व्यविचारको पापबाट छुटकारा

You Are A Racist!

If you are not a racist, you have either educated yourself into being a perfect human being who truly believes that all men are created equal.  Or, you are a saint or a prophet who has ascended to the heavens to experience that the creator indeed has created all men equal and imprinted in them his own image. 

But truth be told, most of us, specially in Asian cultures, will confess that we carry within some recesses of our hearts the racial tendencies of one kind or the other.  If not consciously and philosophically, these tendencies show up in some unconscious and pragmatic ways in our daily living; the language we use to describe people who are different from us, the gestures we exhibit in dealing with people who are different from us, and the sarcasm we resort to in demonstrating our superiority over others may easily be betraying our masked racism behind our futile efforts to hide it.

Thomas Jefferson coined (regardless of its origin) the term “all men are created equal” before immortalizing it by engraving in one of the finest human documents affirming human equality and freedom, the US Declaration of Independence.  The irony however is that even Jefferson could not escape the ridicule of living off of the back of his many slaves.  Here was a great mind who saw all humans equal but could not overcome the cultural shackles of slavery that treated some men as less than the others and took away their God given rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 

Ho Chi Min, who opened the floodgates of communism into Vietnam and the surrounding nations that would later obliterate millions, when declaring his country’s independence from a century old French and five-year old Japanese occupation, quotes the US declaration of independence in stating how the French had violated the basic human principles of equality and freedom.  The French and the Japanese had exploited Vietnam but Ho holds the French more responsible because, unlike the Japanese, the French constitution affirms the equality of all human beings.

Whether it is a Jefferson, a Ho or a French constitution, before we experience the equality of all human beings in practice, it has to be conceived in the human mind.  Unless we are convinced in our minds that “all men are created equal”, we will never be able to put it into practice; the animalistic survival instincts will always deceive us in thinking that our race, our religion, our tribe, our caste, our clan is better than others. 

How could Jefferson think that “all men are created equal”?  How come the French constitution rather than a Japanese affirms the equality of all men?  How come some of the most advanced economies of Asia and Middle East are still abysmal when it comes to human rights and freedom?  Why do we always look to Geneva for peace, freedom, human rights, and so on?  Why not to Cairo? Why not to New Delhi? Why not to Beijing?

Whether it is a Jefferson, a France or a Geneva; their roots go back to the Biblical teaching that all men are created in God’s image and therefore, all are equally worthy of respect, love and service.  Jesus summarized the whole Bible in two imperatives; love God and love your neighbor.

Therefore, if you are not a racist, you have not only understood the teachings of Christ, you have actually emulated his teaching in respecting all men as equal and created in God’s image worthy of respect, love and service regardless of the differences you share.

Not the Sword or the Pen but the Heart of Man

A lesson I remember from my elementary school was about the battle between the Pen and the Sword.  Which is stronger?” asked the teacher.  “The sword” was the unison reply of my 3^rd grade classmates.  But the teacher said, “you all are wrong, the pen is mightier than the sword”.  Slow in learning, I could not make any sense of the question.  How can there even be a war between a pen and a sword?  And, even if people want to fight with such weaponry; who idiot will think of picking a pen to fight against a man wielding a sword?  Maybe this is what we call an elementary level of thinking.  But war between these two objects seems to know no bound; decades, centuries and even millennia have seen them fight tirelessly and the sword eventually surrenders to pen but only for a time to regain its valor.

People and civilizations under the the reign of pen seem to flourish in all their forms and fashions; art and literature appear to enjoy the most as they become the channels for human expressions of creativity and ingenuity inspiring the human imagination to go further into the discovery of the natural world of science and technology.  Ideas are freely expressed and disputes are settled by debating the merits and the demerits of both the sides; no wonder the people of Athens still bear the testimony for such a life. 

As good as it is to live under the reign of pen; the pen is also very naive and vulnerable that it begins to believe it can sleep at night without locking the door; in its ideal world are no thieves.  When the dogs bark in the neighborhood at night, it assumes that a cat must have been running after a rat only to realize in the morning that the whole town was robbed and ransacked by some barbarians wielding the sword from beyond the yonder.  Realizing the gravity of the situation, it rushes to the city square, calls on the scribes to come to Areopagus to discuss the tragedy.  Alas, no one comes!  There is no sign of life in any of the houses of the scribes.  Hurriedly it rushes to Areopagus, only to see the sword waiting for its arrival.  The loyal politicians of the city were now standing to testify against the pen; crowd was solemn and silent.  The pen could not believe its ears what the politicians were spewing out of their lying mouths.  The sword gave the verdict; pen must be executed.  Climbing to the gallows, pen tried to see if there were any scribes in the crowd down below; in the far corner with heads covered like women were a few of them secretly wiping their tears.  With sadness but no regret, the pen put its head across the beam with neck sitting on it and the axe fell.  As if something divine had happened, darkness covered the land for a long long time.

One of the surviving scribes by the name of Plato went to look for an Ideal Republic in which the pen and the sword would unite in peace and serve the people with the best of their ability.  The other by the name of Confucius went to look for an Ideal Prince who would listen to him in creating a perfect nation where justice and freedom would rule for the prosperity of the people.  But neither of them could achieve their dreams; they both failed miserably.  And there came another scribe by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, warning the rest of them that the problem was not with the pen or the sword, the problem was with the heart of man.  Unless a man be born again and become like a child, he will always be a victim either under the brutality of the sword who thinks that all those who disagree are guilty deserving death or the naivety of the pen who thinks that those who disagree also belong to universal brotherhood and should be allowed to express their disagreement in anyway they feel like doing it; even at the point of wielding the sword.    

नेपालमा बढ्दै गएको धार्मिक अतिवाद

ऐतिहाँसिक हिसाबले नेपाल पुरानो देश भए पनि विस्वकासामु यसको परिचय त्यति लामो छैन। बेलाँएती सामराज्यको राजनैतिक तवरले सामना गर्न सफल भए पनि कुटनैतिक क्षेत्रमा नेपालले खासै सफलता हाँसिल गर्न सकेन कारण एकिकरणको समयबाटै शाहावंसिय राजाहरूले धर्मलाई राजनितिसँग जोडेको कारण देशलाई विज्ञानको ज्योति तर्फ लानुको सट्टा अन्धविस्वासको गुफातिर धकेलिदियो। बाह्रौ सताब्दीतिर जसरी ईस्लामिक सभ्यताले विज्ञान र विकासलाई त्यागेर रुखो धार्मिक चरमपन्थि बाटो अपनायो त्यसरी नै नेपालका शाहावंसिय शासकहरूले पनि आफ्नो शक्ति सन्चय गर्न नेपालबाट ज्ञान विज्ञान र धार्मिक स्वतन्त्रतालाई नष्ट गर्दै हिन्दु धर्मलाई दमनको हतियार बनाई बौद्ध र किराँत धर्मावलम्विहरूलाई आफ्नो वसमा राख्न सफल भए भने ईस्लाम र ईसाई धर्मावलम्विहरूलाई देशद्रोहिको रुपमा स्थापित गर्न सफल भए। यि दुई धर्महरूको प्रभावलाई निष्क्रिय पार्न नेपालले झण्डै २५० वर्षसम्म देशमा ज्ञान र विज्ञानको ज्योति चम्कन दिएन जसको कारण नेपाल आजसम्म विस्व-मानचित्रमा सबै भन्दा पिछडिएका राष्ट्रहरूको सम्मान पाईरहेको छ र यसका शासकहरू यो पिछडापनलाई नै आफ्नो व्यक्तिगत फाइदाको माध्यम बनाईरहेका छन्। धनी र विकसित राष्ट्रहरूको सामु नेपालका शासकहरू “मेरो देश गरिब छ” भन्दै भिक मागिरहेकाछन् र पाएको अनुदानबाट भ्रष्टाचारतन्त्रलाई निरन्तरता दिइरहेकाछन्। विडम्वनाको कुरो; संसारमा जतिपनि धनी र विकसति देशहरू छन्, ति सबै देशहरूमा धार्मिक अतिवाद र अन्धविस्वास भन्दा वैज्ञानिक सोच र तकनिकिले पहिलो स्थान पाएको छ।  चीन जस्तो विशाल देशमा पनि तिब्र विकाश आउनुमा मार्कस्वादको देनलाई इन्कार गर्न मिल्दैन कारण यदि चीनमा धार्मिक अन्धविस्वासलाई विस्थापित नगरिएको भए सायद आज चीन आन्तरिक द्वन्द र भ्रष्टाचारकै भुमरिमा रूमलिरहेको देश हुने थियो होला।  खाडिक्षेत्रका केहि मुलुकहरू धनि भएपनि त्यहाँ मानवविकास आउन सदियौ लाग्नेछ कारण जुनसुकै धर्मलाई पनि जब अतिवादि तरिकाले मानिसमा लादिन्छ त्यसले मानव कल्याण गर्दैन; शासकवर्गको मात्र कल्याण गर्दछ।  

मध्यकालिन यूरोप पनि त्यतिबेला मात्रै मानव कल्याण र विकासको बाटोमा लाग्यो जब उसले आफुमाथि लादिएको धार्मिक अतिवादको जुवालाई भाँच्न सफल भयो।  धर्म जब राजनितिमा मिसिन्छ यसले कहिल्यै पनि मानवताको भलो गर्दैन चाहे त्यो जुनसुकै धर्म किन नहोस। धर्म त मानिस र ईस्वरको सम्वन्धको कुरा हो जसलाई कुनै राज्य वा समुदायले लादेर कायम हुने कुरा होईन। यो त स्वतन्त्र मानव आत्माले चिन्तन मनन् गरेर आफ्नो मनले खाएको मत मतान्तर अपनाउनु; मठ, मन्दीर, मस्जीद, गिर्जा, गुर्द्वारा जानु; भगवान, ईस्वर, परमेश्वर, अल्ला, खुदा भनि पुकार्नु; गिता, ग्रन्थ, कुरान, बाइबल, त्रिपट आदि पढ्नु हो। जब मानिसबाट यो स्वतन्त्रता खोसिन्छ तब त्यसलाई धर्म भन्न मिल्दैन कारण जसले मानिसलाई यो स्वतन्त्र मगज, इच्छा र चाहाना सहित सिर्जना गरेको छ उसले कहिल्यै पनि मानिसको ईच्छा विपरित जबरजस्ति गरिएको पुजा अवस्य चाहाँदैन होला; यदि चाहन्थ्यो भने मानिसलाई पशु भन्दा फरक प्राणीको रूपमा बनाउने आवस्यकता नै थिएन होला।  त्यसकारण धार्मिक अतिबादले मानिसको मानव हुने आधारभुत अधिकारलाई नै हरण गरेको हुन्छ।  

हिन्दु धर्मले विस्वमा आदरणिय स्थान अोगट्न सफल हुनुमा रविन्द्रनाथ ठाकुर जस्ता यसका प्रतिनिधिले आफ्ना अनुयायीहरूलाई दिएको स्वतन्त्राको कारण हो।  “सबै धर्म बराबर हुन्” भन्ने निति जब विस्वका सामु राखियो तब यसलाई संसारमा एउटा उदार धर्मको रुपमा लिईयो र आज सम्म पनि लिइन्छ।  भारत जस्तो माहान विविधताले भरिएको देशमा हिन्दु धर्मको वाहुल्य भएपनि यसले हिँजो सम्म सबै धर्मको सम्मान गर्दै आफ्नो स्थानलाई सम्मानपुर्वक पहिलो स्थानमा राख्दै आऐको थियो तर ति दिन सायद अब गैसकेका छन कारण भारतमा पनि यो माहान धर्म राजनितिको शिकार भैसकेको छ।

एसियाको सबै भन्दा उदार देशको रुपमा चिनिने नेपाल देशमा पनि धर्मलाई फेरि राजनितिमा मिसाईँदैछ; २५० बर्ष अधिको दिनलाई फेरि निम्त्याईँदैछ जसको कारण देश मानव विकास र वैज्ञानिक सोचतिर जानुको सट्टा अन्धविस्वासकै गुफामा धकेलिँदैछ। 

देश विकासका लागि मानव अधिकार र मानव स्वतन्त्रता नभइनहुने तत्व हुन तर धार्मिक अतिवाद र दमनले यिनिहरूलाई फस्टाउन दिँदैन कारण धर्मको राजनितिकरण भगवान वा ईश्वरको लागि नभएर मानिसमा भएको दुष्टतालाई लुकाउन गरिन्छ। नेपालमा पनि गुमेको शक्ति र पतनभएको नैतिकतालाई फेरि हातपार्नको लागि ईसाईकरणको वाहानामा हिन्दु धर्मलाई हतियार बनाईँदै छ।  यदि नेपालको सम्विधानले दिएको धार्मिक स्वतन्त्रतालाई संस्थागत गर्न सके मानव कल्याण र देश विकाशमा ठुलो फड्को पार गर्नसकिने थियो तर देश लुट्न पल्केका नेताहरूले जनताको आँखामा धर्मको छारो हालेर आफ्नो भ्रष्टाचारको दुनो सोझ्याइरहेका छन्; जनताहरू अन्धकारमा तालि बजाईरहेका छन्। यस्तै छ हाम्रो देशको चलन!

Your Leader Sets Your Standard

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We need spiritual leaders and their spiritual covering over our lives.  We need pastors and teachers who inspire us to love God’s word, seek God’s kingdom and righteousness.  We need spiritual leaders who will inspire to hope and have confidence in God’s goodness when we face hardships and difficulties in this world.  We need spiritual leaders whose examples are worthy to emulate in loving God and serving people.  We need spiritual leaders in whose presence you find new level of joy and faith in following the footpath of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you have such leaders in your life? Let me share with you one example.

The other day, one of the senior pastors in the city visited my wife and mother (mother-in-law, but we don’t use the language of in-laws in our family).  My father-in-law was a wonderful man whose heart was for God’s kingdom.  During his life time, he helped many pastors and evangelists with financial assistance so that they could continue to work in God’s kingdom.  In God’s time, few years ago his journey on earth ended.  He came to this city for treatment and within ten days departed from here.  For reasons we cannot discuss here, we could not take his body back to Manipur for the burial; we buried him here with the promise that we will not leave him alone.  In the place he is buried, we shall establish a church that will last till Jesus returns was our promise.

My wife is his eldest daughter but married a Nepalese man outside the sanctity of her tribe!  Now, it is a universal knowledge that every tribe in the world thinks it is the only best tribe in the world!  It takes a great deal of humanity to believe that all men are created equal. 

Thus, this man of God visits the house of a widow who lost her loving husband just a couple of years ago and a daughter who married a Nepalese man; for him, something to despise in itself!  Being the man of God he was; he started to comfort these two women, one a widow and another married to a despicable people in his worldview.  To the widow mother he said something like this; “your husband wasn’t a good looking man, physically he was black and short” (as if physical look is what makes a person and to tell the truth, I haven’t seen as good a looking man as my father in law was in the whole of that tribe!) “and morally he was very proud and violent man” (in reality, he was the kindest man that I had ever known and the whole village that he administered as the chieftain can still testify about his kindred spirit).  His ways of comforting a grieving widow was to say “good ridden, you are a free woman now” and then he turned to my wife.  He said, “if you love your people, divorce your husband and come and live with your people”!  My wife sat there without responding him; the things is, whenever my wife is shocked, she becomes tongue-tied; does not know what to say and he thought he had her convinced to divorce her husband. 

You can imagine the mood in a family where we value each other so dearly, so deeply that brothers, sisters, brother in laws and sister in laws, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousin brothers and sisters of many tribes and people feel so deeply connected as a family under the headship of a man who may be absent physically but is very much alive and present by his spirit and legacy. 

We understand the mind of this man of God and don’t hold any grudge against him for insulting us but we grieve for the people.  If you are a spiritual leader, you need to know whether you have the heart of God for the people or whether you are simply driven by the desire to make a living in this world.  Any spiritual leaders who is in the ministry to make a living in this world will not be able to feed the people spiritually; he will always be talking about the things of the world such as food, clothes, name, fame, reputation, power, prestige and so forth.  Most ministers in this part of the world talk about “sponsorships”!!!  But a spiritual leader will inspire you to seek the things from above and make your life on earth much more temporary so that even if you face hardship, you know it is temporary.  One such great spiritual guide says to his believers, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:1-2).  He knew that when the believers set their minds on earthly things, they will be discouraged and disappointed sooner or later but if they set their minds on the things from above, they will never be discouraged.  After all, our lives here on earth are for a short period of time, it is just the rehearsal for eternity.  Therefore, my brothers and sisters, follow leaders that will inspire you to live for eternity instead of this world.