by Soter D'Souza
Saturday, 19th April 2014
For some Catholic Politicians in Goa their understanding of politics seems to be stuck at ‘Good
Friday’. The Lok Sabha Polls 2014 in Goa which
coincided with the Lenten observances has only exposed this. There continue to
be Catholics who continue to be inspired by Judas Iscariot, the man who
betrayed Jesus and conspired in His arrest by the Romans just for a few silver
coins. Historical narrations tell us that Judas on realisation of the grave
harm he had inflicted on his Lord and Master could just not handle his guilt
and ultimately hanged himself.
With rapid strides in
technological progress and knowledge, the behaviour of these Judases in
politics has become even more complex. Secularism, which is the separation of religion
from politics, gives them that perfect excuse to condone their attempts to
suppress the universal values and ethics in the social and political arena. Its
ultimately their quest for Power and Wealth that puts their politics above
spirituality. They are ever ready to crucify the Truth by bearing false
testimony in favor of those who conspire by proxy to quash religious freedom
in this country.
It is most disgusting to see that
after all the catechesis and value
education that the Catholic Church affords its followers from a very young age
and in an era of technological advancement where information can be acquired by
the click of a button, there yet exist some Catholics, or at least those who choose
to be so for convenience, who ask the Church to clarify what is meant by
‘Secularism’ and ‘Communalism’. Such Catholics often seem to forget that on
receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Faith, it is they who have committed
to their Bishop to share equal responsibility in defending the Church and its
teachings.
In other words, in order that all
members of the Church share the responsibility of bearing witness to the teachings of the Church,
it is required of them to make all efforts to upgrade their knowledge not only in
regards to their faith but also on temporal affairs. Their education in the
Catholic faith does not stop with ‘Good Friday’ where Jesus was repeatedly
asked by the Temporal Authorities to prove that He was really the Son of God. On
that fateful Friday, over 2000 years ago, the enemies of Jesus hired their the
propaganda teams to scream, “Free Barabas and Crucify Jesus!” This Good Friday
2014, it is a bunch of misguided Goan politicians who appear to have become the
propaganda agents on behalf of communal forces to shout that “the Church has no
right to undertake political education of its followers.”
For otherwise shrewd and scheming
Catholic Politicians, it should not have taken them much time to decipher and
understand the ‘Politics of Communalism’ that is fast taking root in this
State. It does not require rocket science to realise who were behind the riots
in Curchorem, Dhang, Godhra and Kandhamal even though those alleged to be
responsible may cry out ‘hang me if I am guilty’ after years of using all State
Power to destroy and suppress evidence and deny justice to the victims. Catholic
politicians particularly have no excuse to claim ignorance of the existence of
political outfits in this country that are affiliated to certain organisations
that actually preach intolerance against minorities and profess the theory
about ‘One Religion, One Culture and One language’. This is not information
concealed under some State Official Secrets Act. It is all available in public
domain for those Catholics who are really interested in being informed on the subject.
So, this Good Friday 2014, let
not Goa’s Catholic politicians imitate the
washing of hands by Pontius Pilate and plead ignorance on the communal agenda
of the very political forces they seek to defend. Let not the fear of losing
their political power and wealth scare them into absolving themselves of their
responsibility and conspire with the fundamentalist forces to prove what is
appropriate and inappropriate behaviour for the Catholic Church. These bunch of
politicians need to move beyond Good Friday, into the Easter of Truth and Life.
They will not succeed in their attempts to separate the Gospel values from
their political lives.
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