- There is a relentless tendency towards monopoly and consolidation of wealth that lead to rising inequality in the present time. Inequality- specifically, awareness of inequality- kills. Studies show that relative poverty- how much poorer you are than your societal peers- is strongly correlated to mental illness, including depression. Of course, you can find a study to support just about anything. Being poor doesn't bum people out. Being poorer than others does. Mali, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are poor countries. Yet their income disparity is low, similar to those of Germany and the Scandinavian countries.
Friday, March 28, 2014
The Second Theory of Relativity
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Day 8 of Maramon Convention: Feb.16th of Year 2014 A.D.
Reading the thread in Dallyachen's post on homosexuality among clergy in Facebook on 10th February, to me it seems high-time to re-evaluate the functionality of the christian edifice.
Is the christian faith self- contradictory?
Do we have the elasticity to change (convictions) according to the seemingly prevalent needs of the time?
Are the followers of this faith deceived by the upper echelons who do not believe in its tenets and are USING the church to meet their time- serving ends?
Is priesthood just like any other job to earn a living- the remuneration and perks are really staggering; you name it: free boarding (almost always free food) and lodging (rent-free housing), free phone and electricity, petrol allowance, gratuity, provident fund, pension, big purse upon transfer in every three years, and even added money (consolation for being dumb) for non- working, idiotic, gossiping wives of priests, with no strings attached- where else have you heard about such a covetable job? Even one or two foreign (America, Europe or Gulf) assignments are guaranteed in the package where a car and crores of rupees on re-transfer are added benefits. Isn't the following joke- very familiar with web users- illustrative of today's state of affairs in the church? (just leave out the specifics relating to a certain denomination).
With apologies to the good souls who may find it repugnant, may I reiterate that the emphasis is placed on the need for self- analysis.
"A woman was having sex during the day with her secret lover, while her husband was at work.
Her nine year old son comes home unexpectedly, sees the scene and hides in the bedroom's walk-in wardrobe.
A few minutes later her husband comes home.
She hides the lover in the wardrobe, not knowing her son is already in there.
The boy says,"Its dark in here."
The man replies:"Yes it is."
Boy: "I have a soccer ball; do you want to buy it ?
Man: "No".
Boy: "My dad is outside, I'll call him if you don't buy it."
Man:" Ok, how much ?"
Boy: "US $ 200". A few weeks later it happened again;
Boy and the lover were in the wardrobe together.
Boy: "Its dark in here."
Man: " Yes it is."
Boy: "I have soccer boots, wanna buy ?"
The man remembering the last incident asks,"How much?"
Boy says,"US $ 400."
The man says,"Fine" and pays.
A few days later the father tells his boy,
"Grab your ball and boots son, lets go outside and have a game."
Boy says, "I cant, I sold them for US $ 600."
The father says,"That's terrible to over-charge your friends like that... US $ 600 is way more than what those two things cost, am going to take you to church tomorrow and make you confess your sins."
The next day they go to church and the father makes the boy enter the confession booth and closes the door.
The boy says,"Its dark in here."
The priest replies," Don't try to be smart again, boy!
The man replies:"Yes it is."
Boy: "I have a soccer ball; do you want to buy it ?
Man: "No".
Boy: "My dad is outside, I'll call him if you don't buy it."
Man:" Ok, how much ?"
Boy: "US $ 200". A few weeks later it happened again;
Boy and the lover were in the wardrobe together.
Boy: "Its dark in here."
Man: " Yes it is."
Boy: "I have soccer boots, wanna buy ?"
The man remembering the last incident asks,"How much?"
Boy says,"US $ 400."
The man says,"Fine" and pays.
A few days later the father tells his boy,
"Grab your ball and boots son, lets go outside and have a game."
Boy says, "I cant, I sold them for US $ 600."
The father says,"That's terrible to over-charge your friends like that... US $ 600 is way more than what those two things cost, am going to take you to church tomorrow and make you confess your sins."
The next day they go to church and the father makes the boy enter the confession booth and closes the door.
The boy says,"Its dark in here."
The priest replies," Don't try to be smart again, boy!
THIS IS MY CHURCH AND NOT YOUR FATHER'S BEDROOM!"
To sum up: "But that two-handed engine at the door,
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more"
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more"
(In Milton's 'Lycidas', St. Peter, the "mitred", "stern" and "pilot of the Galilean lake" speaks the invective against contemporary clergy: lines famous for their dark allusions.)
Thanks
Day 1 of Maramon Convention: Feb. 9th of Year 2014 A.D.
..............................
"What’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me the meaning of life?
Isn’t that a little too stereotypical?”
“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different forms and shapes of you.”
“Wait. I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.
“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, what you experienced.”
You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. “Why do you do all this?”
“Because someday, you will be like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
“No, not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all times, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on.
Here, I send you on your way".
Thanks.
"What’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me the meaning of life?
Isn’t that a little too stereotypical?”
“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different forms and shapes of you.”
“Wait. I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.
“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, what you experienced.”
You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. “Why do you do all this?”
“Because someday, you will be like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
“No, not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all times, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on.
Here, I send you on your way".
Thanks.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Gift
Kochouseph Chittilappilly offered Rs. Five lakhs to Jazira's children
(an age-old practice to make sure that the money is well- spent)
when the sand mafia agitation fame asked what right he has over her children.
It can then be interpreted that he need not give her any money by the same token
as he has no right over her, either. Will somebody let her know this so that she will not start
the much advertised fast in front of his house and may move to a better place in terms of 'righthood'?
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!
Several actors who portrayed the 'Marlboro Man' have died of smoking-related diseases: Wayne McLaren died of lung cancer in 1992 and David McLean died of emphysema in 1995. McLaren became an outspoken anti-smoking activist in the years preceding his death. According to his mother, his last words were, “Take care of the children. Tobacco will kill you, and I am living proof of it.”
Another in the series is Eric Lawson who died in his home in San Luis Obispo, California a couple of weeks ago (to be exact, on 10th January). He portrayed the iconic rugged Marlboro Man in cigarette ads during the late 70's. He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)- a disease that makes it progressively harder to breathe over time- which is primarily caused by cigarette smoking.
I too smoked for more than 25 years- almost 50 a day but stopped about 10 years ago.
DON"T TOUCH TOBACCO MUST BE THE RULE: STILL, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!
Thanks.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Change
Monday was the 114th anniversary of John Ruskin's death (20th January). You would remember him as the leading English art critic of the Victorian era who famously said, "Our duty is to preserve what the past has had to say for itself, and to say for ourselves what shall be true for the future". On his wedding night, legend has it, the critic fainted on finding that- unlike the Elysian statues of his fantasies- women had body hair. Its time to change rotten ideas for innovation starts with a natural distrust of the status quo. When you’re prepared to start asking simple questions of everyday things- the world is suddenly full of possibilities.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Too Radical an Approach in the Indian Context?
In Bellevue, Washington, students at Eastside Catholic School responded to the dismissal of their beloved teacher and coach by pouring en masse into the street outside the school, where they chanted, “Change the church!” Students at other Catholic schools responded with tweets and solidarity sit-ins. Those students who stood in the cold chanting “Change the Church” can be seen as naïve idealists who don’t understand how religion works and why. Alternately, they can be seen as people whose eyes aren’t clouded by the veil of history, who are free to trust their own sense of compassion and fairness and draw hope from the future rather than from some idealized past.
But changing the Church is easier said than done. Religion, by its very nature, is change-averse. Each religion explains and sanctifies a specific set of cultural values; a worldview that is snapshot of human history. Most of today’s largest religions emerged during what is called the Axial Age- a time in which male superiority was taken for granted, the wheelbarrow was yet to be invented, nobody knew about the other side of the planet. But why do churches so often have to be forced to admit what has become obvious on the outside: that slavery is wrong, that no skin color or bloodline is spiritually superior, that women and children are people and not merchandise, that the pleasure and pain of other species matter and so on... Christians see themselves as a light shining on a hill, meaning a moral beacon to the world; and the faithful love to say that they have taken the lead in humanity’s moral growth: in the abolition of slavery, for example. Indeed many great abolitionists were inspired, in part, by their faith though reality is that Christian texts and teachings had been used for centuries to justify slavery and the Christian abolition movement emerged only in concert with broader cultural and economic changes. A perusal of history reveals that moral and spiritual changes occur independent of any religion to which religions later lend voice, organizational structure and moral authority while claiming for the entire credit. Thanks.
But changing the Church is easier said than done. Religion, by its very nature, is change-averse. Each religion explains and sanctifies a specific set of cultural values; a worldview that is snapshot of human history. Most of today’s largest religions emerged during what is called the Axial Age- a time in which male superiority was taken for granted, the wheelbarrow was yet to be invented, nobody knew about the other side of the planet. But why do churches so often have to be forced to admit what has become obvious on the outside: that slavery is wrong, that no skin color or bloodline is spiritually superior, that women and children are people and not merchandise, that the pleasure and pain of other species matter and so on... Christians see themselves as a light shining on a hill, meaning a moral beacon to the world; and the faithful love to say that they have taken the lead in humanity’s moral growth: in the abolition of slavery, for example. Indeed many great abolitionists were inspired, in part, by their faith though reality is that Christian texts and teachings had been used for centuries to justify slavery and the Christian abolition movement emerged only in concert with broader cultural and economic changes. A perusal of history reveals that moral and spiritual changes occur independent of any religion to which religions later lend voice, organizational structure and moral authority while claiming for the entire credit. Thanks.
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