VILNIUS
As 1972 was ending, two public debates on the topics of love, friendship, and the family were held at the Museum of Atheism. Prof. K. Daukša stated that love is an animalistic, transitory feeling, that there can be no families who are faithful. What is important, is that the other half does not find out, but if it does, it should be forgiving. The professor admitted having been in love half-a-dozen times in his life...
The participants of the debate put many questions to the professor:
"Is it normal for young people to start a sexual life before marriage?"
"Is sexuality normal? It is normal! So what kind of question is this?" replied the professor.
"What is your opinion of a girl's virginity?"
"It's an obsolete religious custom. A man who seeks a virgin for a wife is an egoist."
"Professor, perhaps you are in favor of free love?"
"There is freedom in a Soviet country: you may live in legal wedlock, or you may simply reach a mutual understanding to love one another."
"Then perhaps you are in favor of houses of prostitution?"
"There could be such, only their form would perhaps be different—socialist."
A voice from the hall: "Free of charge!"
"Professor, you have turned everything into banalities: art, poetry, love. Then what's the purpose of life?"
"Purpose? Who knows? There's an inclination to live —so we live, and when this inclination weakens, we hang, poison, drown, or shoot ourselves. Whoever overly ponders the meaning of life will end up in a psychiatric hospital..."
To more than one of those present at the debate occurred the question: on whose initiative was prof. Dauksa trying to demoralize the capital city's youth? Perhaps atheists no longer believe they can turn youth away from God without first undermining their morality?
VILNIUS
At the beginning of February, 1973, the movie theaters of Vilnius began to show the historical motion picture Herkus Mantas, which portrays the struggle Prussians waged against the knights of the Teutonic Order in the thirteenth century. The film is atheistically biased. The film-makers were not as concerned about historical truth as they were about propaganda. Herkus Mantas, the main character in the film, reasons using our atheists' concepts. Even Tiesa [Truth], in its review of this film emphasized that "religious fanaticism is somewhat overdone in the film" (February 22, 1973). Even though a great tribute to atheistic propaganda was paid by this film, it aroused nationalist sentiments in its viewers.
