Fwd: HPI, December 11, 2005

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murthy karumana <iishdb wrote: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 04:12:38 +0000 (GMT)murthy karumana <iishdbFwd: HPI, December 11, 2005Arun <arunkmen Note: forwarded message attached. India Matrimony: Find your partner now.Hindu Press International <hpi.listSun, 11 Dec 2005 11:39:01 -1000undisclosed-recipients:;HPI, December 11, 2005 December 11, 2005 Russian Archbishop Calls Lord Krishna an "Evil demon" Complete Text of Letter by Archbishop Nikon to the Mayor of Moscow 1. Russian Archbishop Calls Lord Krishna an "Evil demon" Hindu Council UK LONDON, ENGLAND, December 9, 2005: HPI note: The Hindu Council UK (office) sends the following press release. The first half

explains the issue, and the second is the actual letter from the Archbishop to the Mayor of Moscow, a letter no doubt to become a classic exposition of religious bigotry in the 21st century.Press release begins:Hindus all over the world have expressed outrage and anger after a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Nikon called the Hindu God, Lord Krishna an "evil demon" around the time of Indian Prime Minister's state visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Putin. In a letter to the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, wired by Interfax news agency on November 30, Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Nikon called Lord Krishna "an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God," and "a livid lascivious youth." The Archbishop further requested the Mayor to ban construc tion of a proposed Hindu temple in Moscow saying it would otherwise become "an idolatrous disgrace erected for the glory of wicked and malicious 'god' Krishna.Construction of the

temple to Krishna offends our religious feelings and insults the thousand-year religious culture of Russia," Interfax quoted Archbishop Nikon as saying."We cannot believe that in this age of respect and multi-cultural coexistence, a leader of the Russian Church chooses to make statements that are intolerant and disrespectful to one billion Hindus in the world," said Kishore Ruparelia, speaking on behalf of the Defend Russian Hindus Campaign launched in London last week. "The motives for spreading such hatred are clear - it is an attempt to discriminate and harass the Hindu community in Russia and stop them from building a temple," explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain. "It is unbelievable that a leader of such a powerful Church can make such disgra ceful and dogmatic attempts to instigate tension between different religions. This is completely against all principles of multi-faith coexistence and cooperation that ancient and inclusive

religious traditions like Hinduism stand for.""The statement by Archbishop Nikon of the Russian Orthodox Church has hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus worldwide," commented O. P. Sharma, President of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK. "It is an insult to the tradition of tolerance, peace and inclusivity that Hinduism stands for, and highlights the resentment that dogmatic and exclusive views on religion can generate."The president of the Association of Indians in Russia, Sanjeet K. Jha, said, "For centuries faith in Lord Krishna has been the very foundation of the Indian tradition of tolerance and respect for all religions and for all life. Therefore the shower of offences that Archbishop Nikon decided to publicly pour on Lord Krishna caused us intolerable pain and evoked bitterness and indignation in our hearts."According to several Moscow-based Indians, the discriminatory move by the Moscow government, the harassment of Indians by Russian

ultra-nationalistic groups, inspired by open hostility of some Church leaders towards Hinduism, is making Russia a less than appealing place for Indians to live. "Hindus are one of the world's most peaceful communities," commented Dr. Girdhari Bhan, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK. "In most countries of the world, the Hindu diaspora is law-abiding, integrated and productive. Archbishop Nikon should have considered the peaceful history of Hinduism before making such atrocious statements that wil l surely be rejected by people of common sense and dignity.""It is difficult to understand why a Hindu temple poses a threat to the Russian Orthodox Church in this day of respect and tolerance," added Ramesh Kallidai. "The only Hindu temple in Moscow had been demolished last year, leaving some 15,000 Indians and 10,000 Russian followers of Hinduism without a place of worship. Now the Mayor of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church are together trying to stop Hindus from

having a place of their own."According to Mr. Jha, In January 2004, the Mayor of Moscow Mr. Luzhkov signed a decree allocating land in northwest Moscow for construction of a new temple in place of the demolished one. This was followed by mass protests orchestrated by the Russian Orthodox Church against the building of the temple. In October, 2005, the Mayor repealed the decree and gave the order to remove a temporary Hindu shrine that devotees had erected from the allocated land. "Now, the Russian Hindu community in Moscow have no place to house the consecrated Deities they had worshipped for the last decade," claimed Dr. Mihir Meghani, President of the Hindu American Foundation. "This is a pity because this was the only Hindu temple in Moscow serving the spiritual and cultural needs of thousands of Hindus in Russia, and now they are left without any place to worship."According to Mr. Jha, the statement by Archbishop Nikon just adds to the exasperation felt

by Indian community in Moscow in regard to the razed temple. "With the old temple demolished and the new temple project thwarted at the very root, thousands of Indians living in Moscow feel utterly disappointed," he added.The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had discussed this matter with President Putin during his recent visit to Moscow. Putin has agreed to meet the Mayor of Moscow next week to find out more about the issue. On behalf of all the Hindu community in Australia, the Chair of the Hindu Council of Australia, Dr. Balasubramaniam said, "I strongly condemn the outrageous and shameful behavior of the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in denigrating the oldest religion in the world and depriving the peace-loving Hindus of Russia their right to practice their religion. Hindus have always respected all religions. India, which has a majority Hindu population, has always been a friendly country to Russia. It is only proper that the sentiments of a

trusted friend and ally are respected. We appeal to the Russian President Putin to intervene and stop this kind of outrageous behavior against the peace-loving Hindus of Russia. The international communities are monitoring the situation closely." 2. Complete Text of Letter by Archbishop Nikon to the Mayor of Moscow Hindu Council UK MOSCOW, RUSSIA, November 29, 2005: Following is the entire letter sent by the Archbishop Nikon to the Mayor of Moscow protesting the construction of a temple to Lord Krishna in Moscow:FROM:ORTHODOX CHURCHMoscow Patriarchate Ufa Eparchy 29 Sochinskaya street, Ufa, 450103, RUSSIA phone +7 (3472) 724990, fax (3472) 711226November 29, 2005TO:Mayor of MoscowY. M. LuzhkovDear Mr. Luzhkov,Situation with the construction of Krishna "temple" in Moscow does not fail to keep us thoroughly surprised for

the last two years. One might fear that this satanic obscenity is destined to be built right in the heart of the Orthodox Christian country of Russia - and yet, all of a sudden, not only due to the mass outcry of the people, but -- miraculously! -- even due to imperfections in the Russian secular law the construction of this citadel of idolatry has become impossible.Sec tarians and various so-called "human rights activists," whose activity for some reason is always anti-Russian and anti-Orthodox, are exerting unprecedented pressure on you as they did last year, and so does the USA - the pillar of "democracy" and the foremost international lobby of various cults. Under the circumstances, you may well be tempted to yield to the pressure and to fulfill the demand of Krishna followers to build their idolatrous temple for Krishna.But we are requesting you to ponder deeply on who this "god" Krishna really is, who is worshipped by all these almost "angelic,benevolent"

people who do not smoke, do not drink, do not eat meat, who "care" so nicely for the homeless by feeding them with idolatrous food and who may seem to work so laboriously and so voluntarily for the benefit of Moscow? Krishna ("black" in Sanskrit) has many faces, and all of them are abominable. Here is just one of them: "I see in Your body many, many arms, b ellies, mouths and eyes, expanded everywhere, without limit. I see You with blazing fire coming forth from Your mouth, burning this entire universe by Your own radiance. All the planets with their demigods are disturbed at seeing Your great form, with its many faces, eyes, arms, thighs, legs, and bellies and Your many terrible teeth; and as they are disturbed, so am I. Our chief soldiers are rushing into Your fearful mouths. And some I see trapped with heads smashed between Your teeth." And on top of it, this "nice god" reclines on a bed of snakes. This disgusting appearance is fully concordant with his

own self-description: "I am Yama, the lord of death. I am all-devouring death, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people."However, even human-like appearance of Krishna reveals an equally repugnant scene - a livid, plumpish, effeminate and lascivious youth.For Christians, Jews and Muslims, for whom it is commanded: "I [am] the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have none other gods before me" (De. 5:6-7) and "For all the gods of the nations [are] idols: but the LORD made the heavens." (Ps. 96:5) The satanic identity of Krishna is obvious from his own words: "Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me."Respected Mr. Luzhkov - can you really allow the idolatrous disgrace to be erected for the glory of this wicked and malicious "god" Krishna? The construction of this Krishna "temple" is a blatant offense of our religious feelings, and an insult to the millennial religious culture of

Russia, where the overwhelming majority of people, Orthodox Christians and Muslims, consider Krishna an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God. It is shown that even for Buddhists, Krishna is a negative figure, the head of black demons. Sikhs and Jains also consider him the most formidable demon. Of course, modern Russia is a secular state, based on secular laws. But can these laws screen our peoples from the judgment of God? Can the Russian Constitution abolish our common responsibility for our acts before God? The Holy Scripture attests that there have been quite a few periods of "religious pluralism" and the equality of "rights" of the followers of various "religious denominations ." We have already mentioned to you in our first letter what had happened to the united Jewish state after Solomon allowed for the construction of various pagan temples in the city Jerusalem: "...and the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God

of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant." (1Ki.11:11)Let us cite two more instructive passages from a whole many of kind, as described in the Old Testament: "Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. and he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab ma de a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." (1Ki.16:29-33). "Manasseh ... reigned in Jerusalem, he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them... . And

he set a carved image ... in the house of God." (2Chr.33:1-7)But their worship was not a triumph of religious democracy, but the "EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD" (1Ki.16:30) and "ABOMINATIONS" (2Chr.33:2), for which not only the idolater kings, but all of their citizens paid a heavy price. In the first case, they suffered from a most severe drought which lasted for 3.5 years, and then Ahab was killed in a war with Syrians. In the second instance, "Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon." (2Chr. 33:11).How much has Russia already suffered due to our sins in the former century? But have we got less crime and unlawfulness?! No, unfortunately. People has become as if blind and deprived of all intelligence, they engross in sins, they separate themselves from God's commands by their own earthly laws, they utterly d isregard history of

the past and commit the same blunders over and over again. The bitter words of Isaiah the Prophet, which he spoke over 2.500 years ago, now seem to be spoken just for our sake: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more." (Isa. 1:4-5).Some are telling us that Russia is on the way to prosperity, but the country is actually dying away in childlessness, in wanton promiscuity, in alcohol and drug addiction, millions of babies are killed by abortions, selected individuals become affluent while millions of Russians border on poverty, terrorist attacks strike relentlessly, separatists, who want to tear Russia apart, do not slacken, and sectarians are multiplying, who consider Brooklyn, Salt Lake City and Indian ashrams their homeland. They hate their own culture and history and think service to their s tate and its defense are a

grave sin. So do we really have to add more to the load of our unlawfulness by building idolatrous temples for demons on the land where they are still hated, in the Russian land where the clouds of faithlessness and libertinism have not yet covered the light of Christian faith? Therefore, we once again request you on behalf of all Orthodox Christians of Bashkir Autonomous Republic to not allow the construction of the satanic Krishna temple in Moscow.Respectfully yours, Nikon, Archbishop Nikon of Ufa and Sterlitamak, Derector of the Ufa Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church