Hope for India's Dalits (untouchables)

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the "untouchables" in India. This follows this post about the history of Christmas in the U.S. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

Hope for India's Dalits

A commentary by Jeremy Lallier

India's Dalits, once referred to as untouchables, are still struggling, but worshipping the goddess of the English language will not solve the problem. God's fair and equitable Kingdom will.

Although discrimination based on India's caste system has been officially outlawed for almost 60 years now, the prejudices still linger—sometimes prominently—in the country. Perhaps few know this better than the Dalits.
India's most persecuted class, the Dalits (meaning "ground," "suppressed," "crushed" or "broken to pieces") are the targets of violence, discrimination and even human trafficking in a country where they comprise perhaps a sixth of the population. Recently, IBN Live reported that three Dalits were fined an equivalent total of $1,013 for their crime...of drinking from a public tap ("Dalits Fined for Daring to Drink Water From Tap ," Oct. 17, 2010).

The "goddess of the English language"?

Some among the persecuted class have devised a plan they hope will provide coming generations with a brighter future—a temple to the "goddess of the English language." The temple, to be shaped like a desktop computer, will portray English as a deity meant to be worshipped and understood at a young age.
"The idea," says Dalit author Chandra Bhan Prasad, "is to make English a matter of faith among Dalits because we believe it is an empowering language. If a Dalit woman starts worshipping English as a goddess, there is no way her kids would escape the 'ABC' from their childhood" ("India's 'Untouchables' to Build Temple to 'Goddess of the English Language ,'" Telegraph.co.uk, Oct. 27, 2010). Some believe that such worship will better equip the Dalits for higher-status jobs and begin to erase the class's stigma of inferiority.
But will it? Could mastery of the English language really open up such doors for the Dalit people? Maybe. But could it erase decades and even centuries of deep-rooted societal prejudices? Unlikely. No matter how proficient or skilled the Dalits become, they will continue to face, to some degree, the prejudices of a culture that has spent hundreds of years regarding them as almost subhuman.
It's not a problem exclusive to India, either. In almost every culture, across time and location, we find a history of strained relations and ensuing atrocities—the oppressed, the enslaved, the reviled, the scapegoated, the slaughtered.
English will not—cannot—fix this problem. No language can, nor can any human. The root is so deeply embedded in our nature that our best attempts have only suppressed it; it has never been eradicated completely.
What the Dalits need is not a temple to "the goddess of the English language." What they need—what every human being, oppressed or oppressor, needs—is an understanding of the God who shaped the universe.

What matters to God

In the eyes of our Creator, the traits we often think of as defining us are inconsequential. The color of our skin, the nobility of our blood, our country or ethnicity of origin—all these things are meaningless when we stand before the One who created us.
What matters to God is not our social status, but the state of our hearts. In instructing ancient Israel thousands of years ago, the prophet Moses explained it this way:
"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you today for your good?..
"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing" (Deuteronomy 10:12-13 [12] And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
[13] To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

See All..., 17-18).
To put it simply, as the apostle Paul would centuries later, "There is no partiality with God" (Romans 2:11For there is no respect of persons with God.
See All...).

A Kingdom of true equality

God's way is one of equality. In God's vast eternal plan no individual or group receives special treatment. Princes and paupers are held to the same standards of right and wrong, and face the same penalties for abusing those standards. It is this system of equality that India and the world in general lacks—and it is this system that God will one day establish across the globe, never to be overturned.
As you read these words, God is guiding world events from His heavenly throne, preparing all of humanity for a Kingdom that will at long last enforce true justice for all peoples.

Thanksgiving Box Office: Red Dawn, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, The Flat, Rise of the Guardians

Here is an interesting article from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/ reviewing some of the movies that came out over the past weekend. This follows this post about some of the movies from last week and THIS POST about some movies that have been released over the past few years that you might have missed! This all follows this post about guidelines to chosing good movies to watch yourself!


Thanksgiving Box Office: Red Dawn, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, The Flat, Rise of the Guardians


By Debbie Schlussel



No MARXES for any of the new movies at theaters today for Thanksgiving. All of them were decent, some of them good.


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* “Red Dawn“: While this was better than I expected, it’s still somewhat schlocky and isn’t nearly as good as the original 1984 “Red Dawn”, which was much panned by liberal mainstream media movie critics but was actually a very good movie that stands the test of time. As you may know, this was filmed in Michigan and heavily subsidized by the Michigan Film Tax Credit. (A former trainer from my gym, Michael Knight, plays a Russian military figure.) It also sat on the shelves for about two years and wasn’t even going to be released except on video. But that changed, when its stars, particularly Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, became big stars. So, now, it’s a Thanksgiving movie, even though it doesn’t deserve that slot. And, as you’ve probably heard, this originally featured the Chinese invading America, but for international ticket sales reasons was changed to North Koreans (the movie used Detroit-based Asians of all varieties, many of whom look Chinese to me, not Korean).



The story: North Koreans invade America, particularly Spokane, Washington, the setting of this movie. Several teens (Hemsworth, Hutcherson, and several lesser knowns) form “The Wolverines,” a group of rebels who fight the North Koreans.



My reservations with this movie, as I’ve noted before on this site: our major enemies are Muslims and Chi-Coms, NOT the North Koreans, although they are bad. So the plot is absurd. It’s not even plausible that the North Koreans could afford to carry out such a major scale invasion of America. And all of the Wolverines in this movie wear keffiyehs, the Islamic scarf of death. Um, since when did the keffiyeh become the symbol of American freedom? The movie would have been far more credible had the movie been about an invasion of Muslims. But Hollywood would NEVER have the cojones to present Muslims as the invaders. Not politically correct. Plus, they have tickets to sell to Arab and Muslim moviegoers around the wrold. Back in 1984, Soviet Communism was the major threat we faced. Now, it is Islam and the Chinese. And the Chinese are doing it financially, not through a military invasion. So, this movie seems kind of comical.



It’s an entertaining movie with giant holes in it, and silliness, such as plenty of North Korean planes suddenly invading our airspace with zero response from the U.S. military. Then, there are thousands of HumVees, suddenly on the streets of America with North Korean military emblems on them. How did that suddenly happen without anyone knowing.



I liked that it shows a Marine who served in Afghanistan (Hemsworth) in a positive, patriotic light. But this movie is a cubic zirconium imitation of the original “Red Dawn.” Nothing too objectionable about it. But you should see the original, instead. There was absolutely no reason to remake it, other than that Tom Cruise’s son needed a gig, and Hollywood can’t come up with anything new.



ONE REAGAN


* “Silver Linings Playbook“: This movie is strictly for adults because of language and themes. It’s rated “R” for a reason. But it’s absolutely hilarious. I laughed and laughed. And, while I found it depressing at the beginning, it turned into a very happy, entertaining–if weird–movie.



Bradley Cooper plays a crazy guy who is released from a mental hospital to freedom, after severely beating his then-wife’s lover, after he walks in on the two of them taking a shower together. Cooper is delusional and still thinks his now-ex-wife still loves him and he wants to go see her. But there’s a restraining order out on him. Cooper’s parents are Robert De Niro (who, in a novel role for him, plays an Italian bookie) and Jacki Weaver (who looks and sounds like a dead ringer for Sally Struthers in this movie). Cooper drives his parents crazy, and soon his friends try to set him up with a mysterious woman (Jennifer Lawrence) whose husband cheated on her. She wants Cooper to dance with her in a dancing competition, and she and the dance practice are getting in the way of his obsession with finding his ex-wife.



Like I said, this is very funny, after being extremely depressing at first. But there is a lot of yelling and melodrama, which I could have done without. If you want a movie that is completely relaxing, this isn’t it. But it ends with a relaxing, happy conclusion.



TWO-AND-A-HALF REAGANS



* “Life of Pi“: After a storm kills most of his family and other passengers on an ocean liner, an Indian teenaged boy gets marooned on a boat in the middle of the ocean. He must endure and survive nearly a year of little food, plus he must find a way to live with a hungry tiger who is also on the tiny boat.



This is a lot like “Castaway,” but set on a boat and with a tiger instead of a volleyball. It was a good adventure and definitely thrilling, but most of it takes place on the boat in the ocean. And the ending is very annoying and a silly attempt to philosophize and play with your mind (which doesn’t work too well). The movie was a little slow and long, but it was entertaining. While it’s aimed at families and also kids, I wondered if kids might be scared by some of the violent animal attacks in a few scenes. It’s not a spectacular movie, but it’s okay.



ONE-AND-A-HALF REAGANS




* “The Flat“: It’s difficult to review this documentary without giving away the whole thing and engaging in spoilers. So, I’m limited in what I can say about it. I thought it was a fascinating, interesting movie, which made me think. At first, it blew my mind. But after I saw it and did some research into the object of criticism in the movie, I found that things were a little different than portrayed.



An Israeli Jewish director, Arnon Goldfinger, goes with his mother and other relatives to clean out the apartment of his maternal grandmother’s apartment after she passes away. His grandparents were proud German citizens who left Germany as the Nazis came to power, but despite living in Palestine and then Israel, they still thought of themselves as Germans. But, while going through his grandmother’s things, he notices something odd and disturbing, which he looks into further. And the more he looks, the more disturbing it gets. Goldfinger finds out some disturbing things about his grandparents and their friends, having to do with the Holocaust and the Nazis. With this movie, he’s opened a hornets’ nest. And after the research I did after the movie, I’m not entirely sure that Goldfinger is entirely fair to his grandparents. Plus, they aren’t around to answer.



I believe that part of this documentary was staged because, I wondered, did Goldfinger really have the cameras rolling, just in case they found something interesting in his grandmother’s apartment . . . or did they re-enact that part, once they did find that “something interesting?” It’s something I always wonder with these documentaries in which the cameras are already rolling when something “just comes up” that becomes the basis of the documentary.



Go see this movie and let me know what you think.



TWO-AND-A-HALF REAGANS



* “Rise of the Guardians“: This animated movie is aimed at kids and families with kids. The animation and 3D are fabulous and amazing. Can’t say as much for the story, which was fine and not objectionable in any way. It’s just that it was dull, and I felt like I’d seen it a million times before. Also, beware that uber-liberal maniac Alec Baldwin voices the Santa character (called “North” in this movie).



The story: when the bogeyman (called “Pitch”) turns kids’ dreams into nightmares and makes them stop believing in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and other imaginary characters. Those characters, including Jack Frost, are the “Immortial Guardians” of children, and Jack Frost leads them to stop this and fight off Pitch.



Fine for kids and families.



ONE REAGAN