THE INAUGURATION OF THE TEMPLE

THE TEMPLE OF DEMOCRACY IS INAUGURATED

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28 May 2023 marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian democracy.

Till that day ‘temple’ was metaphorical. On that day ‘temple’ became literal. The New Parliament is a ‘temple’ in the sense that the old wasn’t.

In a democracy, it is from the will of the people that democratic rulers derive their authority.

In monarchies, it is from God or gods that rulers do so. [cf. The Doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings.] God was in invoked in monarchies, not because kings wanted to govern righteously, but because they wanted to take their authority beyond the reach of the people.

Theocracy and righteous governance are incompatible. We have an example next door –Pakistan- to prove this convincingly.

If a king owes his authority to God, he isn’t accountable to the people. He has every right to insulate his authority from the needs and expectations of the people. The people are obliged to support/endure the king irrespective of how he rules. It is impious to criticise, judge, or rebel against the king.

The inauguration unveiled the true pantheon. The question of first importance in the context of a pantheon is ‘Who’s the principal God?’ That also determines, which is the reigning religion of a country. ?

The New Temple was dedicated according to the rites of a particular religion. Marginal voices from other religions were accommodated on the side-lines.

This was bound to happen in a democracy in which numbers alone matter. The Constitution itself, laws and law courts included, remains dominated by this factor on the ground. A Constitution is only as good as the people who work its principles.

It is hard for ‘democracy’ ensconced in a religiously plural society, to remain secular. It will re-configure itself to the ascendancy of the majority community.

I accept this as a democratic contingency. The pressure of number dictates if ideals like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity (the four ideals stated in the Preamble to the Constitution of India) should be operative and to what extent. ?

What paves the way for this is the greed for power and wealth. Power is nothing power over wealth. It is so in religion, not less than in politics. If there is no money in religion, and the perks and pre-eminence that go with it, it will be hard to get anyone to be a bishop, for example.

All churches, as I have known them, belong to this pattern. Show me one church that does not hate democratic processes. Show me one church that does not fear the freedom of the believers. Show me one church leader who values ‘justice, liberty, equality and liberty’. Show me a religious leader who believes in the fundamental values of the Constitution of India; especially the responsibilities included in it.

I don’t expect from Hindus an idealism utterly unacceptable to my religious community.

Ask a Catholic if he will accept the Constitution of India in preference to the Canon Law, when the two are in conflict as they are in many respects pertaining to the fundamental right, say, of nuns? No Catholic will. Ask a Muslim if he will vote for the Indian justice system or for the Shariah.

Ask any bishop if he would welcome accountability in church finances. The answer will be quick and certain: an emphatic NO! How can there be justice, liberty, freedom or fraternity without accountability?

Truth to tell, the Hindus are far superior to us on the scale of tolerance.

India remained a secular democracy for 70 years because of Hindus. What little tolerance there existed was because of Hindus. [If you want an object lesson in Christian tolerance, just consider the relationship between the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Jacobite Church, two wings of the same denomination!]

Who trained the Hindus in intolerance? I’m afraid the answer is very un-flattering to us, and to the Muslims.

Hindutva is not Hinduism. It is the spirit of European Church-centric culture taking possession of the Body of Hinduism. It is the Spirit of Chruch-ianity in the Body of Hinduism. Hitler, not Lord Ram, is the originating Hindutva icon. Do I have to tell you that Hitler was not a Hindu?

The new Temple of Indian democracy, the democracy of Hindu Rashtra, will be less hypocritical than the secular democracy that we have seen so far. With overwhelming numbers on its side, the protagonists of the Hindu Rashtra have no need to pretend to be what they aren’t.

The inauguration ceremonies proclaim this shift, loud and clear.

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