Friday, March 29, 2024
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The Church is Not Infallible

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Editor,

The article “The Other Side” by Albert Thyrniang (ST Feb 9, 2022) is a balanced analysis of the organised church. I have been following the exchange of views on this topic. Though the congregation in question is the Salesians, the debate is applicable to any Christian denomination, or indeed to almost any religious group.
There is no doubt that the church in India and in the Northeast in particular, has contributed immensely to education and health and to other social work like orphanages and homes for the elderly. Volumes have been written about these monumentally good works and rightly so.
But it is a mistake to conclude that the church can do no wrong. Apologists like Joseph Teron would prefer to sweep misdeeds under the carpet rather than engage in impartial critique. This paternal attitude is akin to treating parishioners like children, who should be seen (in church) but not heard. We are expected to regard priests and pastors as saints with halos, and any criticism is seen as disloyalty and ingratitude at best and sinful and ungodly at the worst. Those who question the church and refuse to be silenced are soon hounded out or leave of their own volition.
Any organisation that works in the public space must accept transparency. It is a law of democracy and guards against social injustice. Because of the demands of openness, it has been possible to shine a torch on grievous sins in the church such as paedophilia, gender injustice and violence, racism and discrimination, and pervasive corruption. Apart from these sins of commission, there are stark omissions. In Meghalaya, the church is deafeningly silent about coal mining deaths, violence against non-tribals, poverty of single mothers, malnutrition in children and degradation of the environment. The victims are all God’s creations and children.
I am from a family of pastors, church leaders and theologians, all wonderful people, and I have had my entire education in great Christian institutions. Yet I have seen more defensiveness than openness, and a tendency to cover up rather than cleanse.
My appreciation to Albert Thyrniang, a gentleman whom I have not yet met, for his balanced and constructive articles. Inside church circles these discussions can rarely happen, and it is right that he has aired his views in the public media.

Yours etc.,

Glenn C. Kharkongor,

Via email

An article that challenges

Editor,

At the outset let me congratulate Albert Thyrniang for his article “The Other Side” (ST Feb, 9, 2022). It is always a pleasure to read a no-holds barred article than one which tends to obfuscate and not come to the point. Thyrniang’s last article was an analysis of 50 years of Meghalaya’s statehood and 100 years of the Salesians in the North East. It was a brilliant analysis on both counts. He has done much homework to be able to come up with those facts and figures. The Salesian congregation should not be overly sensitive to these criticisms because it is only then that there’s scope for reforms. Institutions tend to decay with time and those who run institutions too tend to slacken and take it as business as usual if there is no one to point out the flaws. Since the church is a highly stratified and hierarchical structure it is near impossible to point out anything to superiors or even to colleagues and peers. It’s time as Albert Thyrniang says to see if the schools set up in the spirit of Don Bosco are now serving the elite of society and only those that can pay the exorbitant fees that such institutions charge.
The other day I met a young man who had a great desire to take up Mass Communication in one of the Salesian colleges for undergraduate studies but the fees for this course was so prohibitive that he had to settle for honours in a subject like Khasi which he didn’t really fancy. This young man could have been asked why he didn’t take admission in the Mass Communication Department and why he opted for something else. Such subject change could have been monitored by a committee overseeing admissions. But there is no soul in the whole process. Education has become a business that must be necessarily run on a business model. Where is the spirit of Don Bosco who continues to look down on the institutions created after his memory?
All these failings happen because there is not real introspection by those running these institutions. Perhaps they are too busy to introspect. But any institution, above all a Christian institution that caters only to those with good marks and paying capacity will not be different from any other private institution.
I wish more people in the church had the courage and conviction of Albert Thyrniang to write and admonish wrongdoing whether in politics or governance. As a Christian I am ashamed to see corruption being perpetrated by Christian politicians and the church remaining a silent spectator. Where do we go from here?

Yours etc.,

Lydia Kharkongor,

Via email

India boycotts Winter Olympics

Editor,

India decided to boycott the Winter Olympics hosted by China diplomatically when it was reported that a PLA soldier involved in the clashes with Indian troops in the Galwan Valley would participate in the opening ceremony. When India did not send any diplomats to participate in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, China responded that New Delhi should not make a “politicised interpretation” of the participation of a Chinese soldier involved in the clashes with Indian troops at the Galwan Valley as a torch bearer.
India had announced that its top diplomat in China would participate neither in the opening nor the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. India took the decision in the wake of Chinese state media reports that a PLA regiment commander who was injured in the clashes in the Galwan Valley was part of the Winter Olympics torch relay. India strongly criticised the decision taken by China and pointed out that it was an attempt by China to politicise an event like the Olympics. However, in China’s view, the torchbearers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are broadly representative and meet the selection standards. A Chinese official said that India should not misinterpret the situation.
It must be remembered that India had lost 20 soldiers in the clashes in the Galwan Valley in the standoff between the two militaries at Eastern Ladakh. China had lost 40 soldiers in the clashes but it has not admitted it yet. In spite of disengagement at a few points, the standoff continues in many areas along the LAC in Ladakh. Despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks, the conflicts between the two armies continue.

Yours etc.,

Venu GS,

Kollam

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