Response to Jayadvaita Maharaj's recommended article

[Guest guest]

> Basu Ghosh (das) ACBSP (Baroda - IN)

> Reference: Text PAMHO:10352460 by Basu Ghosh (das) ACBSP (Baroda - IN)

> Re: What can a Hare Krsna devotee say about 9/11 ?

> ---------------------------

> Some thoughts:

>

> This evening via email I received a message telling me about an article

> titled "A Distant View of 9/11," written by a devotee. That the article

> appears on krishna.com is notable. As far as I am aware, krishna.com is

> an official ISKCON project, or close enough to being one. It is not one

> of these websites with a disclaimer that says, "The articles published

> here do not necessarily represent the views of ISKCON." Considering

> where the article is posted, I wonder if the article somewhat reflects

> ISKCON's official view of the war between the West and Islam, or whether

> this is a harbinger of a coming ISKCON policy statement that sounds

> something like this article. These two possibilities worry me, and I

> would like to explain why.

>

> Although the author states that he is wary of conspiracy theories,

> fundamentally it is a conspiracy theory he promotes. His conspiracy

> theory is an old and tired one at that. Anyone who is not in ISKCON and

> also hasn't spent the last four years in a sensory deprevation tank

> knows this conspiracy theory well: "Blood for Oil." The article, "A

> Distant View of 9/11," is perhaps more aptly named than the author

> intended, because if the author had been more in touch with both the old

> media and new media of the Internet, he might also have known that

> "Blood for Oil" conspiracy theories are isomorphic forms of theories

> embodied by slogans like "Support for Saddam." You know, Saddam

> Hussain? He's the one responsible for having prisoners thrown feet first

> into wood chippers; who tortured and killed women by having them hung

> upside down during their menstral periods so that their menses would

> stay in their bodies, ferment, and poison them; who was responsible for

> the slaughter tens of thousands of his own countrymen by heavy weapons

> and by poison gas--burying them in mass graves of the kind not seen

> since since tyrants like Pol Pot. You know who I'm talking about,

> right? Saddam and others of his ilk are the kind of people Prahlada

> Maharaja had in mind when he said "even saintly persons take pleasure in

> the killing of a scorpion or a snake." Saddam H. is just one, Osama Bin

> Laden is another. America and Europe say OBL downed the WTC towers, the

> Middle East says he did it. Heck, even OBL says he did it. Maybe OBL

> is a CIA mole? The conspiracy theories get weirder all the time.

>

> There really is such a thing as a good war, and even good wars can be

> criticized by doubting motivations. Merely doubting motives, however,

> doesn't prove anything. It just means you think the other person has

> ill motives. The Pandavas' war on the Kauravas, although dharmic, could

> be recast as "Blood for Land", or "Lust for Power", or whatever other

> ill motive we can dream up. How about this one: "Blood for Cotton"? It

> would work well as a conspiracy theory for the American North's war

> against the South in the American Civil War. In fact, that's what some

> American Southerners said about the North's motives (as did some in the

> North). The war was over slavery--make no mistake about that. Yet no

> matter how good a cause might be, ill motives can always be ascribed to

> the persons going to war. Although some wars the U.S. has been involved

> in have been motivated by less than honorable motives, not all have been

> ill motivated. What dark ulterior motive could we ascribe to the United

> States's struggle against Nazi Germany and to save the Jews? And then

> how would we explain the more than charitable Marshal plan for the

> reconstruction of Germany? Ditto for the reconstruction of Japan.

>

> Finally, if ISKCON is going to make foreign policy statements (and

> putting something like "A Distant View" on Krishna.com comes close),

> then I think a little more thought needs to go into figuring out where

> ISKCON stands in all of this, starting with what it stands to win or

> loose. What might happen if the West falls? How might that affect

> ISKCON? In this scenario, Europe more or less becomes an Islamic

> population and America loses its dominance as an economic, scientific,

> and military leader. It probably wouldn't be a good thing for India.

> India has endured for centuries Islamic invaders who happily plundered

> and slaughtered innocent Hindus, destroyed their temples, built mosques

> on the foundations of the temples they destroyed, and systematically

> oppressed the surviviors who would still not become Muslims. There is a

> mosque sitting right on top of the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura,

> where a temple to Lord Sri Krishna once stood. Let that sink in for a

> minute, and then think of all the hundreds and thousands of temples

> destroyed by Muslim invaders. And now think about how Pakistan, with

> Chinese assistance, developed a nuclear arsenal (to be used against "you

> know who"), and then also consider that both Pakistan and China have

> fought wars with India over its sovereign territory.

>

> India has much to protect that is worthy of protection. Whatever the

> West may be, it would be in the interests of both the West and India to

> ally themselves against a demonstrably hostile Sino-Islamic alliance.

> One of the things India protects is the source of our cultural and

> religious heritage. Since ISKCON has a personal stake in seeing that

> India's territorial and cultural integrity be maintained, ISKCON also

> needs to lend whatever encouragement and guidance (we *are* brahmanas,

> right?) to those who would protect our heritage. Protecting the dhamas,

> the Deities, and religious culture is not a material endeavor. But if

> ISKCON makes policy statements that directly or indirectly support those

> who would destroy all that we stand for, or if ISKCON's body politic

> unofficially sides with those who wouldn't mind seeing devotees dead,

> then we might get what we deserve--up to and including annihilation.

>

> Although ISKCON is not in the business of diplomacy and war, out of

> necessiity ISKCON could become an important player in the containment

> and destruction of Islam. Necessity would mean that ISKCON could lose

> an awful lot, if not itself, if it chose not to act. In the face of

> global Islamic Jihad, that is a possibility we have to consider. It

> took an alliance between the United States and the Roman Catholic

> Church to finally bring down the Soviet State. It may also be the case

> that a similar alliance of both material and spiritual resources between

> the West and India will be needed to reign in Islam once and for all.

> But then on the other hand, things may have to get worse before they get

> better. Perhaps Europe has to become Eurabia, and perhaps America has

> to get nuked into insignificance. Perhaps India has to yet again be

> overrun by foreign invaders, who have neither love nor sympathy for

> Krishna consciousness. The Muslim invaders who ruled India around the

> time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not have weapons of mass

> destruction. If Aurangzeb had nukes, poison gas, and biological weapons

> like we have today, what do you think he would have done with them?

>

> The world situation is such that even if we do not want to be involved

> in the nasty business of politics and war, for the sake of survival we

> might have to be involved anyway. That means being prepared, and the

> first step is to think a little more carefully about ISKCON's foreign

> policy.

>

>

> Basu Ghosh (das) ACBSP (Baroda - IN) wrote:

>

> >---------- Forwarded Message ----------

> >Text PAMHO:10350599 (35 lines)

> > Jayadvaita Swami

> > 06-Sep-05 15:29 (11:29 -0400)

> > X (All PAMHO users) [245]

> > What can a Hare Krsna devotee say about 9/11 ?

> >---------------------------

> >

> >ISKCON commentary concerning 9/11--surely one of the most dramatic

> >events in recent history--has consisted mainly of words of sympathy

> >for the victims and condemnation of the evil of terrorism.

> >

> >You can now find on Krishna.com an article that gives a very different

> >Krsna conscious perspective:

> >

> > A Distant View of 9/11

> > by Gupta Nama Dasa

> >

> >The article brings out teachings from Srila Prabhupada that seem

> >powerfully relevant. (And related teachings from Srila Prabhupada the

> >article doesn't mention will almost surely come to your mind.)

> >

> >The article appears at this address:

> >

> > http://www.krishna.com/main.php?id=659

> >

> >Or (easier to remember) you can find a link for it on my web page:

> >

> > www.krishna.com/jas

> >

> >I don't commonly send out messages urging people to read an article.

> >But. . . please read this article.

> >

> >Hare Krsna.

> >

> > Your servant,

> > Jayadvaita Swami

> >

> >

> > -------------------

> > www.krishna.com/jas