Skip to main content

Then Herod, Now Benjamin Netanyahu; The Pain And Helplessness Is The Same

 The crime is the same. The gospel reports of Herod killing innocent children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2: 13-18). Bethlehem being a small town, the numbers may not have exceed 20-25 children. In the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, Oxfam reports of Benjamin Netanyahu killing 11000 children. Both killings are in the same land of Palestine; both are done by two authoritative, insecure, leaders who find no other more creative, ethical, and honorable ways of problem solving; and now on a scale of 500 times bigger.  

“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children” said the spokesperson of the Unicef. Over 25,000 children have either lost a parent or become orphans, leaving them in deep emotional distress. Most children are grappling with anxiety and severe physical injuries, with many having lost limbs.

A nativity scene at the Vatican has been removed after backlash over its depiction of the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbol. Perhaps for them Jesus being identifies as a Palestinian was too much to bear, but not the killing of 11,000 children. Whether we like it or not Jesus was a Palestinian.

2000 years ago, mothers, fathers, siblings, and people of goodwill must have been frozen in pain and helplessness when Herod mercilessly killed the innocent children just for his personal advantage. The helplessness of people in so many countries, and I am sure even in Israel who disapprove of it in every way is the painful incompetence of modern world order. We boast of so much of rights and privileges; where is our individual right to act? Where is our collective right to act? "Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander" said the article, The world needs blue helmets who act as blue helmets by Hermanprit Singh.

holy Innocents, children, war,
On a deeper sense all three stand helpless in the hands of a few mindless, cruel authoritative leaders. I have seen helpless victims of war, who are abandoned by either their own country or attacked by another group, and unattended by any celebrated world organisations. I have seen soldiers not wanting to fight, kill, and destroy, still have to put on their military uniform everyday and fight wars which are inherently unjust. I have been, and I have seen helpless mothers, helpless civil society, who are condemned to be mere onlookers.

We have become detached and remote, now we have no power on whom we have voted for, what we have created, and who we have become. Recently in a session on protection of children and vulnerable adults, the speaker, Joy Sebastian reminded us that it takes a village to raise a child; and consciously and firmly he added it takes a village to abuse a child. However helpless we are, we too are guilty of the killings and wars against the innocent children. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Year, New Beginning

 The past year was different to different people. Some of us were very successful, won every battle we fought. Some others of us did not win every battle that we fought, might have found difficult even to get up from bed everyday, we just survived. But for both it is a new year. For those very successful, it is time to stand on the ground and not be overconfident, complacent, arrogant and egoistic. And it is also time to give back. And for those of us not very successful we have another new year with 365 blank pages, 365 blank days. It is a fresh new beginning. Start your dream and go all the way. “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth—not going all the way, and not starting”, said Buddha. Every New Year tells that we cannot eternally postpone important things in our lives. We must begin somewhere. How many lives do we have on this earth? One, two, three, four, or more? One of the foremost thinkers and philosophers of China, Confucius, four centuries before ...

2025 Must Create Its Own Art

  People are afraid of art, because real art brings the question and the answer into your house.   Tonight’s art becomes inadequate
and useless when the sun rises in
the morning. The mistake lies not in creating art for tonight, but in assuming tonight’s answers will serve tomorrow’s questions. Louise Bourgeois, a French American artist, reflected, “art is a guaranty of sanity;” but that guarantee must be renewed with each dawn, each cultural shift, and
each evolution of human consciousness. If some art endures through generations, it
is only because of its capacity to speak, its ability to demand fresh interpretations that test and challenge the new. To guarantee sanity in the coming year, 2025 must create
its own art. Why create art? Why watch art? Why read literature? True art, in the words of Sunil P Ilayidam, shakes that which is rigid and unchangeable. Art serves as humanity’s persistent earthquake, destabilising comfortable certainties and creating space
for new ways of...

Inter-religious Sensitivity in the Time of Covid-19

  I was religiously pleased and humanly excited to read the story of a Hindu doctor reciting Kalima Shahada for a dying Muslim Covid patient in Kerala. Beevathu, 56 year old, was all isolated from her family in a covid ward. She had been there for 17 days, she was on a ventilator, and it was increasingly clear that there was no hope. After the consent from her family she was taken off from the ventilator. Beevathu lies there between life and death. Nothing more to happen. But like any good dying Muslim, she perhaps wanted to hear the Kalima Shahada (the Islamic oath of faith) to be chanted to her by one of her family members; but there was none, the situation made it so. Dr. Rekha, a Hindu doctor, was attending to her all these days. She knew what was happening, and she also knew what was not happening. Dr. Rekha knew the words of Kalima Shahada , thanks to her upbringing in UAE. She went close to Beevathu’s bed chanted into her ears, “ La ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasulullah...

Human Empowerment Vs Technological Determinism

 This article, Seeking truth in a barrage of biases , presents an inspiring call to action for maintaining our intellectual autonomy in the digital age. Written by J Jehoson Jiresh, it addresses the critical challenge of navigating through algorithmic biases and misinformation while offering hope and practical solutions. The author beautifully frames our modern predicament - how even a simple online search for running shoes can shape our digital landscape - and transforms this everyday observation into a powerful message about reclaiming our agency in the digital world. What's particularly inspiring is the article's emphasis on human empowerment rather than technological determinism. The article presents three key strategies for hope and change: Active critical engagement to question assumptions and challenge biases Seeking diverse perspectives to break free from our echo chambers Demanding transparency and accountability in algorithmic systems Most uplifting is the article...

Fine Ways of Disregarding Vital Issues

 Observing the preoccupations of Pharisees, scribes and religious leaders of his time (Mark 7: 1-23) Jesus commended that they have fine ways of disregarding the commandments of God in order to maintain human traditions and interests. They put aside weightier matters to uphold human decrees. In modern politics we hear the jargon, ‘politics of distraction’. In a country of mass illiteracy and unemployment, farmers’ suicide, etc. politicians and other key people divert public attention by discussing building temples, girls wearing hijab to college, etc. Noam Chomsky, an American social commentator says, “The key element of social control is the strategy of distraction that is to divert public attention from important issues and changes decided by political and economic elites, through the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information.” The corrupt politicians must have learned this strategy from the pickpockets (or is it visa versa): they di...

Religion Must Help Greater Acceptance And Not Control

  What if you see people who never came to your church or never were part of the universal Church found with God; forgiven by god, loved by god, helped by god, and even pampered by god? Our average human spirit and mind will feel a bit of discomfort and repulsion. That exactly is what is happening with apostle John in Mark 9: 38-41. Membership in a religion in many phases in history, and religious practices like praying, church-going etc. has become tools and means of exercising superiority and control over others, or it becomes a means to exclude people. In the name of religion and religious practices we take control of what can be done, who can do it, what is good and bad, what is moral and what is immoral. This approach creates an exclusive moral, good, pure, and authentic race or people or group. We keep doing it as individuals and institutions for the fear of losing control over others. And that is the end of humanity. Stopping others from doing good comes from a sickening clo...

Awesomeness Vs. Negativity

 Some people are awesome. You know them by their presence. They bring happiness wherever they go. They stand with those who do good. They promote and recognise others’ thoughts and contribution. They appreciate people. They attempt to find answers and solutions to questions and problems. Others doing better and bigger things do not threaten or make them insecure. The opposite of awesomeness in social conduct is negativity. Stay away from people who have a question for every answer; and has a problem with every solution you find. Jesus went around doing good in every possible manner: he healed the sick, he fed the hungry. The Pharisees definitely felt threatened and insecure. They try to act out their authority (Mark 8:11-13); and asked Jesus for a heavenly sign. Jesus’ mind and ministry did not get stuck in the negativities around him. He did not get sucked into the drama the Pharisees were staging. He sighed and got on to the other shore. There he continued to do good. Jesus giv...

Zacchaeus’ Last Will

 Zacchaeus, as we know, was a chief tax collector and a rich man (Luke 19: 1-10). He, as any tax collectors of his time would do, used to collect much more than due, even by force and violence. Now we might say, in a very self-justifying manner, that I am not a tax collector, thus this gospel does not concern my life and me. The figures of a survey done on taxes; taxpayers and tax collectors could be quite embarrassing. 72% people do not pay taxes fully or partially. They cheat the country and the government. 26% of people pay the full tax, not because they love their country and its development but because of fear of being caught and punished; they are in a search of completely safe ways of evading taxes. The rest 2% are involved in collecting taxes. They cheat the country and people by collecting more and not correctly accounting for it. That leaves us with a 100% of ‘Zacchaeuses’ in our societies. Thus most of us stand in need of salvation for our families and ourselves. Zacchae...

Great Teachers Create Vocal Students

 Picture a classroom where questions are met with impatience, where unique perspectives are dismissed, where vulnerable thoughts are cut short. Gradually, hands stop rising, eyes avoid contact, and the once-vibrant space becomes a vacuum of missed opportunities and untapped potential. This silence is not respect—it is retreat, it is a silent protest, and it is dissent. When teachers fail to listen, they unwittingly construct invisible barriers. Students quickly sense when their contributions hold no value, when their voices are merely tolerated rather than treasured. The natural response is self-preservation through silence. Why risk sharing when no one is truly receiving? This silent classroom is a warning sign. A teacher who does not listen will soon be surrounded by students who do not speak. Andy Stanley has spoken about it on leadership, "a leader who does not listen will gradually  be surrounded by people who do not speak." It is true in every field, including educatio...