“I’ve had nothing but bad luck, since the day I saw the cat at
my door...” sang Lucknow-born British singer Cliff Richard. There
are many in the world who believe a cat crossing one’s path is a bad omen,
especially a black cat. Superstition has been with us since eons. Superstition
has been tradition with cultures, families and individuals. There are places I
know which carry out strange ceremonies to cure people of mental illness,
schizophrenia or epilepsy. People resort to this as a last option when all
other medical avenues have been unsuccessful. Rationalists across the world
have helped destroy many myths, fake beliefs and superstitions. It is very
compelling and interesting to listen to many famous ones like Richard Dawkins or the late Christopher Hitchens. Both these men
have long debated religionists but they have never campaigned to bring a law
against religion or superstition.
So when
rationalist Narendra Dabholkar of
Pune was killed by some lunatics on August 20 our media and politicians
immediately started point fingers at Right Wing organisations, particularly a
group called Sanatan Sanstha.
The spokie of this organisation has been in the media for 2 days since denying
his organisation had any role in the killing.
The reason
for suspecting them is that their website had a pic of Dabholkar with a cross
marked across his face. This is how stupid and immature our media morons are.
But this is consistent with their political propaganda which seeks to imply
that only Hindus have superstitions or so-called “fake” or “self-styled Godmen” who deceive people.
And an even worse reaction of the Mahashtra CM was to quickly recommend an
Ordinance against superstition and black-magic. The immediate task should, as
always, be to hunt down the killers of Dabholkar and get them the harshest
punishment but the media and leftist parties like Congress, CPM and others were
using the incident to start an anti-Hindu practices rant. Most of the
protesters in Pune and Mumbai (on the killing of Dabholkar) were naturally from
Commie organisations, red flags, banners and all. Maybe all these folks didn’t hear
that even the former Pope resigned because God told him to. Well, why the Pope,
even Lalu Prasad Yadav went to a
Tantrik for a ritual to help him fight the fodder-scam case.
So where is
an Ordinance going to draw the line between a belief in some ritual and
religious practices. Almost all religious
people on earth have some beliefs and superstitions. Jairam Ramesh refuses
to occupy an office which is lying vacant for 8 years because some previous
ministers died in office when they were occupying it. The DNA article lists a lot of PMs and other politicians who
have been superstitious. Superstitious beliefs usually come from bad
experiences one has had or observing unusually consistent phenomena. Some
religious leaders prey on these beliefs and not all of them are Hindus. In 2005
Benny Hinn gathered a large number
of people for some “miracle healing”.
And who were his prominent guests? Let’s read a bit of the report:
“…After
keeping everybody guessing, chief minister N. Dharam Singh, with family, state
and union ministers in tow, landed up at the venue. Prompting an angry BJP to
declare it will disrupt legislature proceedings from Monday. The show began at
6 pm, with more than an hour of choir singing. Clad in spotless white, pastor
Hinn came on stage an hour later, and announced that he liked India and
Indians. He also declared that he had come to tell people that Christ was
alive. "Many of you are going to feel a presence on your body tonight. That's
when you know you are healed. This Jesus I'm talking about will heal you,'' he
said. Soon it was time for the VVIPs to be acquainted. Singh climbed on to the
stage, and was embraced by Hinn. The pastor promised the CM that he would pray
for the state and the country. Ditto with Union ministers Oscar Fernandes, M.V.
Rajashekaran, and state ministers Mallikarjuna M. Kharge and H.K. Patil, and
Bollywood actor Johnny Lever. Around 8.30 pm, Hinn requested the assemblage to
maintain silence, "as I administer the word of God.'' At 9 pm, he
announced that Jesus was ready to heal them and asked everybody to stretch
their hands and pray. Many differently abled, wheelchairbound persons and other
sick and suffering came near the stage to receive "the promised miracle''.
Hinn then prayed for 20 minutes with his eyes closed and asked the people one
to one: "Are you cured?'' Several answered in the affirmative. So ended
day one”.
I recommend
you read that whole report. The American miracle-man Benny Hinn was grandly
welcomed by the CM, Ministers and other VVIPs. Now what would Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan call the show? A
religious act or black-magic? This is where it is hard to draw a line between
faith-based practices and charlatans. If people believed Benny Hinn, good luck
to them. After all, he hasn’t killed anyone according to the report. The people
were at his gathering of their own free choice. Were the handicapped persons
healed for good? I seriously doubt it. But it probably made them feel better. Rationalists
would laugh at it as they should and they should debate it, condemn it and
educate people if they like but they
surely have no business to demand laws and ordinances banning what people
follow when it doesn’t hurt anyone. It is important to prosecute charlatans
if they cause any harm or death and there are enough laws for prosecution.
In March 2012
there was a strange case of water trickling down a crucifix near a Church at
Vile Parle in Mumbai. Thousands thought this was some “miracle” and rushed to
get a glimpse. Sanal Edamaruku,
a prominent rationalist, suggested this may be a plumbing fault and before long
there was an FIR lodged against him Mumbai. Of course, it appears Edamaruku
also made some uncharitable remarks about the priests tricking people to
collect funds. The man is now in self-exile in Finland. Is Prithviraj Chavan
going to withdraw the FIR and pardon Edamuruku? Mind you, the media and the commie politicians consistently accuse
Hindu leaders and Gurus of being tricksters or thugs, without having to pay a
price for it. So why is Edamaruku being targeted for calling some priests
tricksters? After all, it appears the miracle-believers did donate money. We
should be fine with people believing the miracles they want. We should also be
fine with the Edamarukus and Dabholkars questioning these (without calling the
religious heads tricksters and frauds). I am not aware if Narendra Dabholkar
questioned this Church incident.
Is Chavan’s
Ordinance also going to ban Santa Claus? Almost every Christian knows that
Santa Claus is just a story, a myth. Seriously, somebody has to be crazy to
think Santa goes around the whole word and gets in through chimneys to drop
gifts. But it’s fun for children and it’s harmless. None of us can ever imagine
Christmas without Santa. Here’s a Jewish man who turned to Jesus because he
experienced a strange miracle. (Video: 1.44 mins):
Well, he held the glass out the window and it rained. Sometimes it rains and such sometimes
it doesn’t. Some experiences can lead people to believe mundane coincidences as
miracles. If the guy had prayed for
frogs and it had rained frogs instead then maybe we could have called it a
miracle. But if it makes people happy and even convert then it’s harmless. What
will Chavan’s Ordinance cover? Even religious beliefs can sometimes be
superstitious. People go all the way to Tirupati with Faith and drop a whole
lot of money and gold to seek blessings. In a ritual at the annual Haj Muslims
stone the devil and even the number of stones they should carry and throw are
prescribed. All religions have rituals and practices and it is therefore
difficult to draw the line. In contrast, charlatans are possible to identify
and must be prosecuted based on complaints of cheating or fake promises.
Jim Jones who formed his own People’s Temple in the USA had his own cult following. After
being hounded in the US he and his followers set up base in the northern area
of Guyana, which came to be known as Jonestown. On November 18, 1978 over 900
members of this group were poisoned to death in a mass-suicide. This wasn’t religion,
it was sheer madness. This wasn’t even superstition or black-magic but an
extreme cult that led its leader to kill his followers in a “revolutionary mass suicide”. Prithviraj
Chavan equated Dabholkar’s murder to the
assassination of Gandhiji. I can’t understand the connection unless he
wanted to make a “political” statement against certain groups. It will not
comfort anyone that this criminal Jim Jones named his son Stephan ‘Gandhi’ Jones. It would be idiotic to even suggest
that because of this Jones was inspired by Gandhi. Wouldn’t it?
Superstitions
are an individual’s choice and cannot be eliminated with laws. Unfortunate as
Dabholkar’s killing is, knee-jerk reactions aren’t an answer.The days when
witches were burnt at the stake are past us. We have people on the streets that
have parrots pick people’s future. Sometimes it’s even fun. I am not aware what
the Maharashtra proposed Ordinance contains. But if it targets rituals and practices
of only one community my bet is it will be challenged for Constitutional
validity. In the meantime, the media will continue their propaganda (backed by
certain politicians and political parties) to target Hindu groups.
PS: A report from The Hindu: “Are you tired of
everyday stress? Sick of acidity problems? Your woes may end soon, if steel
tycoon Naveen Jindal is to be believed. On Friday, Shashi Tharoor launched
‘Tiranga Bangle’, an initiative by Naveen Jindal’s Flag Foundation of India”.
These two honourable MPs promoting the ‘Trivortex Bangle’ need to talk to Prithviraj
Chavan.
Note: Video is
from Bill Maher’s ‘Religulous’ (2008).
