SRI LANKA KILLINGS – PRESS RELEASE FROM INDIAN CATHOLIC FORUM

 

 

 

 INDIAN CATHOLIC FORUM

(A collective of concerned Indian Catholics for Church Reform & National Integration)

Office: 30A Mahendra Roy Lane, First Floor,

Kolkata – 700046

Convenor: chhotebhai (Kanpur) 9415130822, noronha.kp@gmail.com

Secretary General: Isaac Gomes (Kolkata) 9830440603, isaac25gomes@gmail.com

 

SRI LANKA KILLINGS

 

14th May 2019

 

The Indian Catholic Forum (ICF) expresses deep shock and dismay at the ongoing attacks on places of worship and worshippers in Sri Lanka. Be it there, New Zealand, Pakistan, Burkina Faso (West Africa) or any other part of the world, attacking “others” in the name of religion cannot be justified in any way. This is not true religion, and is certainly not pleasing to God. Revenge, spreading hatred, arson, violence and killing is not the solution to any problems.

 

The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had rightly said that if we go by the dictum of “An eye for an eye”, then the time will soon come when all will be blind. So let us not be blinded by hatred; instead let all persons of goodwill pledge to maintain communal harmony, peace, brotherhood and non-violence.

 

chhotebhai

Convenor 

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8 Responses

  1. chhotebhai says:

    The Catholic Church in particular has strongly upheld the belief in FREE WILL. That is, we determine our own acts. This true of Jesus himself, the true man, who chose to do what he did, while also doing the will of his father. If God were to do everything we would be mere puppets on a string. God is love, and in love there is freedom. The classic case is the parable of the Prodigal Son.

    Truth is never unidimensional, it is multifaceted, so there will always be an inyerplay between free will and divine influence.

    • George Nedumparambil says:

      The concept of free will is understandable only if the consequences are entirely borne by the person exercising the will.  Unfortunately that would not apply to mass murderers.  If the victims knew that they were  going to be bombed they would have vacated World Trade Centre and so would have the worshippers at Sri Lankan churches –  they would have run for their life.  A thinking new generation needs a god that acts proactively. Already youngsters in developed countries have stopped going to church. It is only a matter of time it catches up in other areas.  It will be slow in coming for Muslims in comparison to Christians but in Kerala we have a good number of Muslim free thinkers who question their faith,  put videos up on YouTube and organise well-attended seminars.  Free and logical thinking are fast catching up and it will be speeded up with more and more terrorists going on killing spree.  That is why I had mentioned that god will be the ultimate victim of terrorism. It was least of my intentions to get into a debate.

  2. George Nedumparambil says:

    Thanks you chhotebhai for your response which, I believe, tracks the spiritual approach to defending god.  Doesn't unfortunately address practical side of a human attitude.  If things go right all credit goes to god.  "God Saved Us" would have been the Sri Lankan chorus if human bomb had gone off with nobody dying.  I am not saying people should sing "God allowed the killing".  I am saying god has to get to be proactive.  Today's generation needs such a god and they are not going to buy any explanation.  Therefore continueed attacks will ultimately end up in affecting belief and faith in god.  It is not likely that God will act as he did to people of old testament times but why put youngsters to start doubting god.  This is the point that terrorists must understand. 

  3. Denis Daniel says:

    Sorry, Chhotebhai.

  4. chhotebhai says:

    Divine intervention in the lives of people or natural phenomenon is a delicate matter for which there are no simplistic answers. Man cannot blame God for his own foolish acts. Unfortunately, dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is. So too, billions of people living in peace is not news, but a few terrorists killing others is big news and taken as a failure of God. We need a more holistic approach in understanding the mysteries of life, death and suffering.

  5. chhotebhai says:

    The first press release was done on 22nd April. This is the second one after retaliatory attacks by Christians on Muslims the day before. It isa niot late by any standards.

  6. Denis Daniel says:

    The press release comes a wee bit late.

  7. George Nedumparambil says:

    Ultimate victim will be god himself as people will begin to question the power of god.  If god lets  attacks against one community to take place unchallenged and counter attack on the attackers also end up challenged by any sort of divine intervention  then the relevance of god to protect the living comes into scrutiny.  So, people who kill in the name of god must realise that they are the biggest enemy of god than the aethists.  

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