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In an e-Adda held this week, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh spoke on why he changed his mind to contest the next elections, the new farm laws and the crisis in the Congress leadership
Singh was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor
On contesting elections again
Before the election, I had said that this was going to be my last, but it’s not going to be my last term, till I can get Punjab out of the woods, which I think is my duty. And not only my duty, it’s also my love for my state. I resigned twice from the Parliament to be with my state. I have been in politics for 52 years and I take a lot of interest in doing what I can to pull us out of this mess – whether it’s the industrial mess or agricultural mess. If I can even do a little bit, it will be my contribution. So, I intend to stay on, and I intend to fight it and I intend to win it.
When I came, we didn’t have all the facts in front of us. For instance, our finances were in a terrible mess. What the Centre should be contributing to us in the food bill, for instance, they rather added Rs 31,000 crore to it, and our previous government (SAD-BJP government), instead of opposing it, accepted it as a loan. So, my debt has been going up and up. Secondly, they had no industrial policy. In the last two-three years, I have brought in Rs 71,000 crore of industrial investment. And it is important for us to see it through to the top and that it makes its contribution. Agriculture-wise, we’ve done a great job; this year has been a record harvest (wheat and paddy). So everywhere, it seems to be working, but you need time, everything needs time. And I need that time to be able to really say that I have now got to hang up my boots.
On the farm bills
We have a system in Punjab which has worked for 100 years, which is the arhtiya system, where the commission agents are there, farmers are there, and they have a relationship between them. The farmer always goes to the arhtiya men and takes whatever advance he needs – for a wedding, health emergency or other problems. So, it’s a system that has worked. Why are you messing around with this system? Second, when Punjab has contributed since 1967, we’re two percent, and we contribute 40 percent to the nation’s food pool, when you make laws, you must consult the people who are in this. Now in this case, we were not consulted at all, not that we would have agreed to what they wanted us to agree to like they’ve done now, but we have a right to put our views there, and maybe they would have thought our views were correct. Now, they move three farm laws, that have been totally rejected by everybody. In my House, I was the first to bring a bill. And, for the first time, there was unanimity among all parties, and we amended the national Bills, and took it to the Governor so that he could send to the President for his assent. When you take the stakeholders into conference, you must take every stakeholder. I’m the biggest producer and contribute to the food pool, and I’m not even in the discussion stage. I had to write to the Prime Minister in this regard. By that time, they had had a meeting and decided on the policy. Then, after the Prime Minister put Punjab on the board, there was no policy discussed, it was just some financial matter and then they were told: now go back home, the government has taken a decision. That’s not the way you decide on such major issues.
On where the farmers’ protests are headed
I had one farmer union that opted out, then you have two farmers’ unions (Bharatiya Kisan Union), Rajewal and Lakhowal, which belongs to the Badal group. And then there are other groups from various parts, but basically from southern Punjab, which has traditionally had this sort of farmers’ movement – be it the Muzara (tenant-farmers) movement or the Naxal movement or the Khalistani movement – some movement always dominates. So, that is again coming to the forefront. And these farmers are backed by everybody in Punjab. I’ve got 13,000 villages, and every village has contributed. Even today, I saw in the morning papers that a whole lot of people are preparing to go to Singhu border. They’re all sitting there, youngsters are all out in the fields. The others are all sitting there, their mothers are sitting there, children are sitting there. Why? Because they realise that if they are seeing something happen, it’s going to be the end of the farming community’s lucrativeness in Punjab. Why can’t you just allow things to carry on? I don’t understand why the government has been so rigid about this. You have amended the Constitution of India how many times – 111 or 112 – I don’t know how many times. If you withdraw these Bills once, sit with the farmer community and ask them, ‘all right, we withdraw this, now please tell us what do you want. What is wrong with this and what do you want us to replace?’ And then come to some suggestion and do it but here this fait accompli business that you just throw it on somebody and say, it’s done, they are not going to agree. I can tell you that the government may not agree, they’ve talked 12 times, they may talk 15 times in a row or 20 times, that’s not the issue. The issue is unless you can convince the farmer that what we are doing is in his larger interest, only then will he come back. Who are the farmers? I’ve got 13,000 villages, I’ve got nearly 200,000 servicemen who are wearing uniforms, I’ve got people who are maybe even the same number who have retired from the Army, like myself, they are also living in their villages. So if you add up, there are about 30-40 people from the services sitting in the villages. I bet you, at the Singhu border and the other one (Tikri), there would be a whole lot of Army, if you talk to them, every third one will say, I’m ex-Army. So, my point of saying this is that it’s not a Naxal movement as people make it out to be. The fact is that they are people who are looking to the future of their families, and they see a bleak future, that is why they’re doing it.
On whether a middle path is still possible
Well, I have said this before, and I say it again, and the farmers didn’t like it when I said it, but I say it again, that every battle, every war has to end in an agreement, whether it was World War I or II, whether in corporate disagreements or anywhere. So, you have to sit down, you sit down and resolve it. And it is for the government to come to that because they are the ones who created the Bill. And if you sit with them again and continue, and they get the impression that yes, the government is being serious about it, I’m sure you’ll find some solution.
On whether a political calculation is inhibiting the outreach from the Centre
Why just Punjab, you’ve got people from Uttarakhand, UP, Rajasthan and Haryana. When Haryana tried to block the bridge, they picked up all these cranes and threw them over the bridge. Now Punjab is not doing these things. Yes, they wanted me to stop the people from moving, and I said, I can’t, it’s a constitutional right of everyone to go and protest. And if any of my farmers or anybody wishes to go and protest in front of the Capital, they have every right to do so, I’m not going to stop anybody. I believe that we have a Constitution. And I believe that every farmer has the right under that Constitution to say what he wishes to say to his government who’s in power, and the power centre is Delhi, so, they want to go and make their point clear there. And it is Delhi who should sit down and talk to them. Among my farmers from Punjab, 112 have died, till yesterday, I don’t know how many have died from other states. I have given each one Rs 5 lakh, and one of their children I’m taking into government job. So, I know what sort of things are happening here, and how long do you want this to carry on and how many more people do we want to die?
On whether the status quo is sustainable
It’s not a question of status quo. Yes, there is a problem, our glaciers are melting, our river waters are falling, our groundwater is falling, we have to have a change. I became agriculture minister of the state in 1985. And then, I was the agricultural minister of the state from 2002 to 07. When I was the chief minister, I retained that portfolio. Today again, for the last four years, I’ve retained the portfolio, because that is my love, my subject. And I have always maintained this. Now, what is required is diversification. You have to get out of high water-requirement crops like paddy, for instance. Now paddy gives the farmer a very lucrative price. If you want to change it, you have to change the cropping pattern and then you want to arrange a system where the farmer can be assured that this is the price he’s going to get. Now, under the system which exists, the MSP system which is supported by the Food Corporation of India, for both wheat and rice, every farmer knows what he’s going to get. But he doesn’t know what he’s going to get for dal, or for some other crop like maize, etc. They announced support prices but they don’t support it. Now you got to support that. That’s the way we can change it. But I know our principal problem is water. When I was posted for the first time on the Chinese border in 1963, I remember glaciers there, which you couldn’t cross because you had hobnailed boots, and you could slip off, it was black ice all over the place. And I went there some years ago to revive old memories, and there was no glacier, it’s only rock. So, everything is disappearing. So, we know that is happening. And water here, when my father built his house in Patiala, the groundwater was 17 feet, now it’s 350 feet. How is my little farmer who owns one-two acres of land, going to put a tubewell to pump that water? He can’t. The cost of a tubewell for 350 feet will be something like Rs 2.5-3 lakh. That way, I’m in a crisis. River water is in a crisis. So, we have to come to an understanding where the Centre must wake up and tell us that yes, you come up with a proposal for diversification, we’ll back it. Then I can try and get the farmer off those water-intensive crops like sugarcane and paddy. But first, we have to start with some sort of confidence-building measures between our Punjab farmers and the Government of India.
On what the government can do to fix the ecological and economic problem
It’s difficult for me to say because the farmers have very clearly said that we want politicians to be off. So, we have never interfered, I don’t interfere other than ensuring that nobody blocks the road, if they want to go and come, they are free to do so, because that’s our right. So, for me to suggest something that what can possibly bring about some settlement would be encroaching on their territory. And I don’t want to encroach on their territory when they’ve clearly told us to stay out.
On whether the challenge for political parties is to win back people’s trust
As far as the farmer is concerned, they are not representing any particular community. You have Congressmen there, you have Akalis there, you have AAP people there, you have communists there, you have everybody there, it’s across the board. Nobody is making political speeches; they are only talking about agriculture and whatever they want from the Government of India. So, I don’t think that is going to be a problem. Apart from farmers, there’s so many things which we have done. And people are responding to that. Have you ever heard of a situation, for instance, that from a time when children were leaving government schools and going to private schools, the process has reversed? I’m now getting more people from the private schools into government schools, because we’ve got smart schools, we’ve got very good education at this time. The results in Class X have been better than private schools. Now, these are the sort of things that people look at. Then, we are putting wellness clinics in all our villages, there’s so many things going on. So, people are not going to just look at this. This is farmers versus GoI and here it is what we have achieved for the state.
On whether issues like climate change will be central to political campaigning
Now, this is definitely one of our main subjects. You’ve got some 200,000 people sitting there, and coming and going and coming and going, so, this is something which is definitely going to be very much there, but law and order also is a problem that nobody seems to be worried about. I’m worried about it. But because my neighbour seems to always like to mess around with us, and he’s trying to mess around with us again. And he hopes that this farmer agitation, when it heats up, and if the Government of India takes no decision then some of those heated chaps, youngsters, would be game to playing with them. And that is something that I have to watch out for because I have seen ever since October, since this farm agitation started, there has been an increase in weapons coming into Punjab, there are drones coming into Punjab. You know how many weapons I’ve received since October? About 1,900 weapons which we have caught, drones we have picked up, pistol and automatic rifles and all 11,000 rounds of ammunition I’ve picked up. Who are these meant for? There are very few cells here, let’s say, who are Pakistani-oriented cells, but they don’t have that sort of numbers to use these weapons. So, they are waiting for some disgruntlement to build up, so that they can then get recruits for this. We’ve eliminated 32 terrorist gangs; I’ve caught 238 terrorists who are in jail, some had to be shot in the encounters that took place with the police. That sort of thing is going on, so these are chaps from there and they are happy to use any situation and they’ve gotten a good situation now. And, therefore, my mind is on that too, I’ve got to stop that from happening. Lot of grenades and heroin are being flown in. When the Chinese drones come, they carry five pistols with two magazines of 10 rounds each with each pistol. They carry heroin, counterfeit currency, and what we shoot down gets entangled in wire or something and they can’t take off again, so we pick up. What about those that we haven’t picked up? They reach a destination. So, you are also getting that sort of build-up taking place. Heroin is sent for money, they don’t want to send Indian rupees, heroin is much more lucrative to be sold on the streets, so that the terrorism business can get more money. Now that is the thing I’m worried about, because any agitation that starts can contribute to this, not that it’s contributing at the moment. People are not bothered about this; they’re looking at their own stomach and their food and their fields. But you never know when people get into this sort of a thing. I’ve seen it happening in Punjab. I’ve seen Punjab at a time when in that terrorist period, blood of 35,000 Punjabis was spilled on our streets, and I don’t want that to happen again. And as long as I’m here, I won’t let it happen again.
On whether he is worried a hardliner fringe in Punjab could be stoked up
This is something that can always happen. I’ve seen it happening, 52 years is a long time in politics, and I’ve been through the (Operation) Blue Star period, I’ve been through the post-Blue Star period, I’ve been through the period when my chief minister (Beant Singh) was assassinated. I’ve been subsequently into the other period, it nearly started again, had we started digging the SYL (Sutlej-Yamuna Link) Canal again. And I had to risk my own job by refusing to allow finishing of their Bill in the assembly. I’ve got a 600-mile border, right from Akhnoor down to Fazilka, with Punjab, with Pakistan, and they have open access now. Earlier it used to be tunneling under the wire or crossing the river, now you’ve got drones, and these drones will increase in capacity. At the moment, they’re small, they’ll become bigger and bigger, and, then, there’ll be other things. So, that is why I went to the Home Minister (Amit Shah) and spoke to him and I said, you have to find some system of bringing these drones down. There was a time when I asked the Air Force, and the Air Force said that these are too small and fly too low, we can’t deal with it, unless you give your BSF, because the frontline is BSF, unless you give them some sort of weapon which has low-flying radar capability and to shoot them down with some sort of weaponry or small missiles, I’m sure there’s so much advancement in this that there’s bound to be something somewhere. So, that is what I said to him and this was just before this agitation was on. And he said he’s looking at it, so I hope they’re looking at it, because it’s not only us, it’s happening in Kashmir. A lot of the weapons I picked up in the Jammu and Pathankot region were all destined for Kashmir.
On Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s comments
He always says things which he doesn’t mean. It’s all well saying that we should bury the hatchet and move forward together. Is he saying this on his own behalf or on behalf of the Pakistan Army? Does he control the ISI? Will the ISI say the same thing? These operations are all ISI operations. Is everyone who runs that country on board or is it only General Bajwa shooting out of his mouth? I don’t believe them at all. In December 1964, I was asked by the-then Army commander, Lt General Harbaksh Singh, if I’d like to be his ADC (aide-de-camp), and I said, yes sir, I’d be honoured. I became his ADC Western Command, which then existed from the Uttar Pradesh border across Ladakh, across Kashmir, across Punjab, across Rajasthan, down to Gujarat. At that time, the Americans were giving us a lot of assistance because the China War had just finished, and they would send us what we call Situation Reports — morning, afternoon, evening — three times. I don’t remember one day when there was no firing on that border in Kashmir by Pakistani troops, not Chinese. That was also recorded. And we knew which pickets who went to, how much ammunition went, everything which was going on, and from 1964 to now, we are in 2021, and we’ve still got the same thing going on. So, what is General Bajwa saying? Let him get everyone on board including the civil administration and all his military chaps around him and these ISI fellows and then talk.
On secularism and nationalism
India has been a democracy for long. That’s why the other day I said this, when somebody said that ‘Haryana is reserving so much for Haryanvis, and Uttarakhand is reserving so much for them, and Himachal Pradesh is so much for Himachalis’, I said, I am Indian, I am for all Indians. I don’t believe in this business of either religion or regionalism and all. How will this country grow if you start talking like this? If you are going to bring everything into communalism and casteism, everything we have brought up against, all our freedom struggle which was against, how we are coming back to square one again. Forget that, look at my own religion, what was the Sikh religion? Why was Guru Gobind Singh ji, why was the langar started? Langar was started so that everyone from every community could sit together and wait, when they know nobody is to sit with anybody there, and you can be fed by anybody and you can eat yourself. These were religions which brought out secularism. That is our country. And if we don’t believe in that, this country won’t have any future; if we are going to break us into little communities or communal details, I’m not for it. And I don’t believe that any chief minister should have the right to say that you can’t come. I want to ask the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister (Jai Ram Thakur), what right has he to stop a Punjabi from going to buy land there? Why is Rajasthan stopping people from buying there? We don’t stop anyone, anyone from any state can come, they can come from Kerala and come and buy land in Punjab, I have no problem. I don’t know what is this business that we are doing now? We are totally isolating ourselves. And we are forgetting what India is supposed to be: a secular democracy.
On what lessons India has taken from its wars
You are referring to The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce. It’s about the 1965 operations. And that was written jointly by Lt General Tajinder Singh Shergill and I. We were coursemates from the Army. He has retired. Now, what lessons can you learn from this? The lessons you can learn are: No. 1, I can’t understand this, with every passing day, I see reports that Chinese have now pulled back, great things have happened. You mark my word, this summer, they will come back. We learn nothing. You haven’t seen the Chinese. I’m writing a book now on the China-India business and I’ve gone back from the time of the emperors of China. And I’ve come down to Mao (Tse-tung), Deng (Xiaoping) and now to this chap (Xi Jinping). Do you think they care? They have made a clear-cut pattern that they want to recover all the territories they have lost over the centuries. And they have got us marked. We are South-Western Command of theirs. And then they’ve got other places marked, including areas in Russia. A very interesting article which came out written by a Chinese lady who had some sort of a Chinese thinktank, and she has made it clear that by this year, China will get back this: Taiwan, and then India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and God alone knows what all. And today a report comes out that the Chinese army is the biggest and most powerful in the world. I thought that things are a bit slower and it could take 10 years for China to catch up. But China already seems to have overtaken the Americans. Now that report is right or wrong, I can’t say, but it’s interesting to know that they’re moving very fast militarily. Second part is the collusion, which is going to be there between them and Pakistan, they built the Karakoram Highway, and now they’re building a Karakoram Highway across the Karakoram Pass and under the range, a train link-up with Tibet. And that’s going to come and they’re going to go down along Karachi and it turns right to Gwadar, and this is going to cost about $28 billion.This new tunnel that they are building, to link up at Gwadar. And you’ve given the Chinese navy access for the port there. And you are going to see a collusive war, whenever it does take place. So we have to be prepared for both sides, I have to be prepared in my little way to see that this doesn’t happen. And there’s nobody supporting them. And the Indian defence services have to be prepared for both sides, there and here. I’m sure the chief of staff and the Chief of Army Staff, Navy Staff, Air Staff, all are doing this and looking at this issue. But it’s a question of giving them the equipment — the carpenter requires tools before he can produce something. Same as the army — you’ve got to have weapons how to fight, and you’ve got to have weapons that can match the weapons of the Chinese and match the weapons of the western border, then only we make sure that whenever this happens, I can assume and I that’s my own conviction, that you’re going to have a collusive war.
On the crisis in Congress
I think we have made it clear that after the elections are over, the Congress is going to have an ICC session and elect its own President. And I’m sure that is only a couple of months down the line. And I think we should wait for that. You can’t just write off a party by saying that, you don’t have leadership, or that there is a confusing message coming out from there. There’s never a confusing message. The fact is that this party is 100 and some years old. Everybody, every village knows who are congressmen. This is the party that brought freedom to India. And it’s something that people remember. People come now, the Hindutva wave and they want to build the mandir and that sort of thing. So people may shift here, and somebody may do something else in some other state Finally, the Congress Party is there. And if there’s any secular face of this country, it is the Congress party.
On the big draconian laws brought in by the Congress
Sometimes wrong laws are brought, yes. I think Rahul himself has said that the Emergency was a mistake. He said so publicly. Now, you can introspect, and you can find out that things are right or wrong, whatever it is. But don’t think that this doesn’t happen in our country or by the BJP being in power this will disappear. Nothing’s going to disappear, it is going to be there and it is going to carry on. Any government that comes in will have to face these issues. Because we are growing at a very fast rate. We are going to be 1.4 billion now, and we are going to carry on and this is going to add to problems. I was going to just mention something, which is China’s much less than us. We are overtaking them too. So when these things happen, why is my law and order breaking down today? Why do I have instances when law and order is broken down. Yesterday in Amritsar, somebody had raided a jeweller and taken 26 lakhs of his jewellery. Because, again, there is no money. The farmer is short of money. We’ve had one year of COVID, people didn’t have money. This is what happened, then we deal with it. And we’ve caught those guys, we caught another two committed murder and we put them in the first go. So we are working very fast on these. So these things happen. I don’t look at these as a problem that can’t be resolved. I think anything, whether it is corruption, or whether it is any sort of wrong policy, policies change, you can’t have static policies. A policy made in 1947 may be outdated. And 2020, you’ve got to find a new policy. And you’ve got to frame it again. This is what I’m saying on agriculture policies — they have made a policy which they think is workable, but it’s not workable, therefore change it. And therefore if you want to have another amendment in the constitution and bring the amendment, and let’s amend the constitution and sit down and make it. Policies keep coming and policies keep changing. Why has the constitution been changed 111 or 112 times? There has to be a reason for it. Because times change and return changes the situation and the requirements are different..
On whether he is still supportive of the Gandhis’ leadership of the Congress
A hundred and one percent. Look, I have known Rajiv Gandhi. We were just one year apart in school. He came to school in 54. And I have known him — a thorough gentleman, a wonderful person. Then Mrs Gandhi has been an excellent president. People may say anything, but I’ve seen her work. She’s very perceptive, excellent and knows what she’s doing. Generations change, time changes. Give a person a chance to just start attacking Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka ji. And I know them both very well. And they’re both very presentable, young, perceptive leaders. The trouble is that everyone wants to think that Indira ji, with so many years of experience, is going to come and sit in the chair tomorrow, or (Jawahar Lal Nehru) Panditji or even (AB) Vajpayee ji, whom I found to be a very fine Prime Minister. I was Chief Minister when he was Prime Minister and I know how he dealt with things. You had Shastri ji, another very fine leader. So everyone needs time to grow into opposition. Mrs. Gandhi now is there — a very fine person — she wants to hand over to somebody else. So she wants it to be done. Let AICC decide. And I hope that Rahul will agree. And I also hope that Priyanka ji will carry on. She’s a very fine lady, and very perceptive. I’ve known them since they were little children.I would be very happy to see the nation in their hands
On what the Congress should do to take on the BJP
The thing is when you have a communal wave policy, which there is, nobody looks then. Then everyone turns to religion. India responds very much to religion. And I think when you’ve got the mandir built, everybody’s looking in that direction. Today India is not looking in the secular frame. I hope it will start looking. I think everyone comes and goes. I remember Akali Dal, there used to be a Khalistan movement. Where is it now? It’s finished. And these are things that happen, they happen and go. It’s not that I don’t want mandir built or gurdwaras, mosques or churches. I want everyone to build them but that’s a private business. I don’t want it to be used politically. And that is why I’m saying that I believe in total secularism. I am an old soldier. It’s not like we are ignorant. But when I was in the army as a young officer, I knew the name of my President and Prime Minister and Defence Minister. That was it. I didn’t know anything else. Because we were not looking at that. It was our own little world in the army, which we looked at and our own family, which was our regiment and that sort of thing. That is how I want India. I want India to be a secular India. I don’t want a communal India.
On fixing Punjab’s drug problem
I very categorically said that in four weeks, I will break the backbone of this. This is what I said. We have set up a very powerful SIT (Special Investigations Team). There are about 4,000 people in jail who were in the drugs business. I have extradited people from Albania, Rome, and one is in the Hong Kong jail with the Chinese not giving him to us. But these are the real bigwigs – three of them have already come back and for one we are waiting for the Chinese. Other than that, we have broken the back here. There is nothing happening now. If you ask me if drugs are on the market, of course, they are on the market. Where are they coming from? Drugs are coming. The Indian army is occupying one of the most strategic locations called Uri, which is one of the ingress points for drugs. Then you have got drugs coming from Nepal. I’ve got drugs coming from the Kandla port. We along with the BSF caught 750 kg drugs worth thousands of crores coming from Kandla. Delhi is one of your biggest hubs. So we fight it, we try to hold it, we are in touch with all the states. I’ve tried to bring all the states together, and tell them that let’s sit down and fight this battle together. Unfortunately, when the five Chief Ministers met, right after COVID came, and everything came to a standstill. Our officers are in touch with each other. So there’s a lot of collaboration going on on this anti-drug business. What was a problem for us was those people who are drug addicts, they wouldn’t go to our drug centres. They were worried more about social stigma, so they’d go to private centres to get things done. Now, every government centre is full with these youngsters who want to get cured. So I’m happy that that way we’ve done something. So while we have enforcement, we are also doing rehabilitation work. And by god’s grace, I hope we can get our youngsters out of this.
The Reverend Emmanuel Franklin Agyeman, Senior Pastor of Banner of Grace Ministries at Dawhenya in the Ningo-Prampram District, said: “If we forget such essential parts of Christianity, very soon our children will forget about the Christian faith”.
Rev Agyeman said Palm Sunday, which was to commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the start of the Passion Week, must be preserved and cherished by all Christians.
Preaching on the theme: “Triumphant Entry, the lessons of Jesus”, he noted that the main reason for Jesus Christ’s death was to make it possible for mankind to get salvation.
He encouraged Christian’s to know their appointed time and surround themselves with godly people to help them to make the right decisions and fulfill God’s plan for their lives.
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While Sullivan and many other commentators have pointed to certain failings in the theology of Wokeism, none has put his finger on the most important issue. Simply put, there are good religions and there are bad religions.
There are three specific elements that when found in any given religion greatly increase the likelihood that its practice will lead to human flourishing.
All of the great religions share, for example, the Golden Rule, most often expressed in Christian tradition as “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In the Quran, Muhammad says, “not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” The Hindus call it the sum of duty: “Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” (Do all of the faithful follow these rules? No. Not even close. But it’s there.)
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Love of others is not a tenet of Wokeism, which turns this law on its head. In the world of woke, brutality is the name of the game. Insults, canceling, doxxing — all are considered virtuous acts that somehow enhance one’s moral standing. It’s preposterous, but the woke derive a perverse kind of spiritual satisfaction from pointing out the splinters in the eyes of others.
It is manifestly the case that enthusiastically calling out the flaws is others isn’t virtuous, but rather is an illness. As often as not, condemning others as racist, sexist, or homophobic is nothing more than a symptom.
Note, too, that because the woke lack empathy, they deny a second aspect of a good religion: the possibility of redemption. When the mob sets out to cancel someone, it means to cancel him. There are no second chances for those who made a mistake at any point in their lives Compare that to the Catholic Church, which famously provides absolution to any member who confesses his sins with a sincere heart and a determination to not repeat the error.
Less famously, the Church has a second teaching regarding confession: once you’ve confessed your sin and it has been forgiven, it is a sin to further lament it.
Go in peace. That’s the message.
Sullivan describes succinctly the third “commonality of the zealot then and now”: their utter lack of a sense of humor. This aspect of woke has been witnessed many times, including the refusal of significant numbers of comedians to perform on college campuses. Among them is Chris Rock, who in recent days was inundated with vile comments when he retweeted an article entitled “[Jerry] Seinfeld is a respite from the Insufferable Wokeness of Comedy.”
“Thank God for Jerry,” Rock wrote.
It may seem strange to suggest that humor is a mark of a healthy religion, but it shouldn’t be. What brings people together better than laughter? What reveals the human condition more accurately than a good joke? What is having a sense of humor about oneself other than a means of expressing the deeply felt but otherwise inexpressible?
In fairness to Wokeism, I should note that all new religions are rough and crude when unpolished by the waters of time. They need confidence and history, and the teaching of many masters, often over millennia, to subjugate their worst tendencies. But in the end, there is an unmistakable distinction between good and bad religions. As G.K. Chesterton said, “it is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.”
Mark Couhig was a reporter, editor, and publisher for 40 years. Now he’s retired and living in Texas. Write to Mark at mcouhig@gmail.com.
Image: Alexas_Fotos via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
… the future of American religion.
Burge teaches in a … journals, including Politics & Religion, the Journal for the Scientific … Study of Religion, the Review of Religious … of Communication and Religion, the Journal of Religion, Media and …
Passover – one of the most important festivals in Judaism – begins this Saturday.
Through celebrations and rituals, different religions mark key stages in life.
A new series on BBC iPlayer, Being, explores what these ancient rituals mean to people in modern Britain.
From birth, to coming of age, marriage and death, how do five religions celebrate these crucial moments?
Producer: Harry Farley
Picture editors: Stephen Bulfield and Michael Latham
Four spiritual festivals converge this weekend – Passover, Palm Sunday, Holi, the Hindu Spring Festival and the Aries solar Festival (full moon). The Tibetan in the Alice Bailey blue books, informs us that when the many different religious festivals occur together, it is a sign that the new Aquarian world religion is unfolding.
Saturday’s Passover (Pesach) is the festival of remembering when the Jewish people left the slavery in Egypt (left the Taurus Age) and began their long forty-year walk in the desert (for purification) , eventually entering Canaan, (Aries Age of the Law, the Ten Commandments). Passover begins Saturday evening at the sign of the first star.
Sundayis Palm Sunday, the Catholic festival of Christ completing His forty days and nights in the desert (note the number 40 in both stories). Palm Sundaybegins Holy or Passion Week. Palms (symbolizing peace, victory, respect) were waved, heralding the Messiah, the Promised One. In our days now, we await His return, the precipitation of the Aquarian Teacher to begin in 2025.
Sundayis also Holi, the joyful Hindu Spring Festival symbolizing good over evil. It is also the full moon, the esoteric Aries Spring Resurrection Festival, the first of the Three Spring Festivals, setting the spiritual template for the year.
The Aries solar festival (8 degrees Aries) is Spring’s first full moon. The Aries festival celebrates new life spring forth, the Easter festival. It is also about the Love of God and the Hierarchy for humanity.
Webinar “Spirituality, Sustainability and Style”
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Pontifical Council for Culture are pleased to invite you to join a webinar on the New European Bauhaus initiative of the European Commission. The event will take place in a digital format on Thursday 15 April 2021, from 17:00 to 19:10 (CEST).
In the context of the recent launch of the New European Bauhaus initiative, COMECE and the Pontifical Council for Culture will organize a joint webinar event and dialogue session to offer a key of interpretation on the topics of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion in light of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’.
The event will see the participation of H. Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich and H. E. Mgr. Paul Tighe, respectively President of COMECE and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who, together with architects, policymakers and theologians, will discuss the links between beauty, social inclusion, sustainability and spirituality in urban and living spaces.
Thursday 15 April 2021 – 17:00 – 19:10 CEST
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By — Shyamal Sinha
Sri Lanka is being promoted as an international hub for Buddhist education by the Export Development Board.
Facilities currently exist for foreign students to be boarded in Sri Lanka during their studies.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Suresh de Mel noted that Sri Lanka was the leading English proficient country amongst Buddhist nations. De Mel said addressing a webinar on March 24 organised jointly by the EDB and the Sri Lankan embassy in Vietnam to promote Sri Lankan Buddhist education.
Buddhism was introduced into the island in the third century BCE after the Third Buddhist council by the elder Mahinda and by the elder nun Sangamitta. According to the Sinhala chronicles, both were children of the emperor Ashoka.
Buddhism has been given the foremost place under Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution which can be traced back to an attempt to bring the status of Buddhism back to the status it enjoyed prior to being destroyed by colonialists. However, by virtue of Article 10 of the Sri Lankan constitution, religious rights of all communities are preserved. Sri Lanka is one of the oldest traditionally Buddhist countries.
The island has been a center of Buddhist scholarship and practice since the introduction of Buddhism in the third century BCE producing eminent scholars such as Buddhaghosa and preserving the vast Pāli Canon. Throughout most of its history, Sri Lankan kings have played a major role in the maintenance and revival of the Buddhist institutions of the island. During the 19th century, a modern Buddhist revival took place on the island which promoted Buddhist education.
The EDB is working to bring down Japanese students to Sri Lanka with conversations in Tokyo being at a very advanced stage. Sri Lankan ambassador to Vietnam Prasanna Gamage said that Sri Lanka has a high-quality Buddhist education infrastructure. Currently, an estimated 80 monks from Vietnam are studying in Sri Lanka.
Gamage in his conversations with past students in Vietnam notes that they were all greatly appreciative of their time in Sri Lanka. To be eligible to study in Sri Lanka most courses require a grasp of the English language. Gamage noted that institutions were not willing to lower the standard of English so as to maintain standards for local students.
Gamage added that there was a comprehensive compilation of the educational offering of Sri Lanka as an education destination that could be communicated to interested foreign parties.
According to the Mahavamsa, they arrived in Sri Lanka during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (307–267 BCE) who converted to Buddhism and helped build the first Buddhist stupas and communities. Tissa donated a royal park in the city to the Buddhist community, which was the beginning of the Mahāvihāra tradition. Mahinda is associated with the site of Mihintale, one of the oldest Buddhist site in Sri Lanka. Mihintale includes numerous caves which may have been used by the early Sri Lankan sangha.
source – Daily news ,LK
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Entertainment of Friday, 26 March 2021
Source: Peace FM
2021-03-26
Blakk Rasta
Popular reggae artiste and radio presenter, Blakk Rasta has waded into the massive debate on social media regarding a decision by Achimota School not to admit two Rastafarian students until they have a low-cut hair.
Speaking in an interview on Peace FM’s The Platform programme, Blakk Rasta described as shameful the fact that a qualified student will be denied an education because of his dreadlocks.
“…this is very shameful and discriminatory and takes us backward” he lamented.
Listen to him in the video below:
Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire had to delay its opening on Thursday, as enraged Muslim parents protested outside the school building because a teacher had allegedly shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a religious education class.
The crowd of parents, with about 20 to 30 pupils in tow, remained near the school until at least the afternoon, according to the Huddersfield Examiner.
The protest forced police to block off the road leading to the school which was founded in 1612 by a Christian, the Reverend William Lee in Batley, a market and mill town in the Kirkless region. Muslims now make up 41 percent of Batley’s population.
A message spread on social media last night urging people to turn up and demand the resignation of the teacher implicated in the sensitive case.
In an email sent to parents head teacher Gary Kibble apologised for the “inappropriate” resource used in the classroom.
“The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on 22 March highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS lesson that day,” the letter read, continuing:
“Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.”
Muslims & Islamist networks have been calling for people to protest the Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire, England to demand the firing of a teacher who allegedly showed Charlie Hebdo cartoons in a lesson. The school has immediately apologized. pic.twitter.com/Urmth6mxfZ
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 25, 2021
A spokesperson for Batley Grammar School also apologised, saying that althoughit is crucial for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, this “must be done in a sensitive way”.
The school representative confirmed, after an announcement by local Muslim scholar, the Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, that the teacher responsible had been suspended in the wake of the controversy.
Accusations that a teacher has shown a derogatory caricature of the Prophet Muhammad brings protests to a West Yorkshire school this morning
The incident sees police drafted in this morning to Batley Grammar School, as roads are blocked and vehicles sent pic.twitter.com/VxbuMM9Wlt
— London & UK Crime (@CrimeLdn) March 25, 2021
“Now we’ve asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel”, Pandor, for his part, called.
The updated religious education syllabus for Calderdale, Leeds and Kirkess, where the school is located, envisages that pupils should be taught to “give reasons why visual representations of God and the prophets is forbidden – haram – in Islam” by the end of key stage two. Yet, the document stops short of specifying whether teachers should show any of these images, a Daily Mail report has said.
National guidelines from the Department for Education, whose latest Ofsted rating deemed Batley Grammar as “good”, don’t especially touch upon visual materials on the Prophet Muhammad either.
They say that RE must be taught according to “either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school’s designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school”.
Today’s protest at Batley came months after teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in a Paris suburb by a Muslim immigrant, who reportedly acted upon learning that the teacher showed his students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during lessons on freedom of speech.
The caricatures were published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 and immediately landed in the crosshairs of the Muslim population across the world, prompting a series of terrorist attacks in France that left 17 people dead and dozens injured, including the Charlie Hebdo massacre, when gunmen killed 12.
CEC and COMECE share a message of hope for Easter amid Covid-19
In a joint message for the upcoming Easter, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) together with the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) affirm sheer hope in Christ’s resurrection in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing all people in Europe, especially the poor and the most vulnerable, CEC President Rev. Christian Krieger and COMECE President H. Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ issued the following message on 31 March:
Easter reminds us of the passage of God’s chosen people from slavery, oppression, and despair in Egypt, to liberation, joy and hope in the promised land.
Easter celebrates Christ’s passover from rejection, abandonment of his closest disciples, humiliation, his passion and death on Good Friday, to life, joy, and victory on Easter Sunday.
The passing over from despair to joy, from death to life, involves going through adversities, doubt, setback, suffering and agony. Living in confinement for a year, experiencing illness and anxiety, witnessing bereavement and loss adds new meaning to the anticipation of Resurrection this Easter.
As churches and Christians in Europe, we too are passing over from isolation, loss and anxiety to healing, recovery and a renewed life, where ‘death is swallowed up in victory’ (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Each one of us received the gift of that new life and the power to accept it and live by it. It is a gift which radically alters our attitude toward the realities of this world, including illness and death.
By his own passing, Christ transformed death into a passage leading to the Reign of God. Evil and physical death no longer have the final say in life. In Christ our lives are filled with a promise of real life, abounding in hope and everlasting joy.
May the hope of His Resurrection sustain us and keep us in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Christ is Risen!
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Emily Ambery | Staff Writer
03/25/21
As the country continues to grapple with its uncomfortable relationship with racism and the ongoing call for racial justice, the Consortium for Christian Muslim Dialogue and the Duquesne Interfaith Student Organization deepened the dialogue with a discussion of religion’s role in racial equity.
The virtual panel, titled Racial Equity & Religions, took place over Zoom on March 18. The event began with keynote speaker George Yancy, a Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of philosophy from Emory University. Yancy, a Duquesne 2005 Ph.D. recipient, garnered attention just a few short weeks ago when The Duke published his “Open Letter to Black Students at Duquesne University.”
To initiate the discussion, Yancy spoke about whiteness and its implication on religion and racism in America.
“If Black lives really mattered to white people, and especially religious white people, I desire to see gious white people, I desire to see white rage against itself, its own white power and privilege and its complicity with white supremacy,” Yancy said. “I would like to see their white rage overflow in the streets of this nation shouting, ‘My whiteness is a lie.’”
After Yancy’s address, each panelist followed with a presentation on their own religion and its teachings on race and role in racism.
The first panelist was Sangeeta Chakravorty. She presented her perspective on racial equity as it relates to her religion, Hinduism. Chakravorty held a 30-second moment of silence for those who have died at the hands of injustice.
Intolerance towards the so-called ‘Other’ is extremely painful, and does not conform to the religious tenets Hinduism recommends,” Chakravorty said.
Next, Rona Kaufman Kitchen gave a presentation on the relationship between Judaism and race. Kitchen presented four ways of looking at racial equity in Judaism: Jewish teachings, Jewish history, intra-community racial equity in the American Jewry and the role of Judaism in anti-Black racism in America.
Following Kitchen, Kamal Shlbei gave a presentation on how Islam views and values equality, especially when it comes to race. Shlbei provided insight to Islamic teachings on human dignity and its role in promoting and advocating for racial equity.
Anna Floerke Scheid followed with the Christian perspective on equity and race. Scheid discussed the history of Christianity in America and the Civil Rights Movement. Scheid acknowledged the work Christianity has to continue doing with regard to racial justice and commented on the progress Christianity has made thus far in a movement that is anti-racist.
Next, Will Adams gave a presentation on racial equity with the Buddhist perspective. Adams discussed the delusion of separation of self versus other. Buddhism recognizes differences between people but realizes that people are never separate from each other.
The last panelist, Jesse Washington, represented the Bahá’í Faith. Washington spoke on racial equality and equity and their importance to the Bahá’í Faith.
“The Bahá’í Faith recognizes that racial equality is a fundamental need of this time, and without it, the promises of all of our religions cannot be fulfilled,” Washington said.
The event concluded with questions for the panelists from the audience. Some of the questions touched on ways college students specifically can raise awareness of solidarity and allyship in their own religious communities.
“I am hopeful we are moving in a direction that is important that we are able to see how differently [minorities] are treated in America and recognizing we have a responsibility in America to be partners with other minorities who are experiencing really severe racism in the United States,” Kitchen said. An audio recording is available on the Consortium for Christian Muslim Dialogue website for those who missed the live event.
“In nations where women have contributed more prominently to leadership in their society at whatever level, a degree of stability has been seen across a variety of short-term indicators, including public health and economic security,” says Saphira Rameshfar, Representative of the BIC.
“It has never been so clear how much humanity benefits when women’s leadership is embraced and promoted at every level of society, whether in the family or the village, the community or local gov¬ernment, the corporation or the nation.”
In its statement to the Commission, the BIC highlights several characteristics and capacities for effective leadership, including “the ability to harmonize different voices and foster a sense of common endeavor.”
At an online discussion centered on the BIC statement during CSW, Charlotte Bunch of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University said, “I think that the model that [the BIC] put forward is really important. We need to understand that a model of equality… isn’t about making women equally dominant over other people to make them leaders…”
At another discussion space attended by ambassadors of several UN member states, participants viewed the recently released film Glimpses of the Spirit of Gender Equality. In response to the film, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Liberia to the UN, Ambassador Israel Choko Davies, said: “You see how actions in a given community can cultivate positive changes in the behavior of others.
“We see how happy a family becomes when a husband and wife exhibit mutual respect for one another and see themselves as equals. You learn of the positive role and the importance of spirituality in achieving gender equality. You realize the important role a family can play in promoting gender equality.”
Ambassador Davies quoted the film saying, “The capacity to love, to create, to persevere, has no gender”
Forty-nine delegates representing the BIC joined more than 25,000 representatives of governments and non-governmental organizations at this year’s CSW which was held online—the largest gathering since the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing involving governments and civil society organizations in advancing the discourse on gender equality.
The 21-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed ten people at a Colorado grocery store is set to appear in court tomorrow. Ahmad Alissa was arrested Monday and charged Tuesday. He allegedly shot two people in the parking lot of King Soopers in Boulder before walking in and opening fire.
In all, ten people were killed including a Boulder police officer. While police have yet to reveal a motive, family members say he was anti-social, paranoid and possibly mentally ill. His older brother told CNN Ahmad may have been suffering from mental illness and bullying in high school over being Muslim that may have led to “anti-social” behavior.
Staff Editorial
Graphic by Mary Mone
Despite many religious organizations having major concerns of threats to their first amendment rights, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act on Feb. 25. The Equality Act says it will prohibit discrimination but the act actually discriminates against innocent children and those with deeply held traditional or religious beliefs.
In addition to many non-church-owned groups that don’t support the new act, religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church, the Coalition for Jewish Values, the Evangelical Church and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, all vehemently oppose the Equality Act.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental provider of human services in the United States, helping millions of Americans in need through its parishes, schools, hospitals, shelters, legal clinics, food banks and charities.” Since the Catholic Church helps millions of Americans via charities, one might ask why the Catholic Church opposes the Equality Act, which claims to be humanitarian. To clarify beliefs on the Equality Act, the USCCB released a statement saying “Human dignity is central to what we believe as Catholics. Every person is made in the image of God and should be treated accordingly, with respect and compassion. That means we need to honor every person’s right to be free of unjust discrimination.”
Beginning by saying the bill is well-intentioned but ultimately misguided, the USCCB resolves the act, “discriminates against people of faith, threatens unborn life, and undermines the common good.” They believe the act will not only force religious establishments to host functions violating their beliefs, but also jeopardize prohibitions on the use of federal taxpayer funds, which could pressure the performance of abortions by health care providers against their consciences.
The Evangelical Church also believes the Equality Act is an infringement upon religious liberty. The National Association of Evangelicals President, Walter Kim, mentions how the Equality Act favors one group’s freedoms over another’s. “Instead of offering carefully crafted win/win solutions that respect the needs of all Americans, the Equality Act pits LGBT persons against those who believe that God created humans as male and female, and that sexual intimacy is a precious gift from God reserved for marriage between a woman and a man,” Kim said.
In a statement released by the NAE, the concern of religious charities being regulated is raised. “The version of the Equality Act passed by the House of Representatives would pressure institutions to change their religious beliefs or withdraw from the public-private partnerships that make our charitable sector so dynamic. If it becomes law, it would tear up decades of contentious litigation,” nae.net states.
The Evangelical Church believes rather than promoting full equality for all Americans, the House action sets back the important work of overcoming the deep polarization in America.
Natasha Chart, an agnostic feminist leader, and Rabbi Yaakov Menken, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, spoke about the Equality Act on coalitionforjewishvalues.org. The Equality Act has been promoted as a fight against discrimination and bigotry. “In truth, it’s a fight against freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution — and observations so common as to be shared by both radical feminism and traditional religion,” Chart and Menken said on coalitionforjewishvalues.org. “We agree entirely that the Equality Act is a fatally flawed, and even hateful, piece of legislation,” they said.
Menken expressed his thoughts about the effects the act will have on Jewish practices. In addition to unfair athletic changes, Menken claims “the Equality Act similarly demands that biological men be given access to women’s bathrooms, changing facilities and shelters. Religiously motivated Orthodox Jewish practices, such as separate seating at public events and separate hours for exercise facilities (especially swimming pools) would be illegal.” In his opinion, the Equality Act specifically strips away protection of religious practice guaranteed under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which “prohibits any agency, department, or official of the United States or any State (the government) from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability,” according to congress.gov.
Chart and Menken also discuss the extremism of the Equality Act. According to them, civil rights legislation is intentionally a blunt legal instrument designed to fix ongoing racism against descendants of former slaves. “The Equality Act thus deems a religiously motivated refusal to participate in a same-sex marriage to be no different than a KKK member’s refusal to cater a multiethnic couple’s nuptials. This means that in a world where the Equality Act is law, traditional religious practices are just as unacceptable as Jim Crow.”
Also, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church opposes the Equality Act, according to AdventistReview.org. “While the Seventh-Day Adventist Church firmly believes that everyone is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect, the church remains concerned that the Equality Act as drafted would further erode the religious liberty of faith communities and their members,” AdventistReview.org said.
The Adventist Review believes the legislation would make no allowance for communities or individuals of faith to hold traditional views of marriage and gender. They also state the act fails to provide protections that would allow social service, humanitarian and educational organizations to continue to serve.
The president of the North American Division of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, G. Alexander Bryant responded to the legislative developments. “People of faith play a vital role in our country, and I’m encouraged to see their values being considered in this important conversation. We need to find a way to protect the rights of all Americans in a fair and balanced way,” Bryant said.
According to Yonat Shimron, National Reporter and Senior Editor on religionnews.com, many groups are predicting what might happen if the Equality Act becomes law. Among the predictions, there are concerns of halting free and reduced-cost lunch programs for religious school children, concerns of threats toward federal security grants for Orthodox Jewish synagogues, and threats for students at religious colleges of no longer being able to receive federal student loans and grants because of their views on marriage. This wouldn’t only be a valid problem to students, but also to business owners.
“The bill would also limit people’s ability to defend themselves against discrimination claims by overriding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the 1993 law that protects the religious exercise of individuals and institutions,” Shimron said. “That means a bakery would no longer be able to deny its wedding cake services to a same-sex couple by using the RFRA defense, for example.”
Tom Gjelten, the correspondent for religion and belief at WVIK(90.3 FM), wrote the act would extend a provision under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act that explains institutions engaging in racial discrimination can be barred from federal funds to now cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “Many faith-affiliated schools, however, require that students abide by strict moral codes related to sexual conduct, or they have gender-segregated housing that does not accommodate transgender people,” Gjelten said. This obviously would take away the federal funding from these schools.
The Equality Act campaigns on equality for all, but if passed, will infringe upon the religious liberties of traditional groups who don’t believe in same-sex marriage or sex reassignemnt. No group should have its rights taken away, and citizens with differing opinions should practice respect instead of trying to have law conform to their ideologies. A middleground for people of opposing sides is the Fairness for All Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah. According to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, “This initiative seeks to find a way to simultaneously combine federal protections for religious freedom and for LGBTQ persons, two ‘sides’ that have often viewed their protections as being violated by the existence of protections for the other.” The Fairness for All Act creates legal protections for LGBTQ persons in areas of public space like employment, housing, stores, restaurants, financial services and jury duty services. While providing those protections for LGBTQ persons, the Fairness for All Act would add to the law the “full scope of religious rights ensured by the Constitution,” according to cccu.org.
The Equality Act currently being presented to the Senate is an oppression on religious freedom that needs to be opposed. To stop the Equality Act from being passed and hindering First Amendment rights, citizens should sign petitions, be open to conversation within their own communities, and when needed, protest. Respect for every human being is the main concern for each side of this issue, but even with disagreements, it’s important to treat others with dignity. According to Winston Churchill, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” If one feels strongly about this issue, speak up with respect, sign petitions and advocate for the rights of every human.
COMECE welcomes the European Commission’s Action Plan on the Social Pillar: “A step for a more inclusive and fairer EU”
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) welcomes the long-awaited Action Plan delivered by the European Commission in March 2021 to further implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). EU Bishops: “It is an important step to build a more inclusive and fairer European Union”.
The Action Plan sets out three EU targets to achieve by 2030 in the areas of employment, skills, and social protection. Concretely, the European Commission proposes to reach an employment rate of at least 78% for people aged 20-64, to improve adult participation in training each year to at least 60%, and to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million.
COMECE welcomes this new Action Plan as a path to preserve the dignity of work and rights for workers, to strengthen intergenerational solidarity, and to rethink the notion of Education as “a constant element that is part of working life” – as called for in the November 2020 COMECE contribution.
“It is an important step to build a more inclusive and fairer European Union especially in a context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences on the health, social and economic situation of many people living and working in the EU and in other parts of the world”, states Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE.
According to COMECE, this path marks a new beginning in building a just social Europe for all and it should continue to grow stronger with the support of Member States and people living in the EU, providers of social services, national stakeholders and Churches. In this context, the Social Summit in Porto on May 7-8th 2021 will be another opportunity to discuss what can be done to turn commitments into concrete actions for the common good.The Commission now calls on Member States to define their own national objectives and invites the European Council to endorse these targets. During the 2021 Spring COMECE Assembly, H. Em. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE, expressed appreciation for the decision of the European Commission to accompany its Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights “with a Recommendation on an effective active support to employment following the Covid-19 crisis”.
The same Action Plan builds on a public consultation of the European Commission to which COMECE has been contributing in November 2020. The Bishops of the EU also have contributed to the Social Pillar from its very beginning, promoting a European Social Market Economy as envisioned by the EU treaties.
During its Spring Assembly on 25-26 May 2021, the COMECE Social Affairs Commission will continue its work towards the full implementation of the Social Pillar, with a roundtable focusing on the fight against poverty in the EU.
GENEVA (23 March 2021) – United Nations human rights experts said today digitalisation and the COVID-19 pandemic had facilitated a new wave of stigma, racism, xenophobia and hate targeting minorities and those considered “others”, often promoted by authorities themselves, either directly or indirectly. Recalling the consensus achieved since the 24 March 2011 adoption of a Human Rights Council resolution on combating intolerance, they said in the following statement that States must ensure pluralism and stamp out negative stereotyping:
“On the 10th anniversary of Resolution 16/18, we welcome the Human Rights Council consensus around the issue of fostering freedom of religion or belief, reaffirming freedom of opinion and expression and combating advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.
Resolution 16/18 is remarkable for its eight action points that commit all States to take specific measures at the national level in policy, law and practice, to address intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief and its root causes. These measures include building collaborative networks; creating mechanisms to identify tensions; encouraging training of government officials in effective outreach strategies; discussing root causes of discrimination; speaking out against hatred; criminalising incitement to imminent violence; combating negative stereotyping of persons through education and awareness building; and promoting open debate as well as interfaith dialogue.**
The “Istanbul Process”, which is the implementation mechanism for the resolution’s action plan, has facilitated so far seven rounds of meetings to foster international dialogue and practical experience-sharing, organised in Washington D.C., London, Geneva, Doha, Jeddah, Singapore and The Hague.
Sadly, a new wave of stigma, racism, xenophobia and hate has been amplified by digitalisation, social networks, and aggravated in the context of the pandemic, targeting minorities and those seen as ‘others’ with impunity. At the same time, the policing of opinions and expressions online, the targeting of certain religiouscommunities for reasons of national security, the use of counter-terrorism or public order laws to suppress legitimate expression have reinforced negative stereotypes and may contribute to incidents of intolerance, discrimination and violence against persons based on their religion, belief or opinions in any region of the world.
States are encouraged to implement the robust action plan using a comprehensive, carefully considered, transparent and inclusive approach. Any legal interpretations of the commitments undertaken in the action plan must fully comply with international human rights law.
Many States have resorted to restricting free speech as a way to addressing hate speech but any limitation of speech must remain an exception and strictly follow international human rights standards. This remains highly relevant today in light of State actions that are incompatible with freedoms of religion, belief, opinion and expression, including the use of anti-blasphemy and anti-apostasy laws, which render religious or belief minorities, including atheists and dissenters, vulnerable to discrimination and violence.
In this context, we voice our deep concern about the potential setback at the inter-governmental level due to the recently updated Cairo Declaration of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Human Rights, which provides in its article 21 that “freedom of expression should not be used for denigration of religions and prophets or to violate the sanctities of religious symbols”.
On that point, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has emphasised in his most recent report to the Human Rights Council that criticism of the ideas, religious leaders, symbols or practices should not be prohibited or criminally sanctioned. In another report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression reiterated the Human Rights Committee‘s jurisprudence that this right does embrace expressions that may be regarded as deeply offensive, such as blasphemy.
States must not revive the dangerous notion of ‘defamation of religions’ and the divisive debate that had undercut efforts to combat religious discrimination and intolerance prior to achieving this consensus agreement 10 years ago.
We call on States to operationalise the Rabat threshold test, which sets the right balance between protecting freedom of expression and prohibiting incitement to hatred, based on a case-by-case assessment of the context, speaker, intent, content, extent of dissemination and likelihood of harm.
Amid rising intolerance and concerns about the negative impacts of some policies to counter violent extremism or terrorism, we urge States to continue promoting religious pluralism and dismantle discriminatory structures that propagate negative stereotypes of persons based on religious, racial, gendered, migratory and disability status.”
ENDS
* The experts: Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Ms. Irene Khan , Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression; Mr. Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule , Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and of association; and Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism.
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
** Check the resolutions of the Human Rights Council and General Assembly on combating intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatisation, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons, based on religion or belief as well as the related reports by the Secretary-General and High Commissioner:https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/Pages/CombatingIntolerance.aspx
For more information and media requests , please contact Chian Yew Lim (+41 22 917 9938 / clim@ohchr.org)
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, contact Renato de Souza (+41 22 928 9855 / rrosariodesouza@ohchr.org)
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… old arguments between science and religion about what happens when we … long been the province of religion, based on faith. And … about the looming divorce between religion and the afterlife, I’m … this spiritual dimension. Now about religion, to get to that. The …
Miami is unique in many ways, especially its demographics: 70 percent of its population is Hispanic or Latinx.
Realizing that many, including those only recently arrived in the city from across Latin America, depend on their consulates in times of need, when the pandemic began, the Church of Scientology Miami reached out to the diplomatic community with help.
In times of emergency, the Church of Scientology operates on a maxim coined by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that “an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.”
The Church compiled the most authoritative and effective guidelines for dealing with such an outbreak and distilled them into a series of illustrated booklets written in simple, direct language anyone can understand. Then Volunteer Ministers across the globe carried out an educational campaign to help their communities understand how to stay well.
In Miami, where the Church routinely works closely with the city’s Latin American consulates to provide humanitarian and social betterment programs to their communities, one of the Volunteer Ministers’ first priorities was to reach out to these officials. They disinfected consulates so it would be safe for them to deliver in-person service to their communities. And they presented them with copies of the “Stay Well” booklets in Spanish so consulate staff could make this information available to anyone contacting them for help. The video shows their interaction with one of the many consulates they assisted.
“This material is very important,” said Miami’s Honduran Consul describing the booklets. “This is a very articulate effort—an effort which has a lot of commitment. And the information was very systematically put together. In times of crisis, a helping hand is really needed.”
Volunteer Ministers also distributed thousands of copies of Stay Well booklets to essential businesses, gas stations, shops and restaurants. They placed booklets in prominent locations in standees that invited customers to take as many as they liked.
The Church of Scientology Miami is open and welcomes the community to visit and learn more about how to keep themselves and their families safe.
Since 1957, the Church has served a growing congregation. Its new home in North Coconut Grove at 2220 S. Dixie Highway was dedicated in April 2017 by Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion.
The Miami Church is featured in an episode of Destination Scientology that broadcasts on DIRECTV 320, can be streamed on Scientology.tv, and is available through satellite television, mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.