Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Friday, July 13, 2012

Untouchables, a Missing Bishop, and Charities at Risk

I was one of 'those crazy kids' in the '60s who thought that human beings were people: all human beings, not just the 'important' ones.

I also thought that the establishment should butt out of people's lives, and let us follow our beliefs.

When I became a Catholic, I had to change some of what I'd taken for granted: including some of my favorite ideas. (June 8, 2009)

But I'm still convinced that:
  • All human beings are people
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258, 2270, 2274)
  • Faith must not be forced
    (Catechism, 2104-2109)
Because I take beliefs like that seriously, I'm part of a counter-culture in America.

My native country isn't the only place where the Catholic Church is at odds with local traditions or the national government. I don't find that comforting, but at least America isn't alone:
  1. Caste, Human Trafficking, and Traditions
  2. One of Our Bishops is Missing
  3. Catholic Charities Will Not Kill

Optimism, Prayer and an Election

Eventually, I think India's 'untouchables' may be like slaves in America: a sad chapter in history, but not a current issue.

China's government may decide that maintaining a Catholic Patriotic Association isn't a good idea.

America's leaders may decide to acknowledge that all human beings are people: even young ones.

I can, and do, pray that all nations will support basic human rights. That's about all I can do about what's happening in India and China.

As an American citizen, I have an obligation to vote. There's an election coming up in November, less than three months away. There's a lot at stake this time.

1. Caste, Human Trafficking, and Traditions

"Christianity changing lives of India's 'untouchables'"

catholicnewsagency, YouTube (July 12, 2012) video, 2:56
"Christianity changing lives of India's 'untouchables' "
Hillary Senour, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 12, 2012)

"A human rights group in India says Christianity has brought slow but lasting change to the country's Dalits or 'untouchables,' especially for the community's women who are often victims of prostitution and human trafficking...."
"Human trafficking" is: "A criminal activity in which people are recruited, harboured, transported, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery." (Wiktionary)

'Judgmental' as this may sound, I think human trafficking is wrong. More to the point, the Catholic Church says it's wrong.1

'Meddling' With India's Traditions

I suppose a case could be made that the human rights group shouldn't interfere with India's cultural traditions. Here's how the Christians are (meddling?):
"...'The Dalits are told that they are less than animals and we tell them they are not,' non-profit director Jeevaline Kumar told CNA, 'because they are made in the likeness of God.'

"Kumar - who heads up Operation Mobilisation's Anti-Human Trafficking Project in Bangalore, Karnataka - explained that the simple message that every person created in God's image has transformed the lives of India's Dalits.

" 'They are crying out for a change now that they know they can live differently,' she said.

"At roughly 250 million people, Dalits make up close to one quarter of the country's 1.2 billion member population but, according to the caste system, are seen as inherently impure and worthless...."
(Hillary Senour, CNA)

Caste, Law, and Ethics

India's caste system hasn't been abused for generations. Officially. Discrimination based on caste was outlawed in 1950, when India gained independence from Great Britain.

I think I can understand why folks running India haven't gotten around to dismantling the caste system. As it stands, about one out of four folks in India can be used for cheap labor: and treated like livestock. Economically, it's probably expedient to maintain the cast system.

That doesn't make it right, though.
"...Although caste discrimination, not the caste system itself, was technically outlawed in 1950 after India won its independence from Great Britain, law enforcement is still lacking.

"Dalit women bear the brunt of caste discrimination, Kumar added, since women are looked upon even more unfavorably in Indian culture as they will need to be married off at the expense of their parents.

" 'The women are the Dalits of the Dalits,' Kumar said, explaining that many of them are forced into lives of prostitution, cleaning human waste or being aborted as soon as their gender is learned...."
(Hillary Senour, CNA)

Law, Culture, and Human Rights

It would be nice if India's government abolished the caste system entirely. On the other hand, they did outlaw caste discrimination.

The good news is that for more than six decades, Indian law has apparently acknowledged that Dalits are people. I've posted about human trafficking, law, and ethics, before:
In a way, India is off to a good start: their laws recognize that Dalits are people. Changing the minds and hearts of folks who like the status quo can take time: and that's almost another topic.

2. One of Our Bishops is Missing

"Vatican lauds ordination of China's missing bishop"
David Kerr, CNA/EWTN News (July 10, 2012)

"The Vatican has praised the approved ordination of a Chinese bishop, who is now missing after announcing his split from the state-controlled Catholic association during his ordination.

" 'The ordination of the Reverend Thaddeus Ma Daqin as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Shanghai on Saturday 7 July 2012 is encouraging and is to be welcomed,' said a July 10 Vatican communique...."
(David Kerr, CNA/EWTN News)
That's the good news.

What happened after the ceremony sounds like something in a thriller:
"...During the ordination ceremony, Bishop Ma revealed that he was quitting his posts within the government-run Catholic Patriotic Association which refuses to acknowledge the authority of the Pope...."
(David Kerr, CNA/EWTN News)
China isn't the only country whose leadership took control of a nation's religion. I've mentioned Henry VIII before. (March 7, 2012)

The Disquieting Case of the Disappearing Bishop

"...The announcement by the 44-year-old native of Shanghai was made in front of several state officials and was seen by many as a rebuke to China's communist regime. The 1000 strong congregation in the city's St Ignatius Cathedral responded with rapturous applause.

"Bishop Ma, however, has not been seen in public since. Various media outlets suggest he was whisked away by state-officials following the ceremony...."
(David Kerr, CNA/EWTN News)
I have a high regard for China's culture and people. The country's government has improved a little in recent decades, in terms of allowing its subjects to provide goods and services with a bit less micromanagement. But I think China still has 'control issues.'

Message From a Cell Phone

In an information age version of the typewritten note, Bishop Ma told folks that he was fine. Or, rather, his cell phone sent a message:
"...UCANews reports that priests and nuns in Shanghai have since received a text message from Bishop Ma's cellphone claiming to be sent by him.

"It states that he was 'mentally and physically exhausted' and needed 'a break' to make 'a personal retreat.' It also claims he is residing in the Sheshan seminary near Shanghai...."
(David Kerr, CNA/EWTN News)
Maybe I'm being too cynical: but it occurred to me that if Bishop Ma has been snatched, whoever has him probably has his cell phone, too. It shouldn't be difficult to for anybody with the right language skills to impersonate the bishop in a text message.

China's government has had trouble with 'unruly subjects,' and they're not alone:

3. Catholic Charities Will Not Kill

"Catholic Charities of Chicago lawsuit shows reach of HHS mandate"
CNA/EWTN News (July 10, 2012)

"Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has joined two Catholic dioceses and their charitable affiliates in a lawsuit over the federal contraception mandate, a move that one observer says demonstrates the potential societal impact of the rule.

"The charitable ministry 'will lose its identity as Catholic unless the HHS mandate now in force as the recent law of the land is changed,' Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago said in a July 9 statement supporting the charity's entry into a lawsuit against the federal government...."
The Catholic Church is quite flexible. We're allowed to:
  • Drink alcohol
    • In moderation
    (Catechism, 2290)
  • Gamble
    • In moderation
    (Catechism, 2413)
But we're not allowed to kill innocent people. Even if it's legal:
  • Some actions are always wrong
    (Catechism, 1789)
    • Even if the President says it's okay
      (Catechism, 2242)
  • Human life
    • Is sacred
      (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)
    • Begins at conception
      • (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
  • Murder is wrong
    (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2269)
I've written about this before: often. (July 4, 2012, June 29, 2012, June 28, 2012, June 26, 2012)

Legal, Yes: Right, No

In today's American, it's legal to kill babies who haven't been born yet. Scrambling a woman's reproductive system so that she can't conceive children is considered a "woman's right." Abortion and artificial contraceptives are legal in America: and considered indispensable parts of a 'liberated' lifestyle.

I learned that something can be legal, and still be wrong, in the '60s. That's another principle that I kept, because it's what the Catholic Church teaches.

The Church also says that we're supposed to follow ethical principles: even if a government official tells us not to. Like I've said before, "I was only following orders" isn't an excuse. (June 26, 2012)

Obligations

Part of the Catholic Church's mission is to feed the hungry, satisfy the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the ill, and visit those in prison. (Matthew 25:34-46; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2446) I don't know any Catholic who does 'all of the above.' Folks like Mother Teresa of Calcutta are few and far between.

But we're expected to do something for folks who need help.

In my case, I'll be helping the local Knights of Columbus council raise money later this month. One of our major fundraisers is the 'Bingo booth' at the Stearns County Fair: and I plan to work there one evening. Then there's the conventional 'charitable giving.'

Discriminate Against Non-Catholics, Or Kill: Some Choice

"...Chicago's Catholic Charities joins the Dioceses of Joliet and Springfield, and their respective Catholic Charities organizations, in challenging the Obama administration's mandate.

"Formulated under the federal health care reform law, the rule requires religious employers to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing drugs in employee health plans.

"Catholic Charities cannot obtain an exemption from the rule because it serves Catholics and non-Catholics equally. The mandate exempts only those organizations that primarily employ and serve members of the same faith for the purpose of instilling 'religious values.'..."
(July 10, 2012)
Like I said earlier, the Catholic Church says I have to see all human beings as people: not just the ones who are old enough to count under American law. I also have to believe that it's wrong to kill an innocent person. Even if the law says it's okay.

That may seem harsh, but it makes sense: once it's assumed that all human beings are people, and that human life is sacred. The Catholic Church expects us to act as if principles like 'human life is sacred,' and 'don't kill innocent people' matter.

That brings up the question of legitimate defense: which is another topic. (March 22, 2011)

Related posts:
1Human trafficking, prostitution, and kidnapping, from a Catholic viewpoint:
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Friday, December 17, 2010

That's Funny: You Don't Look Catholic

Folks have odd ideas sometimes.

Take religion, for example, back in my 'good old days.' In the time and place where I grew up, "Christian" and "Protestant" where interchangeable terms for quite a few folks.

Then there were assumptions about religion and ethnicity. Many, if they thought about it at all, 'knew' that:
  • Buddhists lived in Japan
  • Hindus lived in India
  • "Christians" were 'regular Americans'
    • And the folks living in northwestern Europe
  • Catholics lived in Italy and Ireland
An oversimplification? Certainly. Did all the folks where I grew up make these assumptions? No.

But quite a few did.

Folks with a college degree under their belt, or who were college students, seemed less apt to make those assumptions about religion and ethnicity. That's the good news.

The bad news is that a fair number of the college crowd had other clinkers in their thinkers. Like confusing Christianity with racism and European imperialism. And assuming, if they thought about it at all, that Christians didn't like science and education: and of course didn't 'believe in' evolution.

No wonder I don't admit to being nostalgic very often.

'Stereotypes are Stereotypes for a Reason'

Stereotypes - 'conventional or formulaic conceptions or images' (Princeton's WordNet) - are not, I think, a particularly good tool for understanding the real world. On the other hand, I think that stereotypes often have some basis in fact: no matter how unrealistic they become, once cut free from the space-time continuum.

Like the 'Buddhists are Japanese' thing. Turns out, a little over 71% of the folks living in Japan follow Buddhism. As of 2005, anyway. In 2001, a bit over 80% of the folks in India were Hindus. ("India" (last updated on December 9, 2010), "Japan" (updated December 7, 2010), The World Factbook, CIA)

Who Believes What and Where

After a little checking, I see that there are about a half-dozen or so 'world religions.'

My guess is that not everybody would agree with this list: but I think it's good enough as a 'for instance:'
I may have left out someone's favorite, like Shinto or Zoroastrianism. No disrespect intended.

The unreadably small map up there links to a discussion of religious demographics in a Wikipedia article. The point is that folks in different parts of the world do tend to follow one religion more than other faiths. Which is probably where notions like 'Buddhists live in Japan' come from.

But it's a sort of 'on average' thing. That photo shows what was left of the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, after the bomb went off. Quite a few Catholics died that day.

Does that mean, by the way, that I hate America and writhe in agony that allied forces didn't invade Japan the old-fashioned way? No.

I do think that it would have been nice if what we call World War II hadn't happened. But the world is not always a nice place. I've discussed that sort of thing before (October 27, 2010, June 7, 2009; Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 16, 2009))

Urakami Cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan, by Kzhr (December 3, 2004), via Wikimedia CommonsThe Urakami Cathedral? We built another one. The bomb didn't wipe out all the Catholics, and that's another topic.

Back to assumptions about religion and region or ethnicity. One might think Judaism was an 'ethnic' thing - but there are folks like Sammy Davis Jr..

Christianity: A 'European' Religion?

I've run into folks, on and off campus, who seem convinced that Christianity is a European religion. They've got a point, sort of.

There was a time, about nine centuries back, when Europe was the world's 'cathedral central:' Gothic architecture and all that.

When folks in Europe were sorting themselves out into nations, a cross got worked into quite a few national flags.

Then there's the Holy See: in Rome, Italy. Europe again.

Two millennia back, though, Rome wasn't so much part of Europe as it was the political and economic hub of the Roman Empire. It made sense to set up headquarters there. The city's still a reasonably central location for an organization that has branches on every continent.

Except Antarctica, apparently. My guess is that there are Catholics there, too: but so far the permanent research stations are staffed by folks who are 'just visiting.' And I'm not going to get off-topic.

I've heard Christianity called an 'oriental mystery religion.' (March 17, 2009) I didn't argue the point: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and points east are part of 'the Orient.' (Princeton's WordNet) But the Catholic Church isn't any more "Oriental" than it is "Western."

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Catholicism is Oriental. And Western. And everything else.

The Catholic Church is "Universal:" Literally

A dictionary I use quite often defines "catholic" - lower case "c" - as "free from provincial prejudices or attachments." (Princeton's WordNet)

That doesn't mean that Catholics aren't part of the culture we're born in. I've discussed that before. (August 26, 2010, and elsewhere)

For example, I speak English with an accent that's pretty close to the old 'broadcast standard.' That's partly due to having parents who were slightly deaf, and that's yet another topic. I also like lefse, hamburgers, and spaghetti: reflecting the regional and national dietary customs in my homeland. (Lefse? Sort of like a limp tortilla, except made from potato flour.)

None of which makes me less - or more - of a Catholic than someone whose cradle tongue is Japanese, who would just as soon not eat spaghetti, and who loves playing pachinko.

Finally: Another Report from the Department of Unintended Consequences

I doubt that the radio ranters, a half century ago, realized that their (colorful?) depictions of the Catholic Church would indirectly lead one of their listeners to become a Catholic.

I'm also fairly sure that professors who explained multiculturalism during my college years did not suspect that at least one student embraced the idea - so thoroughly that he would eventually join the Catholic Church. I've written about that before. (July 14, 2010

It's one thing to teach that the cultural preferences of 'those people over there' are no better than those of an even more distant group. When someone turns around and suggests that your own cultural preferences may not be the hub around which the world turns - that's still another topic.

Related posts:
Somewhat-related posts, in another blog:
Background:
  • "Religions of the World," Sara Wenner, EMuseum @ University of Minnesota, Mankato (2001)
  • The World Factbook, CIA
    • "Antarctica" (last updated November 16, 2010)
    • "India" (last updated December 9, 2010)
    • "Japan" (updated December 7, 2010)
  • "Sammy Davis Jr."
    Beth Weiss, Jewish Virtual Library
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Monday, February 22, 2010

Jesus Christ, Beer, Tobacco, Idols and Indian Law

The image of Jesus Christ, holding a beer can and a cigarette, reminds me of the weird but (I trust) well-intentioned efforts in the sixties to make Christianity like, you know, relevant.

It's not. The image is in a handwriting workbook published in India.

The company that made and distributed that book made a really, really big mistake. India is one of those countries where deliberately offending someone's religious sentiments is illegal.

Which may or may not be a good idea.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from the news:
"Christians in India's northeast are outraged after a picture showing Jesus Christ holding a beer can and a cigarette was discovered in primary school textbooks.

"The image appeared in a handwriting book for children in church-run schools in the Christian-majority state of Meghalaya, where it was used to illustrate the letter 'I' for the word 'Idol'....

"...Police said they were hunting for the owner of the New Delhi-based publisher, Skyline Publications, who faces charges of offending religious sentiment, local police superintendent A.R. Mawthoh told AFP.

"The Roman Catholic Church in India has banned all textbooks by Skyline, while Protestant leaders called for a public apology.

"The state government also denounced the publication.

" 'We strongly condemn such a blasphemous act. Legal action has been initiated against the publisher,' M. Ampareen Lyngdoh, an education minister in the Meghalaya government, said...."
(myFOX New York) [emphasis mine]
Interestingly, here in American blasphemy is - according to the dominant culture - a constitutional right, guaranteed by the idea of 'free speech.' American academic institutions are particularly 'open minded' about blasphemy, since acts like trashing a page from the Quran and some atheist's book, driving a nail through a consecrated Host and publishing a photo of the lot are considered an exercise in 'academic freedom.'


(from PZ Myers, Pharyngula (July 24, 2008), used w/o permission)

Change Happens: Deal With It

America is growing away from being a country of devout Protestants: divided on whether using tobacco or using alcohol is an unpardonable sin; but united against those Catholics and other heathen foreigners. I'm exaggerating: but there are days when I feel like it's not much of an exaggeration.

Maybe America could learn something from India. That country has been learning to deal with differences in religious belief. Religious affiliation broke out this way in their 2001 census:
  • Hindu 80.5%
  • Muslim 13.4%
  • Christian 2.3%
  • Sikh 1.9%
  • Other 1.8%
  • Unspecified 0.1%
    (2001 census, via CIA World Factbook)
Legal sanctions for people who go out of their way to offend someone else's beliefs are, in my opinion, the same sort of juridical and philosophical mine field that America's 'hate crimes' laws are. On the other hand, there are times when I wonder if they might be a good idea. (More: "Tolerance: Yes, it's a Good Idea" (August 3, 2009))

Jesus and Beer?

I wasn't all that offended by the beer and cigarette. But then, I've spent a sizable fraction of my life as a Christian on college campuses, and grew up in the sixties: my 'offended' threshold is set pretty high.

As far as historical accuracy goes, I'm not at all convinced that my Lord wore clothes like that, or had those long ringlets. As for looking like a teenage boy in need of fresh air, exercise and an adequate male role model - I've been into that before. (February 15, 2010)

The beer bothers me only on historical grounds. It simply wasn't part of the culture where my Lord lived. When they were running out of drinks at that wedding in Cana, Jesus provided wine, not beer. Which I've discussed before, including this, from March, 2009:
"Marriage in the Catholic Church? Yeah, it's Kind of a Big Deal"
" On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign-at his mother's request-during a wedding feast. The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence.'
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1613)
"If you'd rather think that Mary having Jesus get more drinks for everybody is a purely spiritual thing: fine. As I said before, that's your business. Fact is, though, the party was running out of wine: and Mary was very insistent about her son doing something about it. Which he did...."
(The story's in John 2:1-10.)
("Annulment: Divorce, Catholic Style - NOT!" (March 27, 2009))
When it comes to booze, the Church teaches that we're not supposed to get drunk: not that alcohol is the work of Satan. (Catechism, 2290, for starters)

The Cigarette? Yeah, I'm More Iffy About That

A half-century ago, smoking or chewing tobacco wasn't, in my opinion, as wrong as it is now. Not because I think God changed His Mind: but because we know more now. I remember when links between smoking and some kinds of cancer changed from a pretty good guess to certain knowledge.

Up until around the mid-point of the 20th century, someone who smoked might not realize that there were serious health risks involved. And, as far as I know, the jury is still out on whether there is a safe minimum limit to smoking and chewing.

There was even a Pope - Blessed John XXIII (1958-63), I think - who smoked. It was either one or two cigarettes a day, again as I recall.

As with so many other things, it looks like moderation is the key.

My own opinion, by the way, is that we'll find that zero is the safe maximum for tobacco use: but that's no more than a guess. And, another topic.
'But I Read it in a Book:' Facts and Imagination
Then there's the story I've heard, that Pope Urban VIII forbade tobacco - allegedly because it was too sexy. Well, that could be true. Someone wrote a book that says so.

But then, Maria Monk wrote a book too - which quite a few people still buy - that's full of whoppers about those wicked Catholics over there. (September 26, 2008)

As I researched Catholicism and the Catholic Church, I discovered that quite a bit of what I thought I knew was centuries out of date - and much of the rest was flat-out wrong. Where the Urban VII story lies, I don't know.

For me, the idea that Urban VIII banned tobacco because he thought it led to sneezing - and that sneezing was too much like sexual ecstasy for his taste - sounds like one of those urban legends that's a little too good to be true. Sure, people who use snuff sneeze. But sexy sneezing reminds me, humorously, of the 'good old days' when sophisticated people discovered that sex was sexy and started talking and writing about sex. It was, like, "relevant." Fer sure.

"I" is for "Idol" - What 'Everybody Knows' About Those Catholics

What jumped out at me in this bit of news was the choice of words:
"...The image appeared in a handwriting book for children in church-run schools in the Christian-majority state of Meghalaya, where it was used to illustrate the letter 'I' for the word 'Idol'....."
(myFOX New York) [emphasis mine]
From Maria Monk's day to this, quite a few 'good Christian' people in North America (M.M. lived in Canada, as I recall) 'know' that those heathen Catholics worship idols.

There's a (tiny) grain of truth in this assumption. Catholic churches and Cathedrals are not, as a rule, the sensory-deprivation chambers favored by some Protestant groups. The Catholic Church noticed that most human beings can see, and has used visual imagery to get the Christian message across, since before the days when my ancestors were cobbling feudal Europe out of a network of local warlords.

So today you're more likely to see pictures and statues in Catholic Churches, than in Protestant ones.

The statues are illustrations, not idols. We do not worship idols. But historically we don't go out of our way to insult people who do. (Acts 17:22) And yes: I'm sure you've encountered a Catholic who did. What can I say? We're human beings: sinners, members of a fallen race.

It's idolatry that's on the no-no list. (Catechism, 2112-2114, for starters)
"...Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc...."
(Catechism, 2113)

Not all Statues are Idols

I don't expect to convince anybody whose mind is made up, and doesn't want to be confused with facts. My job is to present facts: what others do with them is their business.

As the Catechism explains, Catholics use statues and pictures to assist worship. Not because we don't believe the Bible: but because we understand it.
"The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, 'the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype,' and 'whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it.'70 The honor paid to sacred images is a 'respectful veneration,' not the adoration due to God alone:
Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.71"
(Catechism, 2132)
I venerate (a few) people. I adore God: And I know enough not to get the two mixed up.

'Nuf said.

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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.