Arrest of a Nun
Posted on December 7th, 2011
B. A. Aryatilake
The Island”,
Upali Newspapers Ltd.,
223, Bloemendhal Road,
Colombo 13.
The Editor,
Sir,
We must congratulate the National Child Protection Authority for arresting a foreign nun for running a home for supposedly mothers seeking abortions and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unwanted childrenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Matters such as these have to be regulated by law and religious bodies are the least qualified to do so. They have their own agendas. Sri Lanka is a secular state and the best method to regularize these problems is to make abortions freely available under strict medical supervision with optimum interest for the mother and the child. Human values are best upheld by secular morality and not by religious bodies burdened with ideologies which they are compelled to uphold and carry forward regardless of the ever occurring dynamic changes in global civilization. Those nations which fail to keep in step fall behind much to the misery of human beings.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Those institutions which label themselves as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-charitiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ actually run huge empires and spend only a minute fraction of what they collect from societies they pretend to serve. No information is available of how they gained and amassed their wealth and of their revenues. No accounting is made how the dispose this enormous wealth. Hats off to the N.C.P.A. for the bold step they have taken.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Yours faithfully,
B. A. Aryatilake
December 7th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Here, Charities collect money saying that they are helping poor children in developing countries. But, they are known to spend only about 4% of the proceeds that they get. Rest goes to their salaries, travel and other expenses.
December 8th, 2011 at 4:05 am
B. A. Aryatilake
Please, Please do not insult these charities for their support to thousand of thousand our own brothers & sisters .
December 8th, 2011 at 4:34 am
Mother Theresa’s good work is not continuing as when she was there. The dignity of her sect has dropped very badly.
There is NOTHING wrong in investigating this POTENTIALLY criminal incident.
If Malcolm Ranjith thinks he is above the law, tell him to learn the law. His cheap POLITICAL tactics are getting more obnoxious by the day.
December 8th, 2011 at 5:18 am
BAA,
I endorse lingamAndy’s statement that you should not insult these charities.
And are you quite sure that the nun was arrested “for running a home for supposedly mothers seeking abortions and “unwanted children”? That is not what I have read. You’d be well advised to check your facts and ensure you realize the import of what you are saying.
December 8th, 2011 at 6:06 am
If religious bodies run Orphanages, they must do so with the highest of ethics. It is a sad day if Mother Theresa’s good work in India is demeaned by bad ethics.
We feel that it is better to run all Orphanages under government management.
Also, birth control methods should be taught to teens & adults either at government clinics or in schools. It has been recently disclosed that Neem tree (leaves, bark) extracts yields good results for birth control. Please refer to internet on how to use Neem for birth control.
December 8th, 2011 at 7:46 am
Thanks cassandra
I’ve been to our mother lanka last year (after living 28 years in Western country ) & wend to so many charaties not only N&East all our the country, what a excelent job their are doing with limited resources.!
& Govt National Protection officers also doing excelent job to make sure all follow rules & regulations (law)!
This may be a isolate problm, of course this need to investigate, if any one found guitly should be put in the prison !
December 8th, 2011 at 10:08 am
The God’s emissary that came ashore to Sinhale soil with the Portugese in 1505 had a Bible in one hand, a sword in the other and an out size cross hanging round his neck. From that day onwards, for almost two centuries, Catholic Padres assisted the murderous Portuguese to raid and rob the wealth our nation. Not that only, these padres destroyed the very culture that firmly endured over two-millennium in this land.
That is a very brief history of the Catholic Church and what they have been doing to Sri Lanka in general and to save the soles of our ancestors at the outset but during the so-called exuberant period of the European renaissance.
In the name of the God, ancestors of this Nun watched gleefully the torture, the killing and maiming of those that refused to forsake Buddhism. Missionaries expected those that killed to plead the God at least at their last minute. Their pursuit was to save souls of everyone. Just like their brethren, who administered killings named heresy; these Franciscans missionary maniacs also believed that those who die as Catholics would go to heaven and all others to eternal hell. To them, even killings are acceptable so long as souls can be sent to be with the God. Perhaps I must mention here that it is the postulation against this belief that Vatican excommunicated Father Tissa Balasuriya at one time.
Padres and evangelists like this Nun may give the impression of being different to their ancestors. Some may participate in ceremonies together with Buddhist monks. But their aim is the same; they want to bite the ear dwelling in the horn. So I cannot but agree with Mr. Ariyathilake all the way.
Leela
December 8th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Leela
Ref: agree with Mr. Ariyathilake all the way
Please come out from that same old Mahavamsa(m) ! it won’t give rice ( sooru- bath) to any one of us !
December 8th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Andylingam,
STOP insulting SL’s great Mahavamsa.
We shall NEVER come out of the Mahavamsa mentality. That is the right mentality that saved us for 3,000 years.
If you insult the Great Mahavamsa (the Holy Bible of SL), you shall pay the price like that fat pig and his Dalit family did in Nanthikadal. We won’t hesitate.
December 8th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Leela,
To be fair, Portuguese didn’t use violence to spread Christianity among SLs. There is no record of it. Of course wars were violent but there is no record of them deliberately using violence as in Africa to convert people.
Even the king (Don Juan Tharmapala) converted peacefully and people followed.
December 8th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Yes, of course she used “gutter methods” of the Catholic Church to glorify the poor of India and amass vast amounts of money in their names to the coffers of the Bank of Vatican. In the process she vilified India and in particular Calcutta. The poor are abundant every where including US, Britain and other so called First World Countries. The Calcutta poor got next to nothing from her riches! They were just the advertisement for her demonic work.
This money goes on to make more money selling the misery and make even more money from the world gullible. This is how she has gone on to make thousands of convents of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. All these are money-making institutions that profit the Vatican. There are records that these institutions have been involved in many horror stories including selling babies for money.
The case in Sri Lanka must be fully investigated and the culprits brought to justice. The Catholic Church of Sri Lanka must not be allowed to be above the law and held accountable for every crime it commits including unreported pedophilia in their congregations.
The following is what a respected organization in India has to say about the so called “Saint of the Gutters”.
“India has no reason to be grateful to Mother Teresa”
Sanal Edamaruku
President of Rationalist International
“India, especially Calcutta, is seen as the main beneficiary of Mother Teresa’s legendary ‘good work’ for the poor that made her the most famous Catholic of our times, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner and a living saint. Evaluating what she has actually done here, I think, India has no reason to be grateful to her”, said Sanal Edamaruku, Secretary General of the Indian Rationalist Association and President of Rationalist International in a statement on the occasion of her beatification today. The statement continues:
Mother Teresa has given a bad name to Calcutta, painting the beautiful, interesting, lively and culturally rich Indian metropolis in the colors of dirt, misery, hopelessness and death. Styled into the big gutter, it became the famous backdrop for her very special charitable work. Her order is only one among more than 200 charitable organizations, which try to help the slum-dwellers of Calcutta to build a better future. It is locally not very visible or active. But tall claims like the absolutely baseless story of her slum school for 5000 children have brought enormous international publicity to her institutions. And enormous donations!
Mother Teresa has collected many, many millions (some say: billions) of Dollars in the name of India’s paupers (and many, many more in the name of paupers in the other “gutters” of the world). Where did all this money go? It is surely not used to improve the lot of those, for whom it was meant. The nuns would hand out some bowls of soup to them and offer shelter and care to some of the sick and suffering. The richest order in the world is not very generous, as it wants to teach them the charm of poverty. “The suffering of the poor is something very beautiful and the world is being very much helped by the nobility of this example of misery and suffering,” said Mother Teresa. Do we have to be grateful for this lecture of an eccentric billionaire?
The legend of her Homes for the Dying has moved the world to tears. Reality, however, is scandalous: In the overcrowded and primitive little homes, many patients have to share a bed with others. Though there are many suffering from tuberculosis, AIDS and other highly infectious illnesses, hygiene is no concern. The patients are treated with good words and insufficient (sometimes outdated) medicines, applied with old needles, washed in lukewarm water. One can hear the screams of people having maggots tweezered from their open wounds without pain relief. On principle, strong painkillers are even in hard cases not given. According to Mother Teresa’s bizarre philosophy, it is “the most beautiful gift for a person that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ”. Once she tried to comfort a screaming sufferer: “You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you!” The man got furious and screamed back: “Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing.”
When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Price, she used the opportunity of her worldwide telecast speech in Oslo to declare abortion the greatest evil in the world and to launch a fiery call against population control. Her charitable work, she admitted, was only part of her big fight against abortion and population control. This fundamentalist position is a slap in the face of India and other Third World Countries, where population control is one of the main keys for development and progress and social transformation. Do we have to be grateful to Mother Teresa for leading this worldwide propagandist fight against us with the money she collected in our name?
Mother Teresa did not serve the poor in Calcutta, she served the rich in the West. She helped them to overcome their bad conscience by taking billions of Dollars from them. Some of her donors were dictators and criminals, who tried to white wash their dirty vests. Mother Teresa revered them for a price. Most of her supporters, however, were honest people with good intentions and a warm heart, who fall for the illusion that the “Saint of the Gutter” was there to wipe away all tears and end all misery and undo all injustice in the world. Those in love with an illusion often refuse to see reality.
For more please Google – Mother Teresa is a fraud
December 8th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Lingam Andy
Stop that BS man . What nonsense you are talking about Mahavamsa
You should say sorry to Leela
Ratna pala
You are wrong about Mother Theresa . Shame on you who ever your are and what ever you do
I care less for you but I respect Mother Theresa very very much
Why in the world only in my motherland people are extremely extremely mean to other faith and race
The Government should pass Legislation asap to take the damn monsters like this fellow Ratnapala punk to cleaners for humiliating others faith
shame on you Ratna pala fellow
Think before you write or go to a mental hospital Pal to check your BRAIN
I am not going to read or write I am sick of people here who do not have respect or human tendency
I will miss brilliant minds like Fran Leela and Asoka Weerasinghe
BYe
I will pray for all of you .
ass to talk againt other religion ,
December 8th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
I will pray for all of you
what kind of Ass you Ratnapala to talk against other faith and Mother Theresa
December 8th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Dear Jimmy – Please don’t get offended. Simply ask the Catholic Church and Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith not to interfere in the judicial process. At the moment we have Buddhist priests being investigated for misdemeanors. We do not believe there is anything holy about the Catholic Church to be treated differently. Please read carefully what a respected non denominal organization such as the Rationalist International has written about the much venerated Mother. So there is no need to get personal.
December 9th, 2011 at 6:00 am
jimmy/Lorenzo/ Leela
I am not insulting Mahavamsam & I wil never do in my life !!!
I only insulting your mentality thats all , You know what I mean…..
Lorenzo
Ref:fat pig and his Dalit family
please advice which pages of Mahavamdsan have this word (Dalit)
Yes, i agreed That fat man paid his Karma …. Now We will pay our Karma for 40,000 killed in Nanthikadal???
December 9th, 2011 at 6:04 am
jimmy
Ref:talk against other faith and Mother Theresa
Sorry to say Mr jimmy please do not expect any positive from these striotype mentality people .
December 9th, 2011 at 6:48 am
Government says ‘sorry’ for nun’s arrest
Sri Lanka Government says it apologises for the raid of Missionaries of Charity Convent in Moratuwa and the arrest of its superior nun.
“This is a serious and very sensitive issue. The apology by the cabinet minister responsible for the subject is a clear indication of the government’s stand on this matter” Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told media on Thursday.
Interesting, the Govt apologies for the actions of the over-zealous Police force without (thankfully) any enquiry.
Does the Govt then take the blame for any inaction of the Police Force? say Silvas episodes
December 9th, 2011 at 7:14 am
The saddest truth about India is her ancient Caste structure, seemingly intractable because it is tied to the Hindu religion through the Laws of Manu . Though outlawed by the Constitution of India, the Caste issues still flourish in some parts of India. Other religions have taken root in India mainly due to Caste/Poverty issues.
December 9th, 2011 at 7:37 am
I am no fan or foe of Saint Theresa.
But I know for a fact there are a lot of Indian nuns in Western countries working in working in Saint Theresa’s organisations.
These Indians who run her down now has benefited from her to a certain extent and at least she brought some money to India.
December 9th, 2011 at 7:43 am
I just forgot something.
Portugese came with cross in one hand and a gun in the other, not a sword.
British came with a gun in one hand and the other hand waiting for the next cleaned and loade gun from the Indian foot man (fist were the men from the Madras Regiment) who cleaned and loaded the fired gun.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:12 am
FYI
dilshanF says:
We must NOT take this as a church or christian or any religious affair or offence. as you say no one is above law.
let me tell you from first hand experience:
In Srilanka legal adoption process takes place through the child probation office.
An officer will interview a would be adoptee couple and direct them with a document to see abandoned children and orpahns in government and privately run orphanages and homes such as prem nivasa. In fact prem nivasa also is home to abandoned differently abled children as well. You might find difficult to understand how anyone could adopt a deformed child. But Love superceded all human understanding, when it happen you see abilities and not diablilities.
This Home does not have fund raisers – I know personally one who supplies dryrations for the last ten years !. The children of the Anglican church go and play with these children that too i know.
What is wrong in this case is the way the newspapers pounced on this story as called it a baby farm.
In my imagination a ‘farm’ is a place where you produce items for sale?
This place is a refuge.
But as the Arch Bishop said let the law take its own course.
The sisters are not disturbed, they will pray – they are in fact not the least bit bothered. For them their master will look after them.
Dont rush my friend on a religious note here. I would have said the same if this home was run by Budhist nuns too.
This was a bad judgment call by the NCPA and punced upon by media as a big story.
Andy
Ofcause these church are above our human law !
December 9th, 2011 at 9:50 am
Lorenzo, I am sorry, I cannot agree with you in this instant.
Portuguese may have called themselves explorers around 1500 AD. But we all know that they sailed across the world in search of loot. ‘Franciscans’ and ‘Dominican’ missionaries not only blessed those pirates but cruised with them to plunder whole nations of their heritage. These ‘Franciscans’ and ‘Dominicans’ are the priestly lot that were put in charge of killings called the inquisitions in 1237 by the Council of Lérida.
Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804-1869) was the Colonial Secretary to Ceylon. In his book ‘Christianity in Ceylon’, he had written aptly about the sojourn of Portuguese and the Catholic missionaries that accompanied them in Sri Lanka. What he said in verbatim is; “there is no page in the story of European colonization more gloomy and repulsive than that which recounts the proceedings of the Portuguese in Ceylon.”
An eminent professor and a historian Tennakoon Wimalananda points out in his book; ‘Buddhism in Ceylon under the Christian powers’ that all colonial governments in Sri Lanka had promoted apostasy.
If that is so, one cannot say, Portuguese hadn’t use ‘violence to spread Christianity’. There cannot be any difference between Portuguese pirates or so-called explorers and the Catholic missionaries that accompany them. One needed the other to accomplish each other’s aim.
I shall write more on this if you wish.
Regards.
Leela
December 9th, 2011 at 10:29 am
I like to ask the author whether there is any mechanism exists to help these young mothers – either by the government or by non-religious private organizations? These poor girls are scorned by their families and by the so called cultural standards (which we are ever ready to boast about but rarely practice). Are there any charities organized by Buddhist priests to help these girls? When considering the well organized Buddhist clergy in SL, they have very little activity in social service despite some temples having large amount of wealth and ability to raise funds from public for such good courses.
December 9th, 2011 at 10:39 am
sena
I am not againstour Bhuddhist clergy or Hindu priest but unfortunatly We do not any ( almost nil) mechanism exists to help these young mothers !
This is from my own experiance in my motherlanka!
We should be very much thanks to these Christint Sister ! Also They get Well respect from every one of us ( including man in uniforms)!
December 9th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Leela,
With all due respect, those two references don’t necessarily infer using violence.
I completely agree they exploited us and others economically. And missionaries accompanied those pirates. Their economic exploitation and spread of Christianity went together.
But one was not accompanied by the other. The two were clearly separate unlike in Africa where violence was the tool to spread the religion.
There were 2 main kingdoms in SL – Kotte and Kandy. The Kotte king became a Catholic and SOME people followed suit. The Kandyan queen became a Catholic and SOME people followed her. The great Kandyan king Wimaladharmasuriya supported the spread of Christianity.
There is no documented evidence of Portuguese destroying Buddhist places of worship (apart from collateral damage from war). Kelaniya, Kotte, were some major Buddhist places of worship that fell under their control. No harm was done.
There is some “evidence” of Portuguese destroying MYTHICAL Hindu places of worship that really didn’t exist!
December 9th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Marco,
That doesn’t mean there were no crimes.
It is the POLITICAL response as usual. That is why the police is not “allowed” to arrest Mervyn or Duminda.
Police action will keep them on their toes. That is a powerful deterrent.
Prevention is better!
December 9th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Dalits were called Damila in Mahavamsa.
No pigs were mentioned but the place where one ugly, oily, fat, stinky pig died near Nanthikadal is called “Ura mala anthiya” by common folk.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Lorenzo
You don’t make sense.
or are you saying a crime may have been committed but due to pressure from her “first lady a pathetic political apology was warranted?
Are you also saying innocent people should be arrested just in case they may commit or suspected of committing a crime?
At least you agree with me, the Police Force and the Judiciary is politicised.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Lorenzo,
This is the first time I read a suggestion that violence wasn’t used as a tool to spread Christianity by Portuguese and their Franciscan friars in Sri Lanka.
Leave out those two books that I mentioned earlier, there are many writings that indirectly accept Portuguese missionaries had administered torture, killing and maiming to force the Buddhists that refused to forsake Buddhism and convert to Christianity. Francis Xavier and likeminded fanatics is said to have watched such gruesome acts gleefully expecting those that killed would plead ‘the God’ at least at their last breath so that they would end up in their God’s heaven.
The manner in which Msgr. W. L. A. Don Peter defends the horrid acts by then missionaries only make believe they were true. He blames not Francis Xavier like fanatics but their interpretation of the Bible for their pursuit to save souls of Buddhists. It may be that postulating against that belief of Franciscans missionary maniacs (those who die as Catholics only would go to heaven and all others to eternal hell) had made Father, Tissa Balasuriya excommunicated.
And, it is not just the two books that I mentioned earlier, there are many other scholarly texts on the subject of harm done to Sinhala Buddhists and their heritage by the Christian missionaries and particularly the Portuguese.
‘Portuguese rule in Ceylon’, by Tikiri Abeysinghe, Lake House Investments, 1966 is a must reading to learn very many of their plunders that include steeling of the ivory crown of our king and knocking down the beautiful ‘Kelaniya Temple’ that stood for more than millennia.
If one reads the writing by Fr. Duchaussois, O.M.I. Sous les feux de Ceylan, Paris, 1929, he will understand the true mindset of Portugese and the Catholic padres that accompanied them. In page 66 it accused the Dutch for saving Buddhism which was dying away due to the work of the Portuguese and Catholic missionaries.
Finally, not the last but the least; had Portuguese being that reasonable as you say, vast majority of people in this country would not have opposed when in 2002 RanilW had invited them to come and rejoice 500 years of their ancestors’ washed up to our shores.
Leela
December 10th, 2011 at 2:37 am
Marco,
Child protection authority and the police was doing their job.
Then came the politicians and you know the rest.
Nuns are not above the law.
December 10th, 2011 at 2:48 am
Leela,
I must admit I have not heard them plundering the Kelamiya temple or Francis Xavier using violence on Buddhists. There is scope for exaggeration too. But if they did, that is not right.
I don’t think Buddhism was dying away due to Portuguese pressure at that time. They only ruled the maritime provinces.
The invasion by the Portuguese is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. That is why people refused to celebrate in grand style the planned move by RW not due to Christianity or the way it was spread. But that doesn’t by itself prove they used violence for conversions.
But above all, RW’s ancestor (according to WW), King Don Juan became a Catholic and it was natural for people to follow the king. Also the very popular queen Dona Kathirina. These events may have led to more people converting than through violence.
December 10th, 2011 at 5:24 am
“British came with a gun in one hand and the other hand waiting for the next cleaned and loade gun from the Indian foot man ”
@Christie – Very good point! You are not a voice in the wilderness pal. To all those people endlessly criticising the Portuguese – HELLO … its the 21st Century. The Portuguese were driven out of Sri Lanka in 1658 by the Dutch. Have you ever met anyone who was alive in 1658? Portuguese are not torturing Sri Lankans today. (Who is torturing Sri Lankans today?)Then came the Dutch with their commercial exploitation yet they did acknowledge and absorb aspects of our culture (more than just the love of our spices). Then came the curse of the insidious British with their ideas of white supremacy over the entire planet separating the world into whites who were born to rule and non-whites who were born to serve them and not giving us any acknowledgment whatsoever for our culture. I sympathise very much with my Buddhist brethren as 16th Century Portuguese were totally ignorant of other religions and caused much destruction. If you think the Portuguese were bad for Buddhists in particular, the British had a much grander plan than merely subverting Buddhism.
I have got to know citizens of former Portuguese colonies from Macau to Mozambique, to Brazil, Malacca etc and although they have lost many (not all) aspects of their original culture, they all seem to have a lot more personal confidence and inner dignity to the poor masses of the ex-British colonies who were treated as “non-white subhuman filth” by the British and perpetually manipulated to think each and every aspect of their culture (not just religion) is absolutely worthless. Nowhere more so than India. Observe, and I think you start to see the bigger picture. I’m not defending any type of colonialism. All types of colonialism were designed to exploit but in Sri Lanka’s context, the British were here the last and I think the damage they did to the core self esteem of the masses is lasting and we are still feeling it over 60 years since they departed – partly due to our proximity to India, whom the British turned into a nation of coolies ruled by bootlicking elites, stepping over the prostrate bodies of their own low-castes sleeping on their doorsteps before they go to the airport to do their regular shopping and “cultural” trips to London. The Indian elites, STILL licking the British boots and at the same time LECTURING to us Sri Lankans about how to run our country. India has clearly failed to provide even the most basic of necessities for its masses so they are not qualified to lecture anything to other developing countries. Christie is correct and you dont normally observe this unless you have lived in different former British colonies and socially interacted with Indians who frreely “congress” with our Tamil separatists in these countries.
Britain with their Indian stooges have set up a 5th column of Sri Lankians who wish nothing but death, destruction and economic sabotage on their fellow Sri Lankans. Which Portuguese former colony do you see this type of behaviour? Was Tamil separatism a problem for Sri Lanka under the Portuguese or Dutch? Name one Portuguese, or French or Dutch colony where you see such a thing as this? Leela, please take some time to put these things into historical perspective. The biggest threat to Buddhism in Sri Lanka today is not the Portuguese! Its being swamped by a predominantly Hindu (with a sizeable Muslim minority and Moghul influence on their culture) India courtesy the British and English speaking world that fail to recognise Sri Lanka’s unique culture including her historical connection to Buddhism and see us as all somehow beneath their “Dalits”.
Now I am not saying we shouldnt have any interaction with the English speaking world. I think it is VITAL that we do, since they are so dominant in so many spheres, economically, culturally, educationally etc, but we should be very careful how much “advice” we accept from them or how much we copy from them. We should treat our interaction with India and the English speaking world like a dance with a cobra.
Portuguese? Who?
December 10th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Ratnapala
Sorry to call you a fellow, punk , Psycho in my prvious posts
apologize Brother
I was hurt when you say bad about Mother theresa whom I respect very much.
I have a picture of her in my office also
I am a christian ( I am not a catholic)
I have high respect for Mother Theresa and John Pope Paul11
I am in tears when I think of these man of God and woman of God
Millions of Cathoilics consider Mother Theresa as a saint ( atleast she will be a saint soon one step below I hear)
Catholics believe Jesus will answer their prayers thro Saints
You may not have known how important Mother Theresa is for Catholic christians because you are not a catholic but a Budhist
I forgive you for all your comments
There are many hindus , Budhists and Muslims living in many Christian Countries like USA, UK, Austtralia Canada
You have the right to practise your religion without fear . You can have your Budhist temple hindu temple mosque . You can travel anywhere you like
You have full freedom of your Faith in christian countries . You can walk with your robes any where preach anywhere. No question asked as long as you obey the LAW
You have full rights . If any one hurt you by words or actions you can take the person who hurt you to cleaners and make them Bankrupt. I have seen cases like this in the newspapers
I am a Proud Srilankan American. I have Budhist friends who go to Budhist temple here , practise their faith
and Hindus go to hindu temples and Muslims go to Mosques
It is a norm in a christian ( developed) Country that People do not insult any religion, and if they do in public either by speech or writing they might loose every penny they earned under the LAW if a person proves he or she is hurt
You do not talk against Vatican or Bethlaham. Keep it to your self please
Do not write bad about Mother Theresa keep it to your self please
Bye
December 14th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Jimmy,
I make a clear distinction between Christianity , Christians and Christian Church. The message of Christianity is praiseworthy. It has given solace and hope to all its adherents. The Christian moral code has helped people the world over to get through hard times and is the foundation of Western Civilization. There are many Christian Charities doing good work and Christians who genuinely have love and compassion for the downtrodden. Majority of the Christians are god fearing peaceful citizens of the world. They mean well, are good friends and good neighbors.
However the story of the Christian Church is different. From its inception it has colluded with the expansion of Christian empires and in the process have brought untold miseries to the world. The story of the gun on one hand and the Bible on the other – When they came they had the Bible and we had the land, now we have the Bible and they have the land – are not just saying in gesture; they carry memories of peoples who have been subjugated and impoverished. Christian Churches supported slavery. It has not being a force for the advancement of the human race but an impediment to it. The infamous Dark Ages speak volumes for the Church’s inhumanity and her famous Inquisitions. It has stood in the way of scientific advancement and even now meddles with scientific enterprise. Opposition to the use of contraception has brought about death and destitution to untold millions in the Christian Africa and rest of the world through AIDS.
In Sri Lanka it is not a secret that the Catholic Church openly colluded with the LTTE. I wonder if anyone can bring one utterance by the Christian Churches condemning Tamil Tiger Terrorism. I do not recall one Christian lay organization taking up issues with their churches for this dastardly behavior. They even likened Prabhakaran to Jesus. For these abominations no Christian took up issues with the Chruch. There may have been individuals but there was no organized effort to confront the stance of the Church regarding Tamil Tiger Terrorism. In the North they openly colluded with the LTTE and in the South they ran propaganda for the LTTE saying the “the War is unwinnable”. Majority of the Sinhala Christians sympathized and by their silence promoted the Eelamist agenda for the balkanization of Sri Lanka. In the North they were “Hunting with the hounds and in the South they were running with the hares”.
I very well take up what Jimmy has written that we should not speak ill of other religions. Religions are different from religious institutions. After over 2000 years there is very little in common between the teachings of Christ and the way the Church practices his teachings. When the church decides to enter the political arena and decides to play the kingmaker it looses its assumed holiness. It is quite obvious that the goal of the Church enterprise it all about power.
Just as much in the case with Prem Niwas, a few years ago the Catholic Church prevented the selling of world best selling novel – Da Vinci Code of Dan Brown in Sri Lanka. This act was one of the most depraved acts of the Sri Lanka Catholic Church and is one of the first actions of the newly appointed Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. Sri Lanka is a 70% Buddhist Country, but the freedom of our reading public was curtailed by this action. This is a book that is read and now even made into a box office hit film shown all over the Christian World and elsewhere.
In the case of Mother Teresa’s enterprises around the world is a much-studied subject and people are questioning about the Billions of Dollars she acquired. Many well-intentioned Indians are genuinely concerned about her enterprises in India and actually how much that country benefitted from her “compassion and largess”. Apparently the funds are in the infamous Vatican Banks– the Great Ali Baba’s cave full of stolen wealth.
If the genuine Christian is so much concerned it is up to him or her to get around with like-minded others and confront the church, beginning with the parish priest about all its misdemeanors (including pedophilia and now as in the case of Prem Niwas – Child abductions ) and make and effort to take the church to practice what was preached by Jesus. There is no point in feeling hurt or taking a ‘head in the sand’ attitude. You have to confront your demons for otherwise – it will be just another road to hell paved with good intentions!
There is simply no point in calling names, just takes up these issues with the “holy” Church and its leaders.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Thank you for clarification Ratanapala
You are a good man , appreciate your respect for christian faith
I am a christian not a catholic but have respect for catholisim . we all love and believe in Jesus
whether the denomination is catholisim or Methodist or Baptist or Pentecostal we all read the same Bible and follow the same master
True Christian who read and follow bible will never believe in Violence.Jesus taught us Love your neighbour as your self and also He said “for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”
I am surprised to hear Catholics were sympathatic towards Terrorists. It is very foolish to judge all catholics
as bad because there are some bad apples who were sympathatic towards terrorists
The bible says clearly
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not proud and does not boast.
Love does not do things that are not nice. Love does not just think of itself. Love does not get angry. Love holds no wrong feelings in the heart.
Love is not glad when people do wrong things. But it is always glad when they do right.
Love forgives everything. Love is always trusting, and always hoping, and never gives up
Look
There were innocent tamils who were killed in 83 riots by bad people among majority sinhalese
Shops, houses were burnt. women were raped
These bad thugs who did the horrible crime do not represent Budhisim or Majority peace loving kind sinhalese
Many tamils were saved by Budhists.
I defend sinhalese or Budhists any where and every where. No one has the right to talk against or bad about sinhalese or Budhisim because of few thugs who did the rioting in 83
we all have 2 choices either to live in the Past and make every one miserable or believe in a better future for all Srilankans
Let the younger generation lead the country .I am sure they have passion for unity and change
Seniors should not involve any Matters related to the Country They failed us all
People should be patriotic to the country they live in . All Srilankans in Srilanka whether tamils or sinhalese or Muslims should be patriotic to Srilanka and resolve all issues facing the country
MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PASS LAW THAT NO ONE CAN TALK OR WRITE AGAINST ANY RACE OR CULTCURE OR RELIGION
It will be very uncomfortable for people to live happily if they are attacked constantly either verbally or physically because of their race, cultcure or faith
Build more prisons all over the country and put the monsters who ever talk or write against other race cultcure or faith .No favors for any one . Law should be upheld
I am sure after few years the country will progress because no one talk against each otyer and People will be happy to call them as Srilankans