Da Vinci Code

As a Christian Indian myself I fail to understand the fuss about 'The Da Vinci Code' being screened across India. First of all, it is fiction. Secondly, why should people always be afraid of new ideas? If one has so much faith in their own religion, why fear when there are some sort of new questions raised. After all if religion is all about finding the truth, then why should truth be afraid of questions?

Jesus Christ himself asked people to change the way they thought. He replaced an old ideology in the form of the Old Testament with a New Testament. He was against hypocrisy and judging people. He was against the established religious leadership. He was against imposing his will upon others. Christ was about freedom, not bondage. One must remember that God never imposes His will on anyone. If He did, this would be a sinless world.

I fail to understand what is so bad about the book and the movie. It is a cleverly weaved action thriller and is super interesting to say the least. India is a free country and the Freedom of Speech and Expression is enshrined in our Constitution under Article 19. So I think it is time that our religious leaders should stop trying to impose their views on the rest of the people. If someone finds the film offensive, don't watch it. But let others watch it! Here it will be logical to quote the French philosopher Voltaire: "I disagree with everything you say, but I will until my death defend your right to say it". Freedom of Speech and Expression goes beyond a legal right. As far as I'm concerned, it's a divine right.

Tonga

The Pacific tsunami warning system needs to be checked thoroughly and improvised. Just a few days ago there was a massive earthquake in the Pacific Ocean next to the island nation of Tonga and despite a warning being issued to New Zealand and Fiji, Tonga - the closest island to the quake which would have seen the maximum devastation in case a tsunami actually formed after the quake did not receive the warning. This needs to be looked into and improvised to help in stopping a catastrophe like the Tsunami of 2004 which took over 200,000 lives.

Mahajan

The death of Pramod Mahajan after a 12 day long battle with wounds suffered by bullet wounds is a sad moment in our nation's history. It is also a sad thing that his death comes at the hands of his own younger brother. This act of fraticide will go down in history as one of India's darker moments. Brother has killed brother for unknown reasons and India has suffered the loss of one of its most promising leaders. Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the family of Pramod Mahajan and we pray for peace to the departed soul.

Judas

Judas Iscariot has always been condemned as the traitor who betrayed Jesus Christ. But there are some questions that need to be answered about Judas Iscariot. First of all, isn't that what Jesus was sent to Earth for - to die on the cross. Wasn't Judas just doing his bit in the divine plan? Remember in Matthew 16:21-23 where Peter tries to discourage Jesus from going to Jerusalem and Jesus says unto Peter, "Get thee behind me Satan."

Why would Jesus call Peter 'Satan' if he really did not want to die? Even in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asks God if he could somehow have "this cup pass over" him, but in the end says "Not my will, but thy will be done" it is obvious that even though Jesus was afraid of dying, it was essential to his mission that he die. So Judas actually played an important part in the mission of Jesus.

Judas also committed suicide after he accepted the thirty coins of silver. This could only mean that he was deeply distressed by the fact that he was the one who had to identify Jesus to the Jewish temple soldiers. Remember that if Judas betrayed Jesus, Peter denied Jesus - not once but three times that same night!

While I am not trying to put down Peter in any way. I am simply saying that maybe Judas was not such a creep after all. Maybe he has been demonized wrongly by the church throughout the history of Christendom. Maybe it is time to take a fresh look at the Gospel of Judas and the other Nag Hammadi scrolls. Why should knowledge of any kind be harmful if the so-called "truth" is so infallible? Why should the Gnostics be demonized and ridiculed if the church is so confident that it knows and professes the absolute truth. As a great man called Paramahansa Yogananda once said and said very well -- 'Truth is never afraid of questions.'

Barbelo

Barbelo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The recently found Gospel of Judas mentions that Jesus is from the immortal realm of Barbelo. I found that Barbelo has also been mentioned in some other Nag Hammadi literature like the Apocryphon of John. The link above is interesting and sheds more light on the immortal realm of Barbelo that Jesus is supposedly a resident of.

Suryanarayana

Today's murder of Indian engineer K Suryanarayana by the Taliban is a shameless and cowardly act of violence. It is time for the Indian government to step in and do something about the wretched Taliban. How many more Indian citizens will have to die in Afghanistan? The Indian government needs to be more firm with the Government of Afghanistan and make sure that proper security arrangements are made for Indians working in that nation and helping it develop.