I have been a member of Goanet.org for some time now - and read some of the material posted from time to time.
When we dare to talk about the Novel Covid-19 pandemic - we must have the empirical data. We cannot and should not mix faith with science and think that anything good will come from such deliberations. The Novel COVID-19 is being addressed by scientists, doctors, nurses, and other medical experts as best they can. Here in the United States the millions of vaccines administered have shown positive results - in the midst of surges - in some areas. This pandemic that strikes one every hundred years - has challenged us all as human beings. In many areas all over the word - lack of information, ignorance, superstition - and plain argonance - has played havoc. It is shocking to hear what is happening in India - millions adversely impacted, poor health facilities, thousands dying daily - the many pyres lit - the utter pandemonic to give loved ones what they deserve according to Hindu traditions. When we talk about God - some higher power - we take a leap of faith. It is not for anyone to adjudicate what goes in the mind, and what really so many are feeling, deep emotions, and pandemonious reigning supreme - in most cases. If we are educated on issues - we must uplift one another and that comes from empathy as opposed to compassion. When we say we speak some languages - or are a linguist - we must understand the etymology or science of words. Intelligent people do not ramble too much - we must be succinct - and we must also accommodate those human beings - homo sapiens - that need help at many levels. I have studied Philosophy and Theology - but also have mastered many other fields - here in the United States. Even as millions are vaccinated in the United States after some initial blunders by the previous Administration - we are cognizant of the facts - are united, have a blue print - how, we can move forward quickly and find solutions. More, when we see the best interests of each other. Here is San Francisco many of us advocates act - and have proved that our digital expertise, organizing skills, ability to communicate in many languages, find different models - to serve essential workers, the Elders, more, those that are vulnerable. We have made great strides - and daily work hard to serve all with humility. It pays when you have an enlightened and educated constituency - it pays to have resources - it pays to be humble and the experience to think outside the box. We cannot compare India with its very large population - wide disparity from State to State - and lacking help in many areas: hospitals, transportation, communication, qualified skills in logistics, safety, and so on. This reply is not to confront anyone - I lived in Goa - I studied with the Jesuits - I know what I am talking about. India can deliver - we need good leadership - we also can see clearly - that we must be united - and stop being arrogant - the current Prime Minister - the one political party - that has failed India. God bless India - Bharat - God bless Goa - the Budhist monks once made their home in Goa - we have a long, sound tradition. Goans are all over the world - stand tall and represent. My grandfather witnessed and survived a pandemic in Goa - that plagued havoc - in many areas - hundreds of years ago. Today, Goa is poised without resources - even as the United States will help Goa and other areas. India has the ability to produce millions of vaccines - linked to one of kind agreements when it come to manufacturing, Some of us weeks ago - have initiated petitions - to allow India and other Nations - who have these proprietary - with many restrictions - to permit the Nation of origin in this case India - to make millions of vaccines available to any Nation facing an emergency. The World Health Organization is on board - President Joe Biden and his team - agree - we must help the most vulnerable. Francisco Da Costa Director Environmental Justice Advocacy On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 5:02 AM Pratap Naik <[email protected]> wrote: > The origin and solution to Covid-19 > > These days the entire world is under the grip of pandemic Covid-19. There > are any number of videos, articles, comments from persons of various fields > on Covid-19. Various hypotheses are presented regarding its origin, > spreading, treatment, how to remain safe, what to do and what not to do. At > times these hypotheses are contradicting and confusing. Which are true and > which are false, who will tell us the truth? At present governments blame > people, people hold governments responsible. The game of blaming others is > going on. Some are sending prayer requests for their relatives and friends > who are affected by Covid-19. Some recommend prayers and fasting so that > God may stop this pandemic. Simple folk believe that this pandemic is a > punishment or curse sent by God and therefore only he can deliver us from > it. Some ask, “If there is a God why is he silent? Why can’t he see the > pain and agony of helpless people?” Thousands of questions are raised and > will continue to be raised. No solutions or satisfactory answers. We are > all lost in this tsunami of Covid-19. > I am not a biomedical scientist, or doctor of medicine or from the field of > medicine and health care. I am a linguist. Hence, I cannot talk about the > cause and cure of Covid-19. In linguistics we use terms, surface structure > and deep structure. Rules of transformation change deep structure into > surface structure. From the surface structure, we discover the deep > structure. Using this principle of linguistics, as a Catholic and Jesuit > priest, I tried to discover the deep structure of covid-19 in the Book of > Genesis, chapters 1 and 2 of the Bible. These two chapters narrate how God > created everything including humans using stories. The authors are not > making historical or scientific facts. They are presenting faith statements > based on their reflections, experience and knowledge. There are two > accounts of creation. The Priestly account of creation is in Genesis > 1:1-2:4a and the Yahwist account of creation is in 2.4b-25. According to > the priestly account, after creating everything, on the sixth day God > created man and woman in his own image and likeness. God saw everything > that he had made, and behold, it was very good. God blessed man and woman > and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue > it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the > sky, and over every living creature that moves on the earth.” God gave > plants, birds, fishes and animals as food for them. Man was appointed as > God’s administrator. This subduing does not mean exploitation of the > environment by industry, technology, etc. Rather, it means that man has to > overcome every sign of the chaotic forces in various spheres of life, and > lead this world towards its God appointed destiny. > According to the Yahwist account God created earth and heavens, there was > no one to work on the ground. Hence God created man. Later he created > plants and animals. He placed man in the garden of Eden to till it and take > care of it. God commanded the man saying, “You may surely eat of every tree > of the garden, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not > eat, for the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Since man was > alone, God then created woman from his rib. The expression “to till the > earth and take care of it (2:15)” need not be restricted only to farming. > It includes every human endeavour to harness the world’s latent energies, > be they material, cultural or spiritual. Man has to help and guide the > world to evolve towards its God appointed perfection. As the story of man’s > life on earth unfolds in the following chapters of Genesis, sin makes its > appearance and seriously impairs the relationship of love and trust between > Adam (man) and Adamah (earth). > Every creature, except we humans, lives by God given instinct to it. > Therefore, no creature really destroys the earth. They live as per God’s > plan and in harmony with nature. God gave human persons the power of > knowledge and free will to choose. Therefore, they filled themselves with > arrogance, pride and all forms of vices and negativity. They exploited the > earth and other creatures for their greed and pleasure. Ten thousand years > ago or even prior to that human persons lived in harmony with nature. There > were no skyscrapers, multistory buildings, aeroplanes, railways, steamers, > vehicles, large bridges, electricity, nuclear energy, industry, factories, > modern gadgets, large cities, smart cities, mining, bombs, rockets, and > modern war equipment, pesticide, plastic, production of chemicals, garbage, > etc. Life was really simple. Mostly people lived in villages and forest > areas. They breathed fresh air, worked in fields. Agriculture was the > dominant occupation. Hunting was done exclusively for food. They ate fresh > food, drank water from the streams or well and used herbal medicines. They > lived in harmony with their tribe and the earth. Since they worked hard, > their life span was short. In Konknni there is a saying, “Satt søt’tør, > fondda bhitør” (sixty or seventy years, time to go to the grave). Such > people do exist even now in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, the Rainforest > of Congo in Central Africa, in certain islands of Andaman and Nicobar > Islands. We label them as “savage, barbarians, uncivilized, uncultured” > people. In India those who live in the forest and hilly areas are labelled > as Adivasis or tribals. They used the forest products for their survival > only and not for the accumulation of wealth by destroying forests, hills, > and rivers. > We who call ourselves as “civilized and modern” instead of creating smart > villages, created congested overpopulated cities. Our “civilized and > modern” life has inflicted unbearable wounds on the earth which sustains > us. We forgot the master plan of our creator for us. We disobeyed him. We > thought that we could be smarter than him and live ignoring his > commandments. After exploiting the earth, now we want to explore and > exploit the moon and other planets. We want to control the universe and > planning to become immortal. God must be repenting now for creating the > human race and moreover giving humans the free will and intelligence to > discover new things. And now we have to pay the heavy price for our own > sins of exploitation ignoring God’s divine master plan for us and the > universe. We have not learned lessons from history. Wherever there was > congestion of people, there were epidemics. The entire humankind is > responsible for the past, present and future viruses and pandemics. > Covid-19 is the byproduct of our misused intelligence. It is a man-made > disaster and not a divine punishment. Covid-19 might come under control in > near future but it has come here to remain like Malaria, Dengue, and > several other fevers, Tuberculosis, Cancer, Pneumonia, Polio, HIV virus, > and other diseases. Many more new viruses will emerge and cause new > diseases in the near future. Jesus had warned his disciples saying, > “Nations will fight one another and kingdom oppose kingdom. There will be > great earthquakes and, in many places, famines and plagues.” (Gospel of > Luke 21:10-11). What happens if the humans disappear from the earth? Will > there be any loss. Surely not, on the contrary the earth will bloom and > flourish. > There are no instant and short-term solutions for all our problems > including Covid-19. What I suggest might seem like a madman’s madness. But > I am convinced based on my life experience in my own village till I joined > the Jesuits to become a priest. I joined in 1971 after completing my B.Sc. > At home we had no electricity, phone, gas, or any modern gadgets, except a > small transistor and alarm clock. We cooked and ate fresh vegetables, fish > and meat at home. In our nourishing diet there was no processed food, or > artificial drinks. We ate fresh fruits and drank fresh fruit juice. Milk, > curd, buttermilk, ghee was prepared at home. We used earthen vessels for > cooking, using exclusively firewood. We cultivated vegetables and fruit > bearing trees. We drank water from our own well. Besides studies, I have to > do manual work in our property including plucking coconuts and other > fruits. Life was simple, tough but enjoyable and healthy. We lived by our > basic needs and not by greed. There was no pollution, no industry, no > multistory buildings in my village. We had not even one MBBS doctor in our > village. For common ailments home remedies and herbal medicines were used. > In our village there was Dr. S.V. Pai an Ayurvedic doctor but was > prescribing allopathic medicines. There were two medical compounders. They > fulfilled the role of doctors. My mother gave birth to her seven children > at home with the help of local women. We lived in harmony with nature. Our > movements outside the village were restricted. Because our basic needs were > met in the village and at the taluka town. After joining the Jesuits in > 1973 for the first time I went to our district headquarter Mangaluru and > stayed with the Jesuits of St. Aloysius College!!! > To save the earth and ourselves we have to abandon the cities and create > new villages and go back to agriculture, horticulture and animal rearing > occupation. Let us fill this earth with native trees and plants, instead of > erecting concrete structures. In short let us go back to ten thousand years > in history and live like our ancestors. Sounds crazy and stupid. Yes, I am > convinced of this. Thank God there are a few people who live this way. In > North America and Canada Orthodox Mennonites advocate high moral standards > and have many restrictions on technology. They live with no electricity, > telephones, gas, automobiles or computerized technologies. They use horses > instead of tractors. They live as a community. > Last week Mr Amit Wagle, a member of my WhatsApp group sent me a video of a > lady living in a forest area. I was overwhelmed by seeing it. I am sharing > it with you on WhatsApp. I am also sharing with you another video " What > happens if all humans die" by Jaggi Vasudev, popularly known as Sadhuguru. > If God gives me another life, I will live in a forest among the animals > without confining them to cages. I will live to fulfill God’s masterplan, > “to till the earth and take care of it”. Sounds utterly crazy. It is better > to live a “crazy” life than to destroy the earth and ourselves with endless > viruses. > Pratapananda Naik,sj > 14th May 2021 >
