This is in response to the article “Lay Participation Down the Ages” that appeared in two successive issues of “The Examiner”, written by Rev Erasto Fernandez SSS. Some may not have read them, and others may not remember. It was about how the Eucharistic celebration evolved over time, with special reference to the role of the laity.
I was thrilled to read the first instalment, as it carried a wealth of information that is not easily accessible to the common lay Catholic. I presume that what Rev Fernandez wrote is common knowledge for our clergy. It therefore makes me wonder who is really responsible for the meaningless and insipid liturgy that most of us experience?
I was amazed to read that the etymological meaning of “liturgy” is “the work of the people”! Etymology apart, this is a cruel joke. Today’s liturgy is in no way the work of the people. It is solely designed and enacted by the clergy, with the people largely being passive spectators. Unless ofcourse reading the lessons and prayers of the faithful, or taking around the collection bag, is considered a high level of lay participation!
Let me run through Rev Fernandez’s pertinent observations on how the Eucharistic liturgy evolved over two millennia. It all began as a family gathering, informal and cordial. Rubrics and legislation later gained prominence, and it became a sacrifice. The table became an altar. An evening meal (supper) became a morning ritual (breakfast, shall we say?). Actual tangible bread became a symbolic wafer. The faithful were now estranged from the distant altar of sacrifice. It became the sacred preserve of the clergy whose role was now emphasised. The place of occurrence became a magnificent and artistic structure, an intricate court ceremonial and a solemn drama. The faithful had a passive role; busy reciting unrelated prayers. The high point became gazing at the sacred host, and not receiving communion. Emphasis was laid on Eucharistic miracles, and on an unhealthy multiplication of Masses, that led to several abuses. What a metamorphous?
This monolithic form remained unchanged for centuries, till Vatican II. Thereafter dialogue and vernacular Masses were introduced, and the priest now faced the people. Despite these far reaching reforms, Rev Fernandez rues that the Mass is still stereotyped and routine, not spontaneous and lively. He concludes by laying the onus on the “faithful”, for not going from the Cenacle to Calvary. He quotes the Prophet Isaiah, “Their worship of me is a human commandment learnt by rote (Is 29:13), for “this people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me” (Ibid).
After tracing the evolution, or should I say grotesque mutation, of the Eucharist over 2000 years; which by Fernandez’s own admission, has been the work of the hierarchy, he now lays the blame on the “faithful”, for what he calls a stereo typed and routine liturgy! Do Fernandez’s charges stick? They merit serious consideration.
One of my favourite punch lines is, “If you have the car’s steering wheel and keys in your hands how do you expect me to drive or deliver? If there is an accident why blame me?” It is more than evident that a hierarchically controlled church and priest-dominated liturgy must accept responsibility for its present morbid state.
Fernandez casually quotes Vat II, that the laity should be active, intelligent and fruitful. So let us examine what the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium) actually says. The introduction sets the tone by calling for reforms and practical norms to be established (SC 3), so it is not just theologising. By so doing, the liturgy will “be given new vigour to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times” (SC 4).
It says “In the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses” (SC 7). “The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the church. Before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and conversion” (SC 9). “In order that the sacred liturgy may produce its full effect, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper disposition, that their thoughts match their words” (SC11). “Pastors must realise that, when the liturgy is celebrated, more is required than the mere observance of the laws governing valid and licit celebration. It is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part knowingly, actively, fruitfully” (SC 11).
The document goes on to say “With zeal and patience pastors must promote the liturgical instruction of the faithful, and also their active participation” (SC19). “The liturgy is made up of unchangeable elements divinely instituted, and elements subject to change. The latter not only may but ought to be changed with the passing of time if features have by chance crept in which are less harmonious … or if existing elements have grown less functional” (SC 21). “Sacred Scripture is of paramount importance in the celebration of the liturgy” (SC 24). The liturgical rites “should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people’s power of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation” (SC 34). “The church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not involve the faith … Rather she respects and fosters the spiritual adornments and gifts of the various races and peoples” (SC 37). All emphases in the above quotes are mine.
Now comes the big question. Why has the hierarchical church not expounded or implemented the teachings of Vat II? Why blame the “faithful”, when the “powerful” have retained their “knowledge advantage” (management terminology) to keep the faithful ignorant and powerless? We have only seen cosmetic changes like bowing instead of the Roman Legionaries’ genuflection; and not the deeper attitudinal changes in the liturgy envisaged by Vat II. A shame.
From Vat II let us go back to our scriptural roots. On the road to Emmaus the two disciples were concerned about what had happened. Jesus joined them, explained the scriptures to them, broke bread and then disappeared (cf Lk 24:13-35). This is one of my favourite episodes in the Bible. See the sequence of events unfolding – concern or informed discussion – Jesus comes – scripture explained – bread broken – Jesus recognised – he disappears! Where? Inside! In the bread he has entered into the disciples. He is incarnated in them, and they are transformed. Amazing grace.
This sequence of events is critical for both the clergy and the “faithful”, for a fruitful liturgy. What is our disposition prior to the liturgy? Does a secularised school principal or social work director suddenly become a spirit-filled pastor when he dons vestments at the altar? What of harried parents and chilled out youth? What do we go to Mass for? How much attention or importance is given to the scripture readings? How much of the Spirit is a pastor able to convey in his Sunday sermon, especially if it is lifted from the net or sermon notes? I sometimes observe the congregation during a sermon. Most are turned off or bored stiff.
We need to again walk the talk to Emmaus. We also need to jettison millennia of extra baggage in the form of meaningless symbols, rituals, and clerical domination. Only then can we hope for a fruitful liturgy with active participation of the “faithful’’. Otherwise we will continue as we have over the ages. We won’t meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Instead of transformation we may just end up merely debating a theological definition like transubstantiation.
* The writer has no theological training. This article is based on self-study only.
JULY 2011
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Friday, 10 June 2011
IF I WERE GOD
This is really pushing one’s luck. Trying to be Pope, the Prime Minister of India or the President of the USA is bad enough. But this is downright insane. Blasphemy. I can almost hear the cries of “Crucify him. Kill him. Stone him to death”.
Fortunately, I am not in Pakistan or in Judea, so I am still alive! India abounds in self-styled God men and women, so what is alarming about trying to play God? Recently Satya Sai Baba passed away. Some years ago when somebody challenged him for styling himself as Bhagwan (God) he had retorted, “You also are God, only you don’t know it”. The challenger became a disciple. Who doesn’t like to be told that he is God?
In India, there is no clarity about God. There are reportedly thousands of Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. So adding a few more now and then is no big deal. Though even here one would need to make a distinction between Iswar/ Parmeshwar, Devta/ Devi and Bhagwan. I am not competent to comment further on the significance of these words. Suffice it to say that whereas Devi, Devta and Bhagwan are extensively used, the term Ishwar or Parmeshwar is sparingly used, and would therefore refer to the one and only Supreme Being.
On the other hand the Semitic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are monotheistic religions, that believe in one God – whether we call this Being El, Elohim, Yahweh or Allah. The root is the same – El. Interestingly the Latin word Deo is similar to the Sanskrit word Dev. I would therefore dare to presume that, except for a few atheists and agnostics including Stephen Hawking, most human beings believe in a Supreme Being, who is commonly referred to as God in the English language.
How one perceives and therefore experiences God differs widely across religions, time and space. Even trying to arrive at a consensus or synthesis could be an impossible task, and I have no pretensions about even attempting it.
Before trying to “play” God, I first need to understand who or what this “god” is. I will limit myself to the Christian experience of God, beginning with the revelation of who or what God is, as experienced by Moses. When on Mount Sinai Moses asks God what is his name, he replies “I am he who is” (Ex 3:13). This is the translation according to the New Jerusalem Bible, which I commonly use. The New King James version has the words “I am who I am”. The Good News Bible also uses the same words. When commissioning Moses God tells him to proclaim that “I am has sent me to you” (Ex 3:14). In the earliest translations from Hebrew, the Greek Septuagint uses the phrase “He who is” while the Latin Vulgate translated by St. Jerome in the 3rd Century AD has the more commonly used “I am who I am” . The original word in Hebrew is Yahweh, which seems to have its etymological roots in the Hebrew verb hawah, which simply means “to be” or to exist . The actual Hebrew word for a divine being, or God is El, or Elohim. In other ancient Semitic languages it is Ilu in Akkadian and Ilah in Arabic. Again there is no etymological root, but the connotation is of a powerful being .
All this sounds confusing. It is actually quite simple. There is no human vocabulary to express the reality of the Supreme Being. Adjectives like Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent (from catechism class) are merely superlatives; attempting to describe that which transcends description. Moses faced just such a predicament, which Yahweh sensed. He therefore changed tack to make it easier for Moses. He switched from deft definitions to personal relationships. This is what he now says to Moses. “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name for all time, and thus am I to be invoked for all generations to come” (Ex 3:15). A definitive statement and a defining moment. A till then abstract being becomes a personal God, for all time. God was now someone to whom human beings could relate.
Way back in 1977, when I was just 26 years of age, I wrote my first book, “The Trinity and Me”. I re-read it while writing this, because it traced the journey from a “Hidden God” to a “Revealed One.” I shall borrow some of those observations.
In the allegorical account of creation in the very beginning we read “Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves… God Created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him” (Gen1: 26-27). However, with the fall and banishment from the Garden of Eden, there is a disconnect between God and Man. You know how it is with your dish TV when there is no transmission because of a “technical problem”. Man is now afraid of this unseen God. This is how is expressed. “But my face you cannot see, for no human being can see me and survive” (Ex 33:20). And again “For what creature of flesh could possibly live after hearing, as we have heard the voice of the living God?” (Deut 5:26). Centuries later Isaiah will lament “Truly you are a God who conceals himself” (Is 45:15).
As Christians we believe that this fearsome, awesome, hidden God is revealed in Jesus, and through his death and resurrection the disconnect (the technical problem) is removed and the transmission (communication) lines are now clear. St. Paul observes, “The message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries has now been revealed to his holy people” (Col 1:26). “In him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness” (Col 2:9). Jesus is also referred to as being a man like us in all things but sin (cf Heb 4:15).
So the God who was earlier hidden, is now revealed in Jesus. Fine. But how do I become God? Sai Baba was not much off the mark. Let us see what some famous spiritual writers say. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “When you hear that the divine majesty is exalted above the heavens… and its nature inaccessible, do not despair of ever beholding what you desire. It is indeed within your reach, you have within yourselves the standard by which to apprehend the divine”. St. Catherine of Sienna, another Doctor of the Church confesses, “Our nature mirrors yours, as your nature mirrors ours” . St. Augustine of Hippo would often say “Help me know thee, help me know me”.
The two sides of the coin therefore are awareness of God as revealed in Jesus, and self-awareness. No doubt this is easier said than done. Who said being God is easy anyway? To be Pope, PM or President one needs to be aware of everything that is happening around. More so for a person who seeks to be God, one needs this third area of awareness, of what is happening now, what happened in the past, and what one may expect of the future.
Here is where I believe that Sai Baba has gone off on a tangent, so I will have to differ. We are not God, nor can we become God, but we can certainly aspire to be connected to God, be inspired by him, and live our lives accordingly. To become God like, let us follow the path of triple awareness – Awareness of God in Jesus, speaking to us through he scriptures; self-awareness through deep soul searching, personal prayer and psycho-analysis; and awareness of the world around us including temporary affairs, history, the environment, etc. A tall order? Obviously. That is why I cannot be God; but by his grace I can try to live a godly life, where my awareness is translated into action, for the good of all, especially that “neighbour” who is most in need of it.
On a lighter plane, I have so often heard people cursing God, especially when things go wrong, or not to their liking. If there is a flood we curse God for destroying our crops, but don’t thank him for enriching the alluvial soil. If it rains we grumble about the bad weather, instead of thanking God for cleansing the air and recharging the ground water. We grumble about the heat in summer, not realizing that without intense heat and a low-pressure area, there can be no monsoon. I have used these common “complaints” against nature, as nature itself is attributed to God. The message is clear. If God (Nature) cannot please all the people all the time, then I would be the biggest fool to attempt to improve on that by trying to be God!
Another common “complaint” against God is that he doesn’t say anything, or tell us what to do. It is the other way around. “Look I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to have a meal that at that person’s side….Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the spirit is saying” (Rev.3:20,22) The problem is not with God, but with us. If we have bolted the room from inside, if the TV is on full blast, or there is a loud argument going on, will we hear the gentle knocking at the door? Since God has given us free will (something Christianity strongly believes in) he respects our freedom. Hence he cannot intervene in our lives without our co-operation. St Ignatius of Loyola, the master of spiritual discernment, says that for the one who is disposed the Holy Spirit comes like a drop of water on a sponge, unnoticed and quickly absorbed. Isn’t that exactly what happened at the Annunciation, the actual Incarnation of God as man? When Mary of Nazareth said a quiet “Yes”, not a leaf quivered or a bird twittered.
Sadhu Sundar Singh, also known as the apostle of the bleeding feet, was once preaching about God’s love, when a heckler in the crowd cried out, But God is so far away”. Sadhuji retorted, “Who moved?” Is God far from us or are we far from him? A simple example will suffice. A mother is sitting behind her infant child. The child cannot see its mother so it cries in fear, for it feels that its mother is far away. Though the reality is that the mother was very much there and close at hand. So let us stop childish complaining against God, and grow up to discover his presence and guidance.
Just like with all the others, I cannot be God, but I shall humbly attempt to be godlike in my awareness and action. I hope that the thoughts that follow in “An Unfinished Symphony” will contribute to that end for its readers. If only…
(All references to God in the masculine gender are only for linguistic purposes, as God enshrines all the qualities of both male and female. As I said at the beginning, human vocabulary is finite and cannot define the infinite)
Fortunately, I am not in Pakistan or in Judea, so I am still alive! India abounds in self-styled God men and women, so what is alarming about trying to play God? Recently Satya Sai Baba passed away. Some years ago when somebody challenged him for styling himself as Bhagwan (God) he had retorted, “You also are God, only you don’t know it”. The challenger became a disciple. Who doesn’t like to be told that he is God?
In India, there is no clarity about God. There are reportedly thousands of Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. So adding a few more now and then is no big deal. Though even here one would need to make a distinction between Iswar/ Parmeshwar, Devta/ Devi and Bhagwan. I am not competent to comment further on the significance of these words. Suffice it to say that whereas Devi, Devta and Bhagwan are extensively used, the term Ishwar or Parmeshwar is sparingly used, and would therefore refer to the one and only Supreme Being.
On the other hand the Semitic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are monotheistic religions, that believe in one God – whether we call this Being El, Elohim, Yahweh or Allah. The root is the same – El. Interestingly the Latin word Deo is similar to the Sanskrit word Dev. I would therefore dare to presume that, except for a few atheists and agnostics including Stephen Hawking, most human beings believe in a Supreme Being, who is commonly referred to as God in the English language.
How one perceives and therefore experiences God differs widely across religions, time and space. Even trying to arrive at a consensus or synthesis could be an impossible task, and I have no pretensions about even attempting it.
Before trying to “play” God, I first need to understand who or what this “god” is. I will limit myself to the Christian experience of God, beginning with the revelation of who or what God is, as experienced by Moses. When on Mount Sinai Moses asks God what is his name, he replies “I am he who is” (Ex 3:13). This is the translation according to the New Jerusalem Bible, which I commonly use. The New King James version has the words “I am who I am”. The Good News Bible also uses the same words. When commissioning Moses God tells him to proclaim that “I am has sent me to you” (Ex 3:14). In the earliest translations from Hebrew, the Greek Septuagint uses the phrase “He who is” while the Latin Vulgate translated by St. Jerome in the 3rd Century AD has the more commonly used “I am who I am” . The original word in Hebrew is Yahweh, which seems to have its etymological roots in the Hebrew verb hawah, which simply means “to be” or to exist . The actual Hebrew word for a divine being, or God is El, or Elohim. In other ancient Semitic languages it is Ilu in Akkadian and Ilah in Arabic. Again there is no etymological root, but the connotation is of a powerful being .
All this sounds confusing. It is actually quite simple. There is no human vocabulary to express the reality of the Supreme Being. Adjectives like Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent (from catechism class) are merely superlatives; attempting to describe that which transcends description. Moses faced just such a predicament, which Yahweh sensed. He therefore changed tack to make it easier for Moses. He switched from deft definitions to personal relationships. This is what he now says to Moses. “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name for all time, and thus am I to be invoked for all generations to come” (Ex 3:15). A definitive statement and a defining moment. A till then abstract being becomes a personal God, for all time. God was now someone to whom human beings could relate.
Way back in 1977, when I was just 26 years of age, I wrote my first book, “The Trinity and Me”. I re-read it while writing this, because it traced the journey from a “Hidden God” to a “Revealed One.” I shall borrow some of those observations.
In the allegorical account of creation in the very beginning we read “Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves… God Created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him” (Gen1: 26-27). However, with the fall and banishment from the Garden of Eden, there is a disconnect between God and Man. You know how it is with your dish TV when there is no transmission because of a “technical problem”. Man is now afraid of this unseen God. This is how is expressed. “But my face you cannot see, for no human being can see me and survive” (Ex 33:20). And again “For what creature of flesh could possibly live after hearing, as we have heard the voice of the living God?” (Deut 5:26). Centuries later Isaiah will lament “Truly you are a God who conceals himself” (Is 45:15).
As Christians we believe that this fearsome, awesome, hidden God is revealed in Jesus, and through his death and resurrection the disconnect (the technical problem) is removed and the transmission (communication) lines are now clear. St. Paul observes, “The message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries has now been revealed to his holy people” (Col 1:26). “In him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness” (Col 2:9). Jesus is also referred to as being a man like us in all things but sin (cf Heb 4:15).
So the God who was earlier hidden, is now revealed in Jesus. Fine. But how do I become God? Sai Baba was not much off the mark. Let us see what some famous spiritual writers say. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “When you hear that the divine majesty is exalted above the heavens… and its nature inaccessible, do not despair of ever beholding what you desire. It is indeed within your reach, you have within yourselves the standard by which to apprehend the divine”. St. Catherine of Sienna, another Doctor of the Church confesses, “Our nature mirrors yours, as your nature mirrors ours” . St. Augustine of Hippo would often say “Help me know thee, help me know me”.
The two sides of the coin therefore are awareness of God as revealed in Jesus, and self-awareness. No doubt this is easier said than done. Who said being God is easy anyway? To be Pope, PM or President one needs to be aware of everything that is happening around. More so for a person who seeks to be God, one needs this third area of awareness, of what is happening now, what happened in the past, and what one may expect of the future.
Here is where I believe that Sai Baba has gone off on a tangent, so I will have to differ. We are not God, nor can we become God, but we can certainly aspire to be connected to God, be inspired by him, and live our lives accordingly. To become God like, let us follow the path of triple awareness – Awareness of God in Jesus, speaking to us through he scriptures; self-awareness through deep soul searching, personal prayer and psycho-analysis; and awareness of the world around us including temporary affairs, history, the environment, etc. A tall order? Obviously. That is why I cannot be God; but by his grace I can try to live a godly life, where my awareness is translated into action, for the good of all, especially that “neighbour” who is most in need of it.
On a lighter plane, I have so often heard people cursing God, especially when things go wrong, or not to their liking. If there is a flood we curse God for destroying our crops, but don’t thank him for enriching the alluvial soil. If it rains we grumble about the bad weather, instead of thanking God for cleansing the air and recharging the ground water. We grumble about the heat in summer, not realizing that without intense heat and a low-pressure area, there can be no monsoon. I have used these common “complaints” against nature, as nature itself is attributed to God. The message is clear. If God (Nature) cannot please all the people all the time, then I would be the biggest fool to attempt to improve on that by trying to be God!
Another common “complaint” against God is that he doesn’t say anything, or tell us what to do. It is the other way around. “Look I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to have a meal that at that person’s side….Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the spirit is saying” (Rev.3:20,22) The problem is not with God, but with us. If we have bolted the room from inside, if the TV is on full blast, or there is a loud argument going on, will we hear the gentle knocking at the door? Since God has given us free will (something Christianity strongly believes in) he respects our freedom. Hence he cannot intervene in our lives without our co-operation. St Ignatius of Loyola, the master of spiritual discernment, says that for the one who is disposed the Holy Spirit comes like a drop of water on a sponge, unnoticed and quickly absorbed. Isn’t that exactly what happened at the Annunciation, the actual Incarnation of God as man? When Mary of Nazareth said a quiet “Yes”, not a leaf quivered or a bird twittered.
Sadhu Sundar Singh, also known as the apostle of the bleeding feet, was once preaching about God’s love, when a heckler in the crowd cried out, But God is so far away”. Sadhuji retorted, “Who moved?” Is God far from us or are we far from him? A simple example will suffice. A mother is sitting behind her infant child. The child cannot see its mother so it cries in fear, for it feels that its mother is far away. Though the reality is that the mother was very much there and close at hand. So let us stop childish complaining against God, and grow up to discover his presence and guidance.
Just like with all the others, I cannot be God, but I shall humbly attempt to be godlike in my awareness and action. I hope that the thoughts that follow in “An Unfinished Symphony” will contribute to that end for its readers. If only…
(All references to God in the masculine gender are only for linguistic purposes, as God enshrines all the qualities of both male and female. As I said at the beginning, human vocabulary is finite and cannot define the infinite)
Friday, 27 May 2011
IF I WERE IN THE WHITE HOUSE (In the sequence of “If I Were the Pope” and “If I Were the Prime Minister”)
A mischievous friend of mine said that if a black man were to enter the White House then pigs would fly, and swine flu (flew)! It is a witty ditty to which I trust nobody will take offence, as none is intended.
Do you know who the S.O.B. in the White House is? This could be offensive. We know what S.O.B. normally stands for, so I need not elaborate. But I am not “normal”, so I have another connotation for S.O.B. It stands for two guys whose names begin with O, where an S is replaced by a B. Got it? Yes I am talking about Obama and Osama. Is a B or an S all that distinguishes the two Os? O stands for something else as well – Oil. That is why I am concerned, and want to enter the White House, though I am neither white nor black, just plain brown.
Mr President, I wish to enter the White House, neither to bomb it, nor to be a fly on the wall to see what Monica Lewinsky did with that cigar; but because what is decided in the White House gravely affects the rest of the world, be they white, black, brown or yellow. Samuel Huntington may call it a “Clash of Civilisations”, but many of us brownies would rather believe that it is a “Clash over Oil”; over which the Middle East (which incidentally is Islamic dominated) seems to have the hegemony. There is a loud whisper worldwide that your country has the largest oil reserves, but you would rather exhaust the oil in the Middle East first, and then dictate terms later when everybody else’s wells have run dry. This isn’t quite cricket (or should I say baseball) Mr President?
Our two countries are purportedly the world’s largest democracies. We should therefore be the best of friends. Yet we look at each other with suspicion, and you Mr President, spare no opportunity to shout yourself hoarse that “the injuns are coming”, but brown not red. There is more to our democracies than our Indian roots. As you have rightly and repeatedly observed, India has emerged as a neo-economic power. What you don’t know is that India is a threat to nobody, least of all the U.S. Why? Because our gigantic economic strides have been consumed by corruption. In your country the order is reversed. You are corrupted by consumption. See how close we are?
Five centuries ago White European settlers were the pioneers on the lonely prairie. Texan cowboys were as tough as their leather stirrups. Prospectors lived and loved for gold. That was long ago. You have now become a soft state like India. Your people are now accustomed to leisure and pleasure. Your wife’s main concern is obesity in children, while the other half of the world starves. Your per capita consumption of oil, food, water and timber is the highest in the world. Do you not also see the irony of the opium fields of Afghanistan being the opiate of the asses (oops masses) in your country? Who should you blame, if not yourselves?
Your children don’t want to study maths. They are happy doing waiters’ jobs in McDonalds or Pizza Hut; something we brownies did not so long ago. The roles have been reversed. Now you feel threatened by the brown and yellow guys.
Mr President, while the rest of the world was embroiled in World War II your people were relatively unscathed. Pearl Harbour was an aberration. Flanked by two vast oceans your country was insulated and isolated from the rest of the world. It made you feel invincible. You thought you were the world’s policeman. You thought that the US was bigger than the UN. You attacked Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. You burnt more than your fingers in Vietnam, while burning children with napalm bombs. You could fire missiles from aircraft carriers to subdue Iraq. In ground fighting, that requires raw courage, your GIs were no match for tenacious freedom fighters. After World War II you entered into a cold war in a bi-polar world. You would dare to say, “Those who are not with us are against us”. Now you face a more complex multi-polar world.
You in the West belong to the First World. We Asian tigers and dragons, whom you once called the third world, are now the Second World. The Third World is the Islamic and oil-rich Middle East, North Africa and Indonesia/ Malaysia thrown in for good measure. The Fourth World is the rest of Africa, Asia, and South America. So you are now confused.
Yes you were insulated and isolated till 9/11 happened. You were then rudely jolted from your reverie. From the reel world of superman and batman you entered the real world. What you now saw scared you. You became paranoid. It is symbolised in the picture of you and your advisors sitting in the White House, waiting to be told that Geronimo was EKIA (enemy killed in action). Mr President, you were slouched in your chair, fear and anxiety written all over your face. Hilary, your Secretary of State, held her hand to her mouth horror-struck, eventhough nobody was striking you.
Mr President, I have never been to America. Unlike you, I was not born there. So I cannot be the President of the USA. But I am a world citizen, so I am concerned, not just for America, but for the world we all inhabit.
Mr President, you once said that if you had a choice of a dinner date, it would be Mahatma Gandhi, eventhough you would not have much to eat. The Father of our Nation once said that there is enough to satisfy man’s need, but not enough to satisfy man’s greed. That goes for every man, American or Indian. But given the reality that you are the biggest per capita consumer, you must seriously consider curtailing greed and consumption, lest you be gradually overtaken by the other three worlds, and be corrupted entirely.
Mr President, some years ago I attended an international meeting in Vienna, Austria, where we visited the headquarters of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. Present was a delegate from the United Kingdom, the empire on which the sun never set, for it was spread throughout the world, and at any given point of time the sun was shining somewhere. This Britisher was now bemoaning the fact that they had lost their car building industry to Japan, their shipbuilding to South Korea, and their doctors to your country, America. The sun had well and truly set. That is why they now went gaga about their son William getting married. At last they had something to cheer about!
Mr President, my wife visited your country, for two months, 15 years ago. She told me that the people of America are very hospitable and friendly. A die-hard communist friend of mine, who happens to be Muslim, and visited his daughter in America, said that your country is the best in the world. A Sikh classmate of mine, whose son has migrated to your country, says that there is no racial discrimination there. This is good news, and a rich heritage that must be preserved.
For that Mr President, I have through this column, entered the White House to humbly whisper to you that you must stop being the world’s policeman, otherwise you will be the biggest threat to world peace. You have no moral right to don that mantle. The days of colonialism and expansionism are over. Tell your wife that the kids are obese because they and their parents consume too much. As I said, you are corrupted by consumption.
Do read the writing on the wall in the White House, written by a fly that fell in my inkpot. If not, history will be witness to who is the S.O.B. in the White House. “God bless America”. No, God bless us all, and keep us in peace.
* The writer is a former National President of the All India Catholic Union
Do you know who the S.O.B. in the White House is? This could be offensive. We know what S.O.B. normally stands for, so I need not elaborate. But I am not “normal”, so I have another connotation for S.O.B. It stands for two guys whose names begin with O, where an S is replaced by a B. Got it? Yes I am talking about Obama and Osama. Is a B or an S all that distinguishes the two Os? O stands for something else as well – Oil. That is why I am concerned, and want to enter the White House, though I am neither white nor black, just plain brown.
Mr President, I wish to enter the White House, neither to bomb it, nor to be a fly on the wall to see what Monica Lewinsky did with that cigar; but because what is decided in the White House gravely affects the rest of the world, be they white, black, brown or yellow. Samuel Huntington may call it a “Clash of Civilisations”, but many of us brownies would rather believe that it is a “Clash over Oil”; over which the Middle East (which incidentally is Islamic dominated) seems to have the hegemony. There is a loud whisper worldwide that your country has the largest oil reserves, but you would rather exhaust the oil in the Middle East first, and then dictate terms later when everybody else’s wells have run dry. This isn’t quite cricket (or should I say baseball) Mr President?
Our two countries are purportedly the world’s largest democracies. We should therefore be the best of friends. Yet we look at each other with suspicion, and you Mr President, spare no opportunity to shout yourself hoarse that “the injuns are coming”, but brown not red. There is more to our democracies than our Indian roots. As you have rightly and repeatedly observed, India has emerged as a neo-economic power. What you don’t know is that India is a threat to nobody, least of all the U.S. Why? Because our gigantic economic strides have been consumed by corruption. In your country the order is reversed. You are corrupted by consumption. See how close we are?
Five centuries ago White European settlers were the pioneers on the lonely prairie. Texan cowboys were as tough as their leather stirrups. Prospectors lived and loved for gold. That was long ago. You have now become a soft state like India. Your people are now accustomed to leisure and pleasure. Your wife’s main concern is obesity in children, while the other half of the world starves. Your per capita consumption of oil, food, water and timber is the highest in the world. Do you not also see the irony of the opium fields of Afghanistan being the opiate of the asses (oops masses) in your country? Who should you blame, if not yourselves?
Your children don’t want to study maths. They are happy doing waiters’ jobs in McDonalds or Pizza Hut; something we brownies did not so long ago. The roles have been reversed. Now you feel threatened by the brown and yellow guys.
Mr President, while the rest of the world was embroiled in World War II your people were relatively unscathed. Pearl Harbour was an aberration. Flanked by two vast oceans your country was insulated and isolated from the rest of the world. It made you feel invincible. You thought you were the world’s policeman. You thought that the US was bigger than the UN. You attacked Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. You burnt more than your fingers in Vietnam, while burning children with napalm bombs. You could fire missiles from aircraft carriers to subdue Iraq. In ground fighting, that requires raw courage, your GIs were no match for tenacious freedom fighters. After World War II you entered into a cold war in a bi-polar world. You would dare to say, “Those who are not with us are against us”. Now you face a more complex multi-polar world.
You in the West belong to the First World. We Asian tigers and dragons, whom you once called the third world, are now the Second World. The Third World is the Islamic and oil-rich Middle East, North Africa and Indonesia/ Malaysia thrown in for good measure. The Fourth World is the rest of Africa, Asia, and South America. So you are now confused.
Yes you were insulated and isolated till 9/11 happened. You were then rudely jolted from your reverie. From the reel world of superman and batman you entered the real world. What you now saw scared you. You became paranoid. It is symbolised in the picture of you and your advisors sitting in the White House, waiting to be told that Geronimo was EKIA (enemy killed in action). Mr President, you were slouched in your chair, fear and anxiety written all over your face. Hilary, your Secretary of State, held her hand to her mouth horror-struck, eventhough nobody was striking you.
Mr President, I have never been to America. Unlike you, I was not born there. So I cannot be the President of the USA. But I am a world citizen, so I am concerned, not just for America, but for the world we all inhabit.
Mr President, you once said that if you had a choice of a dinner date, it would be Mahatma Gandhi, eventhough you would not have much to eat. The Father of our Nation once said that there is enough to satisfy man’s need, but not enough to satisfy man’s greed. That goes for every man, American or Indian. But given the reality that you are the biggest per capita consumer, you must seriously consider curtailing greed and consumption, lest you be gradually overtaken by the other three worlds, and be corrupted entirely.
Mr President, some years ago I attended an international meeting in Vienna, Austria, where we visited the headquarters of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. Present was a delegate from the United Kingdom, the empire on which the sun never set, for it was spread throughout the world, and at any given point of time the sun was shining somewhere. This Britisher was now bemoaning the fact that they had lost their car building industry to Japan, their shipbuilding to South Korea, and their doctors to your country, America. The sun had well and truly set. That is why they now went gaga about their son William getting married. At last they had something to cheer about!
Mr President, my wife visited your country, for two months, 15 years ago. She told me that the people of America are very hospitable and friendly. A die-hard communist friend of mine, who happens to be Muslim, and visited his daughter in America, said that your country is the best in the world. A Sikh classmate of mine, whose son has migrated to your country, says that there is no racial discrimination there. This is good news, and a rich heritage that must be preserved.
For that Mr President, I have through this column, entered the White House to humbly whisper to you that you must stop being the world’s policeman, otherwise you will be the biggest threat to world peace. You have no moral right to don that mantle. The days of colonialism and expansionism are over. Tell your wife that the kids are obese because they and their parents consume too much. As I said, you are corrupted by consumption.
Do read the writing on the wall in the White House, written by a fly that fell in my inkpot. If not, history will be witness to who is the S.O.B. in the White House. “God bless America”. No, God bless us all, and keep us in peace.
* The writer is a former National President of the All India Catholic Union
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