Loving Rascal

To Christ-followers, drinking cow urine is a sign of bad hygiene and religious insanity. However, to many North Indian Hindus, it is an act of devotion. Years ago, I visited my uncles in Rajasthan. We went to the temple of Kal Bhairava, our maternal grandfather's favourite deity. My maternal uncles played key roles in the temple management. One day, a sacred act of cow worship caught me off guard. It was early morning. I was the first one, early to rise and early to bed, to wake up. My younger brother was fast asleep. The moment I stepped out of my room, still rubbing my sleepy eyes, I saw my maternal uncle standing behind a cow and collecting its urine. I was stunned.  Then, my uncle drank some of the urine even as he recited some mantras. I felt like throwing up as I saw it, but my mother placed her hand on my shoulders to pacify me. I was angry because he mixed some of the urine in the charn-amrit, the fluid the priests offer people to drink. I stopped drinking it from that day ...

As we celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, let us remember that the most profound and irreversible darkness is death. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world (John 8:12).” Further, he declared, “I am the resurrection and life... He who believes in me will live even if he dies (John 11:25).” The light of the world came to reverse the darkness of death by his resurrection and a promise of future resurrection for all who believe in him. Resurrection is the only known cure for death. Homoeopathy, Allopathy,  or Ayurveda cannot reverse death. Only resurrection can reverse death. Jesus cured death. He also cured hatred with his love. That is why no religion or philosophy has defeated the gospel even after two thousand years of Jesus' advent. Martin Luther King Jr compared love to light and hatred to darkness. He said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  [1]   Love is light. Jesus is that loving ...

When you demean others, it comes back to you in some form, someday. I am not saying it about Donald J. Trump, but about the Nobel Committee. You shouldn't have demeaned a senior man, a president, who has done much for world peace. I know you are insulting him because he, unlike others, openly expressed his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize. However, we, Conservative Christians, now understand that the criterion was never merit. Perhaps the main criterion is the fake outward humility you expect from apparently gentle and humble men. Jesus Christ himself would never qualify for such a Nobel Peace Prize. He proclaimed boldly: I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life (John 14:6). He also said, "Evaluate my works or analyze the words in your books" (John 5:36-41). I am God in a human form. Still, the religious Jews found him arrogant and offensive. I look at Trump's work, not theatrical acts of false humility. Imagine Trump saying, "Oh God, not me, I don't dese...

The Bible, particularly the New Testament, does not promote slavery, nor does it hijack women’s rights. Instead, it sets up a timed bomb to end the rule of power in human relationships and replace it with the power of love.¹ In those times, Roman law had empowered husbands and masters to dominate and subdue wives and slaves. No laws of the Romans or Greeks demanded any behavioural responsibility on the part of husbands and masters. However, the Bible commands husbands to love their wives just as Jesus loves his church. And, how much does Jesus love? He gave his life to offer forgiveness of sins to his bride, the church. Further, the Bible commands masters not to be rude to their slaves. Instead, masters must remember that they, too, have a heavenly master who judges them fairly. On the other hand, wives must respect their husbands, and slaves need to serve sincerely as if they are serving Jesus, not their human masters. Many people give a lopsided presentation of the Biblical truth b...

On Gandhi Jayanti today, let us remember Mahatma Gandhiji and his commitment to Swaraj and Swadeshi. Let's buy Khadi and speak our vernacular languages. Mahatma Gandhi was a pure vegetarian man who spoke Hindi. Gandhiji valued Bharatiya cultural values, such as non-violence and equal rights for all (including animals). Gandhiji was against killing animals (cows) for meat. He opposed alcoholism and drug abuse. M.K. Gandhi fought against caste-based discrimination and wanted all Hindus to have equal access to temples regardless of their caste background. Above all, he advocated for homeopathy. "Hey Ram," his last words reflect the life he lived as a "Maryada Purushottam." His policy of complete honesty, dependence on God, and emphasis on non-violence lived on even after his death. Anger, hatred, and bullets could not destroy his legacy. Many countries—including the colonizer—eventually recognized his valor and value. Gandhiji's non-violent satyagraha movement ...