A civic resurrection

And with all the prayers and noble pledges going around this weekend, it will be helpful for this country if we resurrect our civility and nation- building purpose. In particular, as we have sung, “This our native land, we pledge our lives to thee.” On the contrary, look around, both civility and nation-building have suffered decay, decay that drowned the good that once showed signs of growing.

This is the post-colonial experience.

In fact, economic gains have been gradually misused and abused under pressure from narrowed self-interest and self-preservation.

At this Christian Easter, there is so much hurt and pain around, making you wonder, once again, if prayers would make things better. Even the US President felt moved last Wednesday to conclude: “The world is in a mess.” It would be no surprise today if a lot of people are left wondering if prayers really helps. It is really a test of faith when you see people praying in a church and getting killed by earthquake or flood.

Or when men, professing to be holy, slaughter innocents in God’s name. Closer around, it is also a test of faith when you see no difference between those who ostentatiously go to church - any kind - and those who don’t. Faith in church-going gets shaken. Congregations get diminished.

And this, when for example, you look at the “seven capital vices” written in the Catechism of the Catholic church. Vices that apparently have captured people of all ranks and religions.

These seven vices are “pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth.” Of course, as human beings we are far from being perfect but some of this seven we can more easily control than others. For example - sloth, a result of laziness, and envy, a result of discontentment.

Each of the seven vices has its opposite.

For example, pride’s opposite is humility, gluttony has temperance, sloth has diligence. Now it is always useful, whether at Eid, Divali, Christmas or Easter time, to revisit your holy book – whichever. Your faith and purpose in life may be resurrected.

Some might re-visit, but still with shaky faith, finding the writings too mysterious, mythical, even too contradictory for rational thinking.

Others, well, they believe life begins and ends right down here. Notwithstanding, these holy books – for example, the Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Bible – tell us some things about today’s world too.

Jesus Christ was a revolutionary thinker. And suffered dearly for it.

He opposed the high priests, the rich usurers and the lawyers too. Once, he told the people publicly: “Beware of the scribes which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts.” Hypocrites, Jesus said. He saw rich men “casting their gifts into the treasury,” and at the same time, a “poor widow casting in two mites.” Jesus said: “Of truth, I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all.” (Luke 21: 2-5) Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, he said. On several occasions, he was blistering against lawyers. After chastising the Pharisees, he said: “Woe unto you lawyers, for ye laid men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 12:46).

On a roll, he added: “Woe unto you lawyers for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: and them that were entering, ye hindered.” Pleading the cause of the poor and down-trodden, Jesus condemned the Pharisees and public officials for their vanity, hypocrisy and pomposity.

Lessons for today. I had Religious Knowledge at Cambridge Examinations.

Two favourites from Jesus are the parable of “sower and the seeds” which tells us about self-reliance and development: the other is: “There is nothing from without a man, that entereth into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him those are they that defileth the man.” Such things, he said, are thefts, covetousness, d e c e i t , pride and murders.

All civic t r a n s - gressions in decay, c a l l i n g out for resurrection