The Only Alternative

Days and Works

The only alternative is Christianity.” This dictum of Solzhenitsyn’s may sound like an emotional cliche to many Western readers, a wishful sigh from the agonized heart of a frustrated writer. Solzhenitsyn, however, has a precise mind and is resolved not to say what he does not mean. Remarkable, isn’t it, that the statement does not mention an economic alternative, or an alternative constitution. It centers on faith as the opposite of ideology.