like me who once lived in a totalitarian society finds it surprising and troubling that so many American churches have defined their mission as “to work for peace and justice in our world” but have neglected the defense of freedom as an essential part of their public ministry.

Slovak and Czech politicians tell us that the mutual relationship has never been better, and there is no incongruity between their words and public opinion. This is part of the irony of Czechoslovakia’s history.

It is now clear that four decades of totalitarian oppression has impacted post-communist European countries even more adversely than originally thought.

As we approach the 80th anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel on October 5, we reflect on the legacy of the man who needs no introduction.

Many American officials have concluded that issues in Central and Eastern Europe have been fixed once and for all and that they can “check the box” and move on to other more pressing strategic issues. Relations have been so close that many on both sides assume that the region’s transatlantic orientation, as well as its stability and prosperity, would last forever. That view is premature.