How Russia became Christian
Stephen G. Esrati
By Stephen G. Esrati
There’s a story that is told about how Vladimir, the leader
of the Kievan Rus, became a Christian.
In one version of the story, Vladimir summoned wise men from
the three great religions that passed through Kiev to hear
them out.
The Khazars, who had converted to Judaism, told him they
could not eat pork and had to be circumcised. The Moslems
who had traveled the Silk Road from Samarkand told him that
they, too, could not eat pork and had to be circumcised. But
they held out something Vladimir liked. Unlike the Jews,
they were permitted many wives. Alas, they also barred the
drinking of alcohol and Vladimir decided it was impossible
to live in Russia without vodka.
The Christian wise man, a Pole, also told him about the
leader of Christianity, the Pope. He pleased Vladimir be
telling him that he need not be circumcised and could eat
all the pork and drink all the vodka he pleased. But there
could be only one wife.
Vladimir shrugged off the Pole, too. It was the idea of
recognizing the Pope as superior to himself that turned him
off.
So Vladimir turned to Constantinople, the home of Byzantine
Christianity. His own grandmother, Olga, had been baptized
into Orthodoxy in 957. So how is a great leader of the
Kievan Rus to convert? He could not accept the faith as a
gift, that would not do. The faith had to come in return for
something.
The first great Russian imperialist decided he wanted
Princess Anne, sister of Greek Emperors Basil II and
Constantine VIII, as his wife. So, in a manner befitting
Josef Stalin a thousand years later, Vladimir worked out a
scheme. He laid siege to the Greek outpost of Kherson, a
gateway to the Crimea. After a long siege, Kherson fell.
Then he let Basil and Constantine know that he would stop
his attacks if they would give him Anna in marriage,
"otherwise it will be the same with your town
[Constantinople] as with Kherson."
And so, in 989, Vladimir was baptized just before the
wedding.
The millennium of this event took place in 1989. The Soviet
Union ignored it. But the Vatican did not.
On June 16, 1988, it issued three stamps (Scott 813-815),
one of which showed Prince St. Vladimir the Great. Another
showed the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev.
The Soviet Union actually had several opportunities to fit a
stamp into its outpouring of issues, such as the 1990 set
showing historic architecture or the 1991 set showing folk
holidays.
But the Ukrainian "folk holiday" that was chosen was
Christmas.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, it was too late for a
Russian stamp to mark the momentous event. But in the very
first set of definitives from Russia, the 80-kopeck stamp
(Scott 6066A) showed a painting called "The Millennium of
Russia."
But even in 1995, when Russia issued a set showing early
dukes, Duke Vladimir was not represented.
Before I continue, I must state emphatically that I will not
accept editorial dictates on the use of English. Most Slavic
languages lack a definite article. Thus, a Russian will say:
"I put book on table," when he speaks English when he means
to say "I put the book on the table."
When the nation of which Kiev is the capital achieved
independence in the breakup of the U.S.S.R in 1991,
Ukrainian-Americans insisted that it was incorrect to say
"the Ukraine" because one does not say "the France."
But I say "the United States" and "the Netherlands." I shall
continue to write "the Ukraine." If my editor removes the
"the," I shall stop writing for him. [My editor at Stamp
Collector insisted, and I did quit.]
Which brings me back to the stamps of the Ukraine. The
country was born too late to mark the millennium on a stamp.
As close as it got was a set of four cathedrals in 1996
(Scott 253-56), including St. Sophia.
How the SDX got its stamp
In 1985, Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional
Journalists (SDX) wanted a stamp to mark its 75th birthday.
It tried to do so by proposing a stamp for the "saint" of
U.S. journalism, John Peter Zenger.
Jack Williams, then manager of the Stamps Division, rejected
a Zenger stamp, saying: "We have had two recent freedom of
the press stamps, including one in 1975 that had its first
day at the SDX convention in Philadelphia, and I was there."
Then, the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee changed its
mind, but the Postal Service could not find a likeness of
Zenger. So it made do with the 6c Walter Lippmann (Scott
1849) stamp in the Great Americans Series.
--
Stephen G. Esrati
Author of COMRADES, AVENGE US, the gripping page-turner
about the search for Nazi war criminals who tortured and
killed American, Canadian, and other Allied POWs. Much of
the book is based on reality. It is available from me for
$7.50 (including shipping to U.S. addresses). Ask charges
for other destinations. VISA, MasterCard.
For more information, see my web page at
http://pw1.netcom.com/~cohiba/comrade.html
PO Box 20130
Shaker Heights, OH 44120
(216) 561-9393
Stephen G. Esrati
This, by the way, is the article that caused me to quit writing
for Stamp Collector.
Stephen G. Esrati wrote:
> By Stephen G. Esrati
>
> There’s a story that is told about how Vladimir, the leader
> of the Kievan Rus, became a Christian.
<SNIP>
PeterD
Stephen G. Esrati <ste...@gwis.com> wrote in article
<357E9624...@gwis.com>...
> By Stephen G. Esrati
>
> There’s a story that is told about how Vladimir, the leader of the Kievan
Rus, became a Christian.
>
sand over such a silly matter. Oh. well.
> Before I continue, I must state emphatically that I will not accept
editorial dictates on the use of English.
Seems like that's the problem, but isn't an editor's job to edit the copy?
Oh, well.
> When the nation of which Kiev is the capital achieved independence in the
breakup of the U.S.S.R in 1991, Ukrainian-Americans insisted that it was
incorrect to say "the Ukraine" because one does not say "the France."
That is not what they said, and is a gross misrepresentation. Their reason
for wanting "Ukraine" was to distinguish the new nation from the former
occupied area (as part of another country). It also follows good English
rules. Oh, well.
--
Peter Dolman
Consultant/Technologist
dzydyk
Hello. I just thought that I should point out to you that correct,
modern English usage is "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine". Also, use of the
term "the Ukraine" is insulting to people of that nationality. Hope you
find a solution to your problem. Bye.
Stephen G. Esrati wrote:
>
> This, by the way, is the article that caused me to quit writing
> for Stamp Collector.
>
(snip)
Bob Ingraham
On Wed, 10 Jun 1998, dzydyk wrote:
> Hello. I just thought that I should point out to you that correct,
> modern English usage is "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine". Also, use of the
> term "the Ukraine" is insulting to people of that nationality. Hope you
> find a solution to your problem. Bye.
>
Please refer to subject line.
Bob
Bob Ingraham * Prince George, B.C., Canada * aa...@pgfn.bc.ca
What's the point of being a dog if you
never, ever get the chance to run?
Erika Ritter, The Hidden Life of Humans
Eric Yendall
With all due respect to everyone, Ukrainian- Americans don't tell me
how to speak English. I certainly hope to have the opportunity soon to
visit the Ukraine.
Eric.
>> When the nation of which Kiev is the capital achieved independence in the
>breakup of the U.S.S.R in 1991, Ukrainian-Americans insisted that it was
>incorrect to say "the Ukraine" because one does not say "the France."
>
Jay T. Carrigan
Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
Jay Carrigan j...@crosslink.net
In article <357fb3d1.40867364@news>, eyen...@home.com says...
>
>With all due respect to everyone, Ukrainian- Americans don't tell me
>how to speak English. I certainly hope to have the opportunity soon to
>visit the Ukraine.
>
>Eric.
>
>>> When the nation of which Kiev is the capital achieved independence in the
>>breakup of the U.S.S.R in 1991, Ukrainian-Americans insisted that it was
>>incorrect to say "the Ukraine" because one does not say "the France."
>>
Stephen G. Esrati
Jay T. Carrigan wrote:
> Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
As a matter of fact, yes.
Back in 1967, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (a friend and classmate of
mine with whom I also had many disputatious arguments) was in Cleveland where my
paper referred to blacks as Negroes. He made speech here saying, "I am not a
Negro. I am a black."
The managing editor of my paper changed it to "I'm not a Negro. I am a Negro."
When the papers hit the newsroom, I read the story and complained. He realized
it did not make sense, so he changed it to read: "The Rev. Dr. King objected to
be calling called a Negro."
While I do not refer to blacks as Negroes, I have not yet adopted "African
Americans." Nor have I adopted "Native Americans." I try to use the name of the
tribe, if possible; otherwise I say "North (or Central or South) American
Indian" to differentiate from the Inuit, who are also Native Americans. You
probably call the Inuit Eskimos ("meat eaters").Call me inconsistent if you
like.
PeterD
> Jay T. Carrigan wrote:
> > Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
> As a matter of fact, yes.
> Nor have I adopted "Native Americans." I try to use the name of the
tribe, if possible; otherwise I say "North (or Central or South) American
Indian" to differentiate from the Inuit, who are also Native Americans. You
probably call the Inuit Eskimos ("meat eaters").
Native people in Canada prefer "First Nations" (which has political
overtones). "Indigineous People" (probably more accurate, and no real
political overtones) used to be popular.
BTW, I know it won't change how you refer to them, but the Inuit prefer to
be called just that, rather than Eskimo (which is too generic). And the
Inuit are not "Native Americans". They do not refer to themselves as such,
and neither do Canadians. Last time I looked at the map, the geo-political
area they occupy is firmly placed in Canada.
FWIW, referring to them as "Native Americans" is offensive to them and
fellow-Canadians. But I doubt that will change your usage. :-)
--
Peter Dolman
Consultant/Technologist
Zachery J. Bir
On Thu, 11 Jun 1998 14:54:48 GMT, PeterD <pdo...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>BTW, I know it won't change how you refer to them, but the Inuit prefer to
>be called just that, rather than Eskimo (which is too generic). And the
>Inuit are not "Native Americans". They do not refer to themselves as such,
>and neither do Canadians. Last time I looked at the map, the geo-political
>area they occupy is firmly placed in Canada.
>
>FWIW, referring to them as "Native Americans" is offensive to them and
>fellow-Canadians. But I doubt that will change your usage. :-)
Also FWIW, our Folklore Institute here in Bloomington uses the terms
"Native North Americans", "Native Central Americans", and "Native South
Americans" when referring to the groupings of peoples, much like
"Europeans", etc. And (again, FWIW) those appelations are about as
useful as "European" for lumping Brits and Spaniards together.
Down with Nationalities! Down with Ethnicities! Call everyone "Bob"!
Zac (er... that's "Bob" to you...)
IRA
Jay T. Carrigan <j...@crosslink.net> wrote in article
<6lokec$6lv$1...@kronos.crosslink.net>...
> Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
Most of "those" whom I know prefer to be addressed by their name.
Jim Lawler
jla...@netusa1.net
Floyd Davidson
PeterD <pdo...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>Stephen G. Esrati <ste...@gwis.com> wrote in article
><357FE592...@gwis.com>...
>> Jay T. Carrigan wrote:
>> > Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
>
>> As a matter of fact, yes.
>> Nor have I adopted "Native Americans." I try to use the name of the
>tribe, if possible; otherwise I say "North (or Central or South) American
>Indian" to differentiate from the Inuit, who are also Native Americans. You
>probably call the Inuit Eskimos ("meat eaters").
>
>Native people in Canada prefer "First Nations" (which has political
>overtones). "Indigineous People" (probably more accurate, and no real
>political overtones) used to be popular.
>
>BTW, I know it won't change how you refer to them, but the Inuit prefer to
>be called just that, rather than Eskimo (which is too generic). And the
>Inuit are not "Native Americans". They do not refer to themselves as such,
>and neither do Canadians. Last time I looked at the map, the geo-political
>area they occupy is firmly placed in Canada.
>
>FWIW, referring to them as "Native Americans" is offensive to them and
>fellow-Canadians. But I doubt that will change your usage. :-)
All the Eskimos of Canada are Inuit, but "inuit" is not a
synonym for "Eskimo". None of the Eskimos from Siberia are
Inuit, and most of the Eskimos in Alaska are also not Inuit
(they are Yupik).
And Eskimos are "Native Americans", unless you have a very
different definition that is normally used.
"Eskimo" does not mean "meat eaters" either. Some years back an
anthropologist named Jose Mailhot did extensive research into
the etymology of "eskimo", and determined that it comes from a
set of Cree words in half a dozen different dialects, all of
which mean "the people who speak a different language". Mailhot
is fluent in Cree. His work as been universally accept without
dissent. He is not well known because he publishes in France.
However, more important is the simple fact that I have never
ever met an Eskimo who felt there was a problem with the word
"eskimo". It happens to be the only word in the English
language which describes all Eskimo cultures and/or languages.
I do hear Eskimos, both Inuit and Yup'ik (Central Alaskan Yupik)
alike commonly using the word when they speak English.
I have _never_ heard an Eskimo of any kind call themselves
"inuit" either! That is because Inuit have a variety of other
words depending on dialect and location which they do use. For
example, the people here in Barrow are Inuit, but their word for
themselves is Inupiat, and for their language they use the word
"Inupiaq" (singular).
Yup'ik people of course never call themselves Inuit, because
that is not even a word in their language...
Floyd
--
Floyd L. Davidson fl...@ptialaska.net
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)
PeterD
mama n <gekko...@aztec.asu.edu> wrote in article
<gekko.897591600@valley>...
> This'll probably launch a PC brouhaha, but I can't resist the urge to
once again stick my foot in my mouth.
> Last I checked, Canada was part of the North American continent. Some
Canadians I know personally resent the fact that people use the word
"American" to refer to a person south of the U.S./Canadian border and north
of the Mexican/U.S. border.
I've never met a Canadian who prefers to be called an "American". Though
"America" is an accurate word to describe the continent in which we live,
it is usually associated with the US (of A). No PC brouhaha, but here's a
quote from buddy from Louisiana who teaches 'up here': "The only way to get
a Canadian to make patriotic statements is to ask him if he's an American"
:-)
Inuit refer to themselves as such. It's both accurate and appropriate.
You will see it even more prominently used when they gain their
'independence' (Nunavut). I wonder if they'll issue their own stamps?
--
Peter Dolman
Consultant/Technologist
Soggy3
There are no stamp collectors left on rcs! Let's change the charter to prevent
the use of ANY indefinite article in any post. That could end these threads.
I'll admit they are humorous, and starting to me more interesting, but that is
only because of the lack of good stamp disputes. Reminds me of the only member
who was ever really kicked out of our local club. We was a cantankerous fart,
very knowlegable about stamps. He was versed in both sides of every stamp
dispute there ever had been in philately (arguments over the ages which have
never been settled--like, is the 1 cent British Guiana a forgery made to fool
Ferrari). Whatever position anyone took he would begin to argue the opposite.
The other old geezers would bite every time--he knew just how to get them
going. Every meeting degenerated into a shouting match. One night he resigned
in a huff because he claimed somebody called him an anti-Semitic name under
their breath. Under the by-laws, a quitter could not be reinstated without a
unanimous vote of the Executive Committee. Over 20 years and 20 tries, he never
could get one!!
Brian
Floyd Davidson
PeterD <pdo...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>Inuit refer to themselves as such. It's both accurate and appropriate.
>You will see it even more prominently used when they gain their
>'independence' (Nunavut). I wonder if they'll issue their own stamps?
I've _never_ heard an Eskimo refer to themselves as Inuit.
Inuvaliut, Inupiat, etc. yes, but never Inuit.
Note also that many Eskimo people are not Inuit. Yup'ik,
Alutiiq, and Siberian Yupik people are not Inuit.
Aria Dave
They prefer Inuit because Eskimo refers to a dog (Husky derives from "eski" =
dog), much as they love their dogs. Not generic, but meaning something like
"dog man".
Kemnitzer,Trollman
On Thu, 11 Jun 1998 14:54:48 GMT, "PeterD" <pdo...@sk.sympatico.ca>
wrote:
>Stephen G. Esrati <ste...@gwis.com> wrote in article
><357FE592...@gwis.com>...
>> Jay T. Carrigan wrote:
>> > Does any one tell you how to refer to African-Americans?
>
>> As a matter of fact, yes.
>> Nor have I adopted "Native Americans." I try to use the name of the
>tribe, if possible; otherwise I say "North (or Central or South) American
>Indian" to differentiate from the Inuit, who are also Native Americans. You
>probably call the Inuit Eskimos ("meat eaters").
>
>Native people in Canada prefer "First Nations" (which has political
>overtones). "Indigineous People" (probably more accurate, and no real
>political overtones) used to be popular.
>
>BTW, I know it won't change how you refer to them, but the Inuit prefer to
>be called just that, rather than Eskimo (which is too generic). And the
>Inuit are not "Native Americans". They do not refer to themselves as such,
>and neither do Canadians. Last time I looked at the map, the geo-political
>area they occupy is firmly placed in Canada.
>
>FWIW, referring to them as "Native Americans" is offensive to them and
>fellow-Canadians. But I doubt that will change your usage. :-)
>--
>Peter Dolman
>Consultant/Technologist
Others have already pointed out that "Native Americans" is never meant
to equal "Native USians." After all, we are speaking of people whose
nationalities predate the founding of the US by kind of a lot, in
general, though we have some nations hereabouts which have grown out
of the consequences of conquest, and didn't exist in the old old days.
This is as good a place as any for me to interject my Traditional Talk
on Minority National Names.
There ain't any good ones. As soon as a group defines itself anew,
and embraces a new or an old name and declares that the implications
of this name will be _these_ things and not _those_ things, and
convinces its neighbors, friends and enemies to use the name, the
process starts where the name gets degraded. Soon,
prejudice,stereotypes, and the deep unease we have about race do their
work, and the shiny new or newly revived name becomes as humiliating
as the last one. And so the next wave of reformers, revolutionaries
and revitalizers has to take stock again, and pull out a new or an old
name to educate its neighbors, friends, and enemies with.
The problem is not in the name, but in the relationships among
oppressed and oppressor. Language is tainted on every level. It's
nearly impossible to speak simple truth. And yet we keep trying.
Sometimes the result is beautiful and true, and sometimes it's clumsy,
ugly, and false.
Lucy Kemnitzer
As for the Inuit being firmly placed in Canada: last time _I_ looked,
they were kind of semicircumpolar, and lived in Alaska (in the US) and
Greenland as well as Canada.
I try to call folks what they want to be called, and when they're
split on the issue, I don't get all worked up about it.
DMSSTAMPS
Anyone who is BORN in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (including myself, born in
the BRONX NY) IS a NATIVE AMERICAN.
Look it up in the dictionary. Political correctness makes me want to PUKE!!
Dan Harding
Could we take this to alt.politically-correct.banter, please?
I'm failing to see philatelic relevance in this thread...
-Dan "feeling mighty carmudgeonly today" Harding
--
Ignore the sex! Bill Clinton is *GUILTY* *OF* *TREASON*!!
Visit the HALLS OF GLAM! at http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~dharding/glam/
"I'm sorry. My cat is allergic to kids." Read alt.support.childfree
Any opinions expressed above are mine and not those of my employer.
myron liberman
To cause a writer like Esrati to quit over this matter leads one to
suspect the publication he was writing for!
Mike