Vaclav Havel, RIP

Former president of Czechoslovakia, later president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel has died today.  His obituary at the New York Times may be read here.  Havel was a crucial figure in the collapse of Soviet totalitarianism in the Eastern Bloc, and his voice of conscience & dissent served as a moral rallying point against the brutality of communism.  While Havel himself was not a religious believer, he understood the dangers to civilization inherent in an atheistic worldview, denouncing the hallow materialism that leads to pride and a sense of human self-sufficiency.  As Havel so clearly put it:

I am certain that our civilisation is heading for catastrophe unless present-day humankind comes to its senses. And it can only come to its senses if it grapples with its short-sightedness, its stupid conviction of its omniscience and its swollen pride, which have been so deeply anchored in its thinking and actions.

A hero for freedom and liberty has passed from the stage of this life. The Cato Institute has a reflection on this lion for liberty over at their website.  And Reason magazine online posted this piece on Havel back in 2003 which bears reading: Velvet President: Why Vaclav Havel is our Era's George Orwell and more. (Hat tip to Legal Insurrection.)

Update:  National Review Online has posted a collection of reflections on Havel and his significance as a leader. Well worth a read.