tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post592156411574059610..comments2008-08-29T06:45:18.885-06:00Sherry Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17428918256547725187noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-40286743960853479392008-08-29T06:45:00.000-06:002008-08-29T06:45:00.000-06:00Thanks! :) GGAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-82890505558687416202008-08-28T10:50:00.000-06:002008-08-28T10:50:00.000-06:00good to hear both indirectly and now directly from Gashwin here! Missing your blog, but praying for you and your fellow seminarians.akosteckahttp://akostecka.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-3521870291848743072008-08-27T16:24:00.000-06:002008-08-27T16:24:00.000-06:00It's absolutely horrific and barbaric. India is projecting an image of a confident regional power, a surging economic powerhouse, with millions being lifted out of poverty. Yet, it remains an incredibly violent place. And such continued barbarism is a shame, or ought to be, to all Indians. <BR/><BR/>This latest bout of violence is almost certainly being politically instigated by the Hindu right wing, which wants to brutalize the Christian minority, and gain electoral victory on a wave of anti-Christian sentiment. Similar tacticts have worked before against Muslims. It's now the turn of the Christians. <BR/><BR/>The sad reality is that such brutal destruction of human life is not uniquely visited upon Chrisitans -- other minorities have felt it too. In 2002, the pogroms in the Western state of Gujarat targeted Muslims, and thousands were killed, some most horrifically, while the police looked on. Caste-conflicts riddle the subcontinent, where brutal massacres of lower-castes by higher-caste militias are too common to make the headlines in some areas. Where Hindus were minorities, they get treated similarly, as the Kashmiri Pundits fleeing the Kashmir Valley in the 90s experienced. <BR/><BR/>Human life is cheap in India. A Jesuit friend once told me, "Hinduism can deify everything -- except your neighbor." <BR/><BR/>[Lest anyone feel a bit smug that such things cannot happen in Christian places, let's just remember Rwanda please. The human heart contains incredible viciousness.] <BR/><BR/>Please pray for our sisters and brothers in the land of my birth. <BR/><BR/>GG (Who can't blog, but can leave comments.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244292116722597763.post-46930984701046099532008-08-27T13:01:00.000-06:002008-08-27T13:01:00.000-06:00There is no way to justify such horrible acts, but blessed are the persecuted indeed--this new set of martyrs will surely renew our strong Church.Catherine-Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17081143686670195779noreply@blogger.com