Dreams of my Father
There is a war of words going on between the Church and the State in Kerala. Sitaram Yechury (Senior Member of the politburo of the Communist Part of India (Marxist)) said that the Church “should not take its position in politics”. There was an immediate response from Father Paul Thelakkat who is the spokesman of Kerala’s Syro Malabar Church. He said “This is a democratic country and any person belonging to any religion has the right to criticize the government in a democratic system. Yechury’s statement is undemocratic”. This is circular logic.
Why is Yechury’s statement undemocratic? As a citizen of India Yechury has the same right as Father Paul Thelakkat to express his opinions on any subject. In fact most secular Indians would agree with the sentiment expressed by Yechury. There is way too much religious interference in Indian politics and most of the prominent religious leaders or spiritual gurus are nothing but politicians in religious attire.
Father Paul Thelakkat added the following comments: “We are not in favor of any particular front– the Marxist party led Left Democratic front (LDF) or Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) (in Kerala). But we have a clear cut political vision to uphold democratic values to promote patriotism and secularism and to fight terrorism, fundamentalism and violence.” After I read the statement I had more questions than answers.
Anybody with any knowledge of Kerala politics knows that Father Paul Thelakkat’s statements are misleading. Kerala’s politics is very communal in nature. Certain religious groups vote for certain parties and their candidates. Most Malayalees also know that religious leaders during election time give out strong indicators as to who they believe their congregation should vote for. These are facts.
I was also wondering why the Syro Malabar Church (which is a religious organization) would have a “clear cut political vision”. More importantly where is this political vision documented? I searched the entire website of the Syro Malabar Church and this political vision that Father Paul Thelakkat is talking about is not mentioned anywhere. If the Syro Malabar Church has a clear cut political vision then should they still enjoy the tax exempt status accorded to them by the Indian government?
I actually had a good laugh when I read the political vision itself (uphold democratic values to promote patriotism and secularism and to fight terrorism, fundamentalism and violence). This statement sounded similar to those made by politicians come election time. But is it the goal of any religious institution to promote patriotism, secularism and fight terrorism? In my opinion this falls under the realm of the state. If the goal of the Syro Malabar Church is to promote secularism, can an openly atheistic person lead any of its congregation? If it believes in democratic values then can a woman become a pastor? The primary goal of the Church as it is with any other religion is to promote the religion and the gods and saints of that religion.
The icing on the cake is when Father Paul said “Wherever human rights have been suppressed, whether it was during Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany or dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in Philippines or apartheid of South Africa or Marxist party’s dictatorship in Poland, the Church has raised its concern on human rights and criticized the suppressing regimes”. This is again circular logic.
The Axis (Nazi Germany and Italy) were predominantly Christian nations. There is no evidence to suggest that the Churches in Germany and in Italy were strongly opposed to what their political leaders were doing before or during the war (Pope Pius XII role during WWII is extremely controversial). The role of the church in the slave trade, civil rights movements in the United States and during colonial rule in places like India are well documented. It is not a record that anybody should be proud of (on the other hand the Church’s record when it comes to education and health care for the poor is something everybody should be grateful for and proud of).
Instead of rewriting history ask yourself a few questions on where the Church stands in the human rights issues of our times. What is the Church’s position on equal rights for gays and lesbians in Kerala? What about equality for women inside the Church (equal pay and positions)? Where does the Church’s stand when it comes to property rights for Christian women in Kerala? Although the Papacy is almost 2000 years old when can we expect anybody other than a white European male to become a Pope?
Kerala is going through a difficult period. A state that was once known for its intellectual capacity, art and literature is now in the news for all the wrong reasons including religious fanaticism and terrorism. Malayalees once known for their appreciation of fine arts (including movies) now settle for cheap songs and slapstick comedies. A people who were once known for asking the tough questions now blindly follow. The land of the skeptics has now become the land of the supernatural.
“Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines” – Bertrand Russell
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Category: Culture & Religion