A political party thinks that women are to blame for a lot of rapes because of the "provocative" clothes they wear, which arouse the animal instincts in males, who are by nature lecherous..... Apart from insulting the entire male species, this statement is not just sexist, but also perverted and escapist.
The new Pope is so conservative, that he has asked Christians to stop using condoms (what about AIDS sir?), stop family planning and he is said to be so conservative that even some senior priests have spoken out against him.
Islamic states in Asia seem to be reverting to hardcore islamic law in great numbers. This has led to incidents like the stoning to death of some women in Afghanistan and the gang rape of several girls in Pakistan......all in the name of law. These acts were actually advocated by the "independent law bodies" in these regions.
The President of the USA is so conservative that he too is anti-abortion, anti family control and his policies have sparked a wave of right-wing feeling across the nation, sparking killings, making life and travel miserable for certain communities and creating a state of paranoia so severe that a plane was grounded because passengers refused to allow on board an Arab wearing a turban!!! Things reached an all-time low when no other than Azim Premji faced such Hell in US airports that after returning he joked about changing his name!!!
The fastest growing opposition party in England openly proclaims that its view of England is as "a land for white Christians". A major political party in France believes that Algerian and black immigrants should be chucked out of France because they "are not truly French". Even a person of the standing of Zinedine Zidane was insulted by the leader of this party and the contention was that Zidane and some other players should not represent France in Euro....
Are these just one-off events? All of them? Or are they indicators that the entire world is just moving backwards into the dark ages? Or. of course, is it just me?
9 comments:
Of course it aint u,man.Somehow the world seems to get more n more insecure by each passing day.Folks want to cling on to wht they think is a way to insulate themselves against 'other people'.
They are going back to extremism, coz they fear free mingling will threaten their identity.Ghettos are formed so that the like stay together.None's really intrested in 'humanity'.Each wants to his race to outlive.Anybody outside his race isnt welcome.
Increasing polarisation based on religion,region and color is a bitter truth.It has become so prevalent,removing one/two leaders wont solve the issue.
Mindsets have to be changed.But then,easier said than done.If this is the way the world continues to 'grow',I wish for another Great Flood,one of Noah's times.Wipe out.All of them.Earth and it's future residents deserve better antecedents.
nice write up......maybe not dark ages but we're indeed moving to a blacker world....but somehow none of this seems to occur in rural villages esp whn i travel to interiors of kerala or maharashtra....everyone seems to enjoy living and loooks at everyone else as one's own.....mebbe "development" and urbanisation has led to formation of more silos !
---suhas
I feel very strongly about these issues too but its not a one off thing, nor is it the first time that people are becoming more insular. Just wanted to mention an something about our own Mumbai. A new law allows residential societies to bar certain sects (ethnic, relegious etc) from renting out flats in their comlexes. The Ex-Attourney General, Soli Sorabjee was defending this sick law on TV. Soon..we will be seeing Parsi and Muslim..and Hindu bulidngs. If gays in India ever managed to come out in the open, I shudder to imagine the hardships they might face in getting decent places to live.
It seems to be that, the older people become, the more insular their mindset. Am I right? I hope to God that I never ever become closed and resort to judging people and forming associations based on their ethinicity.
I feel very strongly about these issues too, but its not a one off thing, nor is it the first time that people are becoming more insular. Just wanted to mention an something about our own Mumbai. A new law allows residential societies to bar certain sects (ethnic, relegious etc) from renting out flats in their complexes. The Ex-Attourney General, Soli Sorabjee was defending this sick law on TV. Soon..we will be seeing Parsi and Muslim..and Hindu bulidngs. If gays in India ever managed to come out in the open, I shudder to imagine the hardships they might face in getting decent places to live.
It seems to me that, the older people become, the more insular their mindset. Am I right? I hope to God that I never ever become closed and resort to judging people and forming associations based on their ethinicity.
Zarine: Bang on about the paranoia about faith. The entire thing seems like, the more religious you are, the more extremist you become...the less you care about anything else....all that bothers you is to ensure that your "faith" becomes the dominant one....and then even the previously rational start trying to justify the most ridiculous things. I have heard people defend the "say no to abortion and family planning" rite as well as the "talaq" ritual and even "no inter-caste marriage" etc.....
Suhas: Sad to say, I came across several articles which point at the opposite. Like the 6-month long conflicts in interior Maharashtra and massacres in the coastal villages in Kerala and Orissa as well as mass-killings in Bihar (those are the norm).
Praveena: Yes, the new law is surprising. The earlier law was that co-operative societies had the right to refuse purchase to persons after examining their credentials. That was directed at anti-social elements and was a decent law.....this was scrapped around 4 years ago....the new law is asinine to say the least.....and of course, it's sad.....
I added you as a NOTED VISITOR Link on my Blog; I agree with you - the Dark Ages of the conservitives elite thinking is chocking us back to a time of limts and constrains.
Who are you? I keep coming back to your writing. It haunts my dreams.
Falconmyst: Bingo....and the latest move by US lawmakers against the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is symbolic of all this.....
Anonymous: Now THAT was a compliment!! As for who I am, well, philosophical question. Something noone has answered down the ages.... (Yes, I'm ducking it ;-). Am a student at IIML who's - hopefully - just got into the second year). Who are you by the way? At least a nick????
things r really deteriorating...i dont understand how religion, caste, color count more than humanity...the attitude of the ppl must change, i dunno when that'll happen...but each one can start with oneself...no point in waiting for the 'world' to change...
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