Thinking of Joseph Mani and Pamplanil : Be rational to the core on Sin and Confesstion

 

dr.james kottoor

 

James kottoorBetter late than never!  Let me bring to your kind attention a recent columnist in the CCV, Joseph Mani who is creating a tsunami (not a tempest in a teacup) in the world of Catholic thinking. What is striking is, he is rational to the core. So anyone, endowed with light of reason, can engage with him in the art of discussion for mutual enlightenment.

 

Man is defined as a Rational Animal, animal always, rational sometimes’ (“Animal rationale, animal simper, rationale aliquando”).  Most of us are often led by our gut feelings,  sentiments, religious beliefs, indoctrinated childhood ideas, myths or folklore, dreams of so-called visionaries and an urge to be in the majority to look good, not RIGHT or strictly RATIONAL.

 

 A hot potato in the mouth of the ‘Faith community’  these days is “Sin and Auricular Confession”. Both the Catholic and Orthodox churches need both for their survival. Faith crowds are obsessed and afflicted with the sense of  sin, guilt and would go to any extent or pay any price to get rid of them. That provides an unending worldwide market for the priestly class and godmen of religions to sell them easy to do tricks that make them feel good and respectable before god fearing people, not before GOD if he exists. Many of the rationalists think God doesn’t exist.

 

As I remember reading and noting down, in the earliest literature of the Jewish Rabbis, Jesus was denounced as the illegitimate child of Mary and a sorcerer. Among pagans, the satirist Lucian and philosopher Celsus dismissed Jesus as a scoundrel, but we know of no one in the ancient world who questioned whether Jesus lived ….. The more interesting question – which goes beyond history and objective fact – is whether Jesus died and lived.

 

Biggest Wonder

Image result for images of logical reasoning

In this context it is imperative that each of us learn to stand on his/her feet to improve and learn from the better informed. The biggest wonder in this world is that each individual is unique, matchless and unlike anyone in this world (thumb impression of each one is unique) with a singular beginning and a specific goal to reach, designed by the all intelligent creator. So it is everyone’s duty to do his/her mighty bit or big leap to reach his/her destiny and be happy.

 

Joseph Mani 

JOE-PHOTONo one is asked to do the impossible. All don’t have the time or opportunity to do professional studies. But all can and should use opportunities providence provides for example through CCV and learned persons like Joseph Mani for intellectual and spiritual nourishment. So please find time to read and reflect on what he has to say. He started his début in CCV with his book review BEYOND GODS & SCRIPTURES by  Isaac Gomes (See CCV July 8th 2018) and a commentary on it by Varghese Pamplanil published on July 14, 2018 and a series of articles on  confession and related  topics to this day.

 

Varghese Pamplanil

Varghese PamplanilBy now you all are familiar with Varghese Pamplanil, another rationalist columnist and prolific writer like Joseph Mani, but more forceful, fearless and provoking to make us all think fresh and improve. Pamplanil is now in good company with Mani, to prod us all to climb higher steps of reason and enlightenment.

 

Freedom of Expression

CCV’s declared principle is that of the French philosopher Voltaire: “I will go to death  to defend your right to think, speak and write your convictions, even I may not agree with one bit of what you may have to say.”

 

That is the ultimate limit of freedom of expression. In that process it is possible that some of the statements of one’s convictions may hurt or offend the feelings and sentiments of others. They are to  be taken as hurts one suffer in a friendly foot ball match, not intentionally done to hurt a player in the field. That is how  we should see every honest debate and discussion. This means, ‘frankly speaking’ includes also the right to hurt or offend, of course, NEVER INTENTIONALLY. That is what “living and let living” others ought to mean. No pain, no gain, even in any game.

 

There are many more columnists of CCV about whom we wish to say a word of appreciation as time and opportunity provides. Two at a time is more than what our readers can digest properly.

 

Search a post by date

Another word on how to ferret out or retrieve articles that appeared in the CCV from the very beginning. Please see at the bottom of this CCV page on the right side bottom  the column:  Search Posts by Date, then, August 2018, with all dates of August. Below that is written: July which means, on clicking it all dates of July 2018 will pop up.

 

An Exercise

Once you have the month and date of a particular publication,  you just click, first the desired month and then the date on which your desired article appeared, and it will pop up automatically in a short time. As an experiment or exercise: retrieve the article: BEYOND GODS & SCRIPTURES  in CCV July 8th 2018.

 

To get it, go first to Search Posts by Date at the right hand bottom of the CCV page and click on July. Then all the dates of July will pop up. Then you  click the date July 8 and then BEYOND GODS & SCRIPTURES  will pop up. This is for the benefit of those who are not experts at managing a website on their computers. We request experts to bear with this detailed explanation, for the sake of “Know-nothings” like myself.

 

All that CCV wants to do is to come down to the level of the  least, lost and last in the CATTLE CLASS and help them to come up to the level  well-read and enlightened. We  want to be led by none but that  “crazy”  guy called  THE CARPENER OF NAZARETH (He was also called crazy). We happen to be caught  between the jaws of that  Hound of Heaven.  Also we happen to feel safe and comfortable between his jaws only.   Be Happy and stay Happy.

 

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1 Response

  1. Joseph Mattappally says:

    James, you are different. Thanks to your support, we get more power stations to CCV. Welcome you Joseph Mani sir. Book review on ‘Beyond Gods and Scriptures’ by Isaac Gomes is enough to reveal the potential writer – Joseph Mani. Joseph Pamplani also is an equally voracious reader and writer!

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