I have invariably noted how seriously many Goans take Catholicism not only in Goa but also in the Goan Diaspora. And at a time when Muslim radicals have embarked on angry demonstrations across the world about the Danish cartoon depiction of Prophet Muhammad, I note reactions in the West which have tended to say that, the Muslims take their religion too seriously.
In a largely secular UK, the anger of some current Muslims is seen as rather "over the top" regarding the cartoons. There is also a feeling that the troubles are fomented by people with their own private political agendas. Nevertheless, the media here have emphasised strongly the importance of free peech whilst also emphasising the importance of sensitivity to other people's religious feelings. In the light of my comments above, I wonder how seriously Catholic Goans take their own religion and how sensitive they are to a quote below by a controversial but respected commentator of many years (Julie Burchill), to quality papers like the Times, Independent, and the Guardian? She has invariably been irreverent about religion generally, but now suddenly claims to have a need to take a sabbatical from journalism to study God and theology. Yet, despite her sudden Damascus like conversion to Christianity, she has been particularly critical of Catholicism. She has, like many others, deemed it to be strongly and unnecessarily based on a guilt complex among its adherents. On January 24, 2004, in the Times Newspaper, she said, "Even before the current plague of Papist paedophilia became public knowledge, I was instinctively repelled by the idea of Catholicism--usually the religion of choice for over- worldly writers who have come to believe that too much knowledge is a bad thing. It has always struck me as an incredibly dirty-minded religion, seeing sex everywhere instead of just the few places where sex created by God, of course, actually is." Clearly, this post is likely to set the cat among the pigeons but generate useful commentary and controversy on Goanet. Hopefully however, there will be sober and reasoned responses which deal specifically with ideas rather than with personal attacks. Hopefully too, the Archbishop of Goa and his entourage, with their own website, will also engage in this wished for debate on Goanet. Cornel DaCosta, London, UK.
