Tuesday, July 14, 2015

 

You can strip in church, but not on the mountain

A few weeks ago, British tourist Eleanor Hawkins and some of her friends decided to strip on top of Mount Kinabalu and, as a true tourist is supposed to do, to post the pictures on Instagram. Since the mountain is a sacred site for Malaysians, the authorities’ reaction was swift and decisive: all were arrested, spent three days in prison and had to pay a fine of $1000. I happened to be in England at the time, and what surprised me most was the reaction of most of the UK’s media. In one talk show the host called Eleanor “stupid and irresponsible” for not respecting the culture and religion of an Asian nation. When Russia arrested the rock band “Pussy Riot” after they played an obscene song inside an Orthodox church, the Western press was up in arms about such undemocratic behaviour of Putin’s regime.



So what distinguishes the two events? Why is one acceptable, the other not? I can only find one explanation: in Russia, it is Christianity that is being mocked, in Malaysia it is ancestral religion, and a number of years ago the West has declared open season on Christians. No Christian symbol has remained sacred (see Madonna’s CD cover touching her private parts while holding a rosary), and the values and convictions of Christians are considered offensive and intolerant. So it seems that Christianity can be freely made fun of, while others are off limits. Nobody would dare to make similar jokes ab out Jewish symbols lest they be accused of anti-Semitism, and those who mock Islam often have to deal with violent reactions, such as Charlie Hebdo.


My concern about these developments is twofold. First there is the tendency, within democratic societies, to discriminate against those who do not fit the post-modern mould. The call for tolerance has morphed into the tyranny of the silent minority. The second is the inability of people to see how important religion is to the majority of human beings: whether they are Muslim, Hindu, animist or Christian, a vast number of the world’s population still believe that there is a spiritual world out there, and it behoves human beings to respect it. Eleanor Hawkins’ act was first and foremost an act of pride, desiring to show the world that enlightened human beings are not bound by traditional notions of fear and respect toward the gods. But Eleanor and her friends reap far more for their act than a $1000 fine; they deliberately refuse to be open to a reality beyond the material. They are the poorer for it, and so is their society. And, even though they don’t know it, they undermine the very values that made the UK what it is: hospitality, education, love for the poor, care of the sick, all these are things that Christendom brought to this country; even now for example some of the most prestigious schools are those which teach Christianity and its ethics. Driving Christians into the underground will not cause a Charlie Hebdo reaction; but it will leave the public square naked, and Richard John Neuhaus used to say, and thus open for totalitarian forces. May the gods forbid that such a thing should happen…

  

Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?