Have
you ever wished you had not been born? If so, when and why? Did your
parents ever say they wished you'd never been born? How did such
words affect your outlook on life (Serendipity Bible 10th
Anniversary Edition, page 1083).
These
girls [in India], who belong to the Untouchable caste, make dung
patties which are used for fuel and heat by members of all the
castes. This job was considered so unclean that other castes did not
associate with the members of society that performed it.
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp
Although
born into the Kshatriya caste, Mahatma Gandhi spent much of his life
working to bring the Untouchables equality. It was Gandhi who first
named the Untouchables "Harijans," meaning "children
of God." http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp
The
God of love spawns fecundity and vernal hope, generosity, industry,
and happiness. The god of hatred, rejection, and indifference spawns
despair and paralysis or, its partner, the the will to lash out.
One of the greatest oppressions of my time has been the tendency of society to exclude others from community life. It can take on the color of a caste system. It is common for young men in poverty stricken communities to come into trouble with the law. They then occur a criminal record. In America, anyone with a criminal record is anathema to potential employers. A criminal record hounds one for life and leads to despair. In our attempt to be and maintain employment citadels with unbesmirched skirts, we relegate others to the dust bins of society. We need to consider the bitter harvest that this incurs not only on the unfortunate, but upon the tenor of our own spiritual lives.
One of the greatest oppressions of my time has been the tendency of society to exclude others from community life. It can take on the color of a caste system. It is common for young men in poverty stricken communities to come into trouble with the law. They then occur a criminal record. In America, anyone with a criminal record is anathema to potential employers. A criminal record hounds one for life and leads to despair. In our attempt to be and maintain employment citadels with unbesmirched skirts, we relegate others to the dust bins of society. We need to consider the bitter harvest that this incurs not only on the unfortunate, but upon the tenor of our own spiritual lives.
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