On 24/07/07, Bhandare <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I had heard a lot about missionaries ..but only when i > attended some retreats here,read their publications, > and actually heard evangelical preachers preach, > befriended them and heard them out did I finally > realise what the real story was.
Are you sure your US evangelical preachers compare with 21st century Catholicism in Goa? I have grown up with an arrogant Church in the 'sixties and 'seventies. It has changed unrecognisably since. The other day, when I went to Church for my daughter's communion, I was pleasantly surprised to see the way the changes had worked out. It was the long-neglected and hitherto badly-treated "lower castes" who were most active in the Church ... and why not? Women were playing an increasing role too, though effective power is far from being devolved to them. In my younger days, I couldn't imagine altar-girls serve mass and nuns hand out communion. There's still a long way to go though... In the 'eighties, organisations like the All India Catholic Universities' Federation (controlled by the Jesuits, but facing a student challenge, which even led, if one recalls rightly, to a Hindu student being elected as president -- and not just a token one -- at one stage) taught me lessons in tolerance towards others religious views (not to communalism though, of whatever brand!). Before that, in my late teens itself, I was already undergoing what religious people would call a "crisis of faith". I still live in a world beyond religious beliefs, and am still very comfortable with that. It pushes me beyond easy formulas and solutions. It challenges one into understanding other points of views. Unlike others, like my friend and ex-neighbour Kevin, I however try to generally not offend the religious views of others. Religion is beyond logic and Science; everyone has their right to hold their own views on it. I think you're another of those expats, who likes the glitz, glamour and opportunity of the US, but finds it difficult to stomach the religious bigotry and intolerance which goes along with it. Maybe those of us who belong to a Western-influence religions tradition don't perceive it so strongly. But I can understand what you feel, and empathise with you. The solution, of course, is hardly to offend other peoples' religious views. (In the early 'nineites, I spent three months on scholarship in West Berlin and my closest friend was a Muslim from the Maldives, encountering the arrogance of West European Christendom and its preachers who jumped to conclusions about *his* religion, and how he needed 'salvation'! It was a very traumatic time for him too, to put it mildly, as I learnt when he confided in me.) Peace to you. I hope you overcome the sense of hurt that anyone might have caused to you, and grow to appreciate deeper the implications of some of the stands you're taking. --FN -- Frederick Noronha Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P: +91-832-2409490 M: +91-9970157402 Yahoo: fredericknoronha Skype: fredericknoronha GTalk: fredericknoronha 784, Sonarbhat, Near Lourdes Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/attachments/20070724/5137a37c/attachment.htm
