Currently politicians and religious leaders try to broker the good society and the Kingdom of God. They, blind as they are, trying to lead us to the Promised Land. They are bound to fail as they are lost in their own arrogant ignorance and double-talk, and wander in the barren desert of their own hypocrisy. So it is time to be assertive, take back the trust reposed in these leaders, and lead ourselves in the light that we have. At this point we have nothing to lose but our own chains, indolence, ennui, and insecurity. We need to come to the realization that we know what is good for us more than they do, and that we do not need these mediators and exploiting middle men and women to arrive at where we need to go. The sad reality is that these leaders block the road.
They themselves do not go and will not let others go. They do not know what is good for them and others. Otherwise they will not be doing what they are doing. The utterly condemnable phenomenon of politicians declaring strikes (hartal) at their whims in Kerala is unimaginable in a civilized, democratic society. These politicians encouraging anti-social activities represent only evil as they suppress freedom and violate human rights. Who is safe when the Chief Minister of Kerala cannot travel in his state without being attacked and injured in broad daylight? What about a parish priest condoning or encouraging violence toward innocent persons who have been only doing well for the community? What about Hindu-Muslim pogrom encouraged and supported by religious and political leaders?
Before we can take over the reins of our own lives, we ourselves need to be armed with a strong value system and a solidly formed conscience. A good value system should comprise truth, justice, fairness, equality, and respect for others and their rights. The Golden Rule of ‘Doing to others what we like others to do to us’ is an excellent summary of a good value system. Our conscience is our light and guide in all situations if we scrupulously and uncompromisingly follow it. Even when we go wrong in anything, our faithfulness to our conscience and our sincerity in following it will come to our rescue, and save us ultimately.
This is no small consolation. This also shows our God or the Universal Energy has provided us with all that we need to negotiate the bad and hostile terrain of this world. For humanity to survive and reach its desired goal, we need to re-order our priorities. Currently we are devoting almost all our energy to acquire material wealth. We spare no sacrifice for our material advancement. We need to devote time and energy to our spiritual and mental health. We cannot have physical well-being without spiritual and emotional well-being. We also need to look at humanity from a humanistic perspective wherein humans are responsible for the consequences of their decisions they make in freedom.
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