Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Gandhi, India, The British & Inheritances

For reasons I can only guess at Pax Christi and Catholic Youth Services (Both of the UK) are pushing the teachings of that full-of-self, family abusing, opponent of human progress and attorney "Mahatma" Gandhi as an example for Catholic and other youth on this year's National Youth Sunday. It might be well to take a really close look at Gandhi and the British he so opposed as to what they have left to India and the world.

The British found the very disorganized sub-continent of India, misruled by petty and great tyrants, with poor roads made very unsafe by thugee (Worshipers of the goddess Kali, which devotees murdered in her name---And enriched themselves by robbing those victims), unequal treatment of the People under too many non-systems of law and the will of self-serving Maharajahs and other princes, suttee (All but mandatory suicide of widows), religious discrimination and wars-and-terrorism based on Faith differences the lack of any common language or good communications AND too many other evils and limiting factors to list here.

The British imposed order, law and some measure of justice. All, including the various tyrants, were brought under a more-or-less equal rule-of-law; Thugee and suttee were suppressed; The prior and many wars between princes were stopped and banditry across the North-West frontier was resisted; Roads were repaired and made straight and a model railroad system installed; The land was mapped, telegraph service (The first "Internet") was established; Trade was facilitated and some industries established (The basis of today's "Indian Economic Miracle"); English, now THE international language, was introduced and widely spread throughout that sub-Continent; Some measures towards the limiting of evils of the caste system were begun (And are still a "work-in-progress); The peaceful worship of God and gods was protected; And, other positive steps, too many to list here, were taken towards civilization.

What then was Gandhi's thrust and gifts to us---Directly or indirectly? A return towards primitivism, Hindi as an imposed and not neutral language; Resistance to law and order; Three "Indias" rather than one as accomplished by a genocidal division; Return to inter-Religious warfare and terrorism (Including the recent Hindu assaults on Christians as added to the jihad supporters violence towards everyone who disagrees with them); Uncontrolled and barely resisted banditry across the NW frontier; Military dictatorship in Pakistan as the only rational alternative to chaos or the misrule of Mullahs; AND, too many other evils and anti-civilization acts and results to list here.

"By their fruits you will know them".

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