Friday, July 3, 2015

Homosexuality: Judgment comes from God!

                                           -------------------------->Fr. Conrad Saldanha
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.    Isa 55:8-9

Humans, apart from the wisdom and grace of God, are the greatest enemy of humans, even collectively and in democratic situations. Even the choices they make are myopic and detrimental either to them or their children for generations to come. 

At a micro level, we disagree with the choices our parents make for us and then we commit worst blunders then them and the repercussions thereof are for generations to come.  Many a times we do not realize the repercussions because of the cushioning on account of the faults of the many that surround us.

The problematic:  when sin increases the increase leads to further increase because humans want to outdo one another.  

Our education teaches us to think wise, sound wise and be assertively self confident; as long as one is successful.  The only criterion for success is material gain: Achievements in school, in office, a better pay packet, a higher position in society, materialistic wealth, power and domination for self aggrandizement.

Who will attribute success to the many successful that have died ignoble deaths, lost to the world?  One such unsuccessful person in his own time was Jesus Christ.

He had a group largely comprising of unqualified fisher men and died the most ignoble death in the history of humanity.  Yet the truth that he died for stands firm forever for all ages and for all generations.  The fact that the church has stood in spite of the many corruptions and evil within its ranks for generations to come bears out a greater truth: the sacrifice of blood shed by Jesus Christ.

Kingdoms have come and gone but the church has withstood the many onslaughts despite the many corruptions within its ranks.  This is in not justifying the actions of the corrupt within its ranks, who have failed to live up to the teachings of Christ and act like Judases.

One such teaching of Christ which has withstood against the deception that the evil one throws up is the institution of marriage and family; Man and woman together are called into the union of marriage.

 But now evil men in high places in society and some in the church too want to break this doctrine of Christ under various deceptive opinions.  They want to give their view a sense of legitimacy through deceptive play of words.

Homosexuality is a prevalent and rampant disease of our time which needs not indiscriminate compassion but a discerned compassionate approach.  I say this because many in the church talk about a compassionate approach towards the homosexuals and which doctrine is misplaced.

When they talk about compassion they talk about rehabilitating them in positions of power in the church, without seeking to correct their orientation, which is detrimental and scandalous to the faith of the church.

For example; the bishop of an Archdiocese may rehabilitate his priest who could be a known homosexual and depute him for higher studies so that he may dish out a happy and gay message to the laity and on the other hand he may even condemn an ordinary priest who questions their wrong teachings.  It seems that the church is more comfortable with its Homo sapiens in homosexual heave!

Without moving away from its mission of compassion, which largely has been its forte, the church could then think about rehabilitating the individual after having sought their recovery through the implementation of the sound elements of its faith.

Does this love and compassion mean that the church should be silent about the evil of Homosexuality or the sin thereof?

Many in our generations, including certain leaders in the hierarchy have started trending the new language: “who am I to judge”?  Surely, in the subjective sense, we are no one to judge the individual who has committed an act as to the punishment and the legal clause to be applied, especially if that individual appears ever repentant. On the other hand we cannot be tight lipped about the judgment of God, as revealed in scripture and affirmed in the rich tradition, about homosexuality and which the canonical and inspired book clearly reveals. 

Hence one would not proclaim the judgment of God only if one doesn’t fully accept the revealed word of God, as God’s word (the Scripture is Canonical even for a Catholic). 

Every true Christian, that includes Clergy, religious, Bishops and even the Pope, are called upon to proclaim not their own judgments about sin and evil but what God has revealed through his word and as Catholic also through its rich tradition. If they find themselves in opposition to the revealed word or have difficulty in proclaiming what the revealed word has to say then they need to either repent or go back into reflection and acceptance of the word or step down rather than fool the people with a white robe and a dead spirit inside.

Primarily, it’s not your judgment or the Church’s judgment or the hierarchy’s judgment but it is the judgment of God and as Christians we are called to be faithful to God and not to somebody else’s opinions and reasoning’s:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor 6:9-11 (Bible)

On the other hand, when genuine Christian Leaders, in keeping with their faith, proclaims certain actions as sinful or morally as unacceptable then:

1.  They are not condemning (judgment of condemnation), but are only warning about an impending consequence.

Condemnation is the prerogative of God. A human being may be given that right to manage society or church, sitting in place of God.

Hence to look at it as a hate language or discrimination is based on false understanding of Christian faith.  Those within and willing to submit to the government of the church, then this judgment is accomplished in faithfulness to the law of God, so that the person is not lost forever.   Unfortunately the abuses of those who sit in such positions of judgment in the church are galore in our day; some of them judging on the basis of socio-psycho ideologies which have their basis in Satanism or a form of humanism which is myopic rather than basing themselves on the truth of the Gospel.

2.       It is an action of concern & deep love, in keeping with the Christian world view of eternal heaven and the consequences of sin in this life too, not only to them, but to others too and for generations to come.

3.       It gives an opportunity to the ones who are facing the problem to see their condition or at least to seek the truth about their condition and even seek help if necessary.  Many Christian have faced martyrdom in their action of love to warn the deviant; compare this with the self centered love of the homosexuals, which is a pure pleasure seeking exercise for selfish gain.  (cfr. Jn. 15: 13)

4.       It is this acceptance of the evil desires at work in them and the need to rectify that leads a person into close union with the Lord; who died, out of love for us in order to save each one of us from our sinful ways.

On point 2, there are enough scientific studies done on the evil effects of homosexuality and the impact it can even have on children who are raised up by such parents. This evil effect will only multiply.  And for a Christian such pulls of this disease is a result of the rejection of God at some stage in a person’s life or in the life of their family and hence the inevitable wrath of God is bound to fall on humanity.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.” Rom 1:18

What sort of a world are we building with mentally disturbed children, confused on account of the different orientation of their so called parents of the same sex?  - A violent generation to follow, disillusioned and depressed, confused and confounded.

This is just one of the consequences of the effects of sin. When the word of God addresses something as sin, it means that it is going to have a severe negative repercussions on the state of human relationships with various elements of nature and more so with the other.

On the other hand, as in pt. 3, to silence a society, in the name of discrimination and hate speech so as not to refer to homosexuality in any form as sinful, is only aimed at creating an intolerant society by forcing an absurd tolerance on the other whose mission is only love and means no harm but good.

Also, just as in case of a person with mental sickness it is difficult to tell the same to them about their real mental condition, likewise there is now a similar trend among the LGBT’s to refuse to accept their condition, even at times being violent to assert their hypothetical rights.

A pathological sickness or criminal tendencies brings a person under custody of someone; either a parent or a doctor or a rehab institution or imprisonment, etc. What will happen to a society when such people who need to come under the custody of someone now assert that they have equal rights and be given freedom to contaminate society with their unnatural orientations; as if the present evil of such criminals in positions of power is not enough!

Very soon, in the name of human rights and freedom, nothing will be considered a crime in society.

If they refuse to accept their condition then those among them, who are genuinely interested in addressing their condition and would want a solution to their problems, will lose out on it. It is like the denial of any serious sickness till the person realizes or may not realize till the end that it is too late to address it.

No society can be built on lose morality, every sound and surviving society has been built on sound moral principles, if not then it has vanished from the face of the earth like Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen. 18:22- 19:29). Thus we have the term Sodomy.


As for the church, the time is come to preach the gospel that heals and saves, through an earnest call for repentance and forgiveness of sin, with renewed zeal. It may result in a new wave of martyrdom for the faith and may the martyrdom not begin from the persecution that comes from within its rank.

Some quotes for further reflection in order to understand the mind of God as revealed in the Bible: Leviticus 18: 22-30; 20:13; 1 Tim.1: 8-12; Jude 1:7; Mt. 5: 17-19; Titus 2: 11-15; 2 Jn. 9,10)

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Should Christians dabble with Yogic Exercises?

                                                                      >>| Fr. Conrad Saldanha

(I was compelled to write this article in keeping with the urgency of the situation and the sham response of the hierarchy in India and Mumbai to the issue that is eating into the church like cancer)

The world will celebrate world yoga day.  While the Muslims have raised their voice against the imposition of yoga, the voices in the government have managed to appease them by removing the suryanamskar from the routine. 

The Catholics seem to have welcomed the World Yoga day minus the day chosen, which is a Sunday; a sacred day for Christian.  Otherwise they don’t seem to have any objection to the practice of yoga.
Why would the Catholic Church in India not object to Yoga and the world yoga day?

It is solely because the hierarchy themselves, in search of the concealed “ray of that truth” and in seeking to separate the good elements from the bad are indulging in yogic spirituality.  Unfortunately it is part of the formation in many of the seminaries in India too.

Could it be true that even the Catholic Church at the UN voted in favor of the world yoga day without assessing the deceptive claims? (Some of these false claims have been answered in this article without highlighting them)

Besides the practice of it, many from the hierarchy seem convinced and have either written introductions to books on the subject,  written or commented positively on the subject, conducted sessions and classes or invited others to do the same and some of them are even exporting it to other countries, earning for their lavish lifestyles. Some have either started ashrams or are even heading institutions which promote and claim that they use yoga to reach out in healing for the people; which percentage of claim stands in need of verification because deception is always a fruit thereof.

How compatible is yoga, even the so called exercise form (Hatha Yoga) with Christian spirituality? We need to especially look into what seems to be the most innocuous part of it: The so called physical exercises.(In reality yoga is not mere exercises but always referred to as postures (asanas). 

Unlike Hinduism which is free to adapt to a dual or even a multifaceted spiritual lifestyle, a Christian is supposed to be singular in his focus and cannot be dual in his ways, thinking and action. The word of God is supposed to be the primary focus and a basis for discerning and accepting every thought or action and these thought and actions are to ultimately be subjected to Christ through the Church's tradition and magisterium.  It is so because we are capable of self-deception, no matter how intelligent and hence the historical action of the Holy Spirit manifested through the rich Catholic Tradition and Magisterium needs to be respected in all humility

There are well defined moral standards too for a Christian, whether he puts it into practice or not. One is supposed to do so without any duality.

All this, for a striving Christian, is made possible on account of the Salvation which Christ Jesus has accomplished on the cross. Jesus offers one the hope, the healing, the health, consolation and courage and above all the eternal salvation.

Therefore, Yoga in any form is unacceptable to a Christian who believes in Christ Jesus, whether it is the meditations or the postures thereof because Christ Jesus offers us the fullness of salvation and not a partial one.  

Critical Analysis of the claims of Yogic exercises from a Christian point of view:

Yogic postures are incompatible with Christianity because it is incompatible with truth. In other words, it doesn’t have a basis in truth.  For Christians truth is the guiding factor. Unfortunately many may have been deceived into falsity in search of that 'ray of truth' when they either through deception or wickedness of heart missed the fullness of it in Christ Jesus.

The reason why yogic exercises have a growing popularity is on account of its many positive claims; some of which could be true but many are deceptively false, especially from a Christian world view.

Yoga, it is claimed has nothing to do with religion:  While many of promoters of yoga claim that it has nothing to do with religion there are some yogi’s who have clearly affirmed that it has everything to do with Hindu religion.  Some even accuse and condemn the Christians of trying to separate yogic exercises from the Hindu system and then condemn the Hindu’s as damned. Even though they may be disputes as to its religious leanings but no one seem to dispute as to its origin, which is Hinduism.  It should be noted that even if a Christian tries to Christianize the system, it cannot be accepted since it is rooted in Hinduism. 

Hence from a purely Christian point of view it has everything to do with religion, if one finds it difficult to understand that then let me put it differently: “Yoga and the postures thereof along with its goals and aims opposes the Christian understanding of Man created in the image and likeness of God.” And hence any such opposition to the Christian faith is a new religion or cult.

Secondly, for a Christian it is important to identify the source for further and right action. In the scripture, in the temptation narratives of Matthew and Luke when Satan comes to Jesus with the pure written word from the Bible, Jesus could have adopted the new principles of modern man in search of the 'ray of truth' in other religions and separated the written word of God from him and observed it diligently but instead rejects it because the source and the application of it is not in God’s interest and thus in the interest of humanity. 


Hence anyone claiming that the church has not taken a stand is only abusing his office to deceive the ignorant laity.  Similarly those suggesting that it can be safely practiced apart from its philosophy are already walking in deception and if they are shepherds then they should humbly step down for leading the flock astray for long and for acting to be wise in the ways of God.

Let’s arrive at the truth about the exercises from the existential point first:

The west, steeped in secular, scientific education and materialism, had failed to understand the Christian doctrine and many of them were left empty in their spiritual or psychological quest for God, peace, happiness, solace and relationships.  They had the money to buy everything but didn’t realize that the fruit of the gospel was freely available to those who seek it in humility in Christ.

Many entered into the deception of yoga because it claimed that it has nothing to do with religion. Their rejection of religion mired in the pride of education made it difficult for them to see the truth.  They may be right in their thinking from their perspective but specifically from a Christian viewpoint it has everything to with religion as you will see from the explanations below.

The Church, in such circumstances, too failed to communicate the gospel of hope to them.

Hence their materialistic pride thought them that they could buy everything, including truth and in return they got the deception they wanted.  (cfr. Rom. 1;17 ff)

No human being can attain God on his own wisdom, knowledge or efforts unless they humbly seek it, with perseverance: “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13 (Bible)

In the same vein yoga is considered scientific too. Though there are some verifiable facts about yoga and certain things about yoga can be verifiably affirmed but some the psycho-social benefits can be disputed about. What is apparent or may be initial benefits or a deceptive feeling of well being on account of partial difference may be claimed as achievements.

For example: India should have been a sporting giant on account of its roots in yoga and practice of yoga in sports but it is definitely a great giant in corruption and creating an index of unhappiness.  We still need foreign coaches and trainers to train our sports personals.

The following are the practical reasons why one gets into yogic exercises and how compatible is it with the truth and with the Christian world view: 

1.     To fight stress or for de-stressing: Most of the stress we experience is due to hurts, un-forgiveness, guilt, every day conflicts and trials of life or taking decisions which are incompatible with one’s abilities. If a Christian can handle these through prayer, confession and sound counseling then does one need to practice yogic exercise to de-stress? I have seen countless number of people being healed of the symptoms of stress through the right approach to prayer and through the Sacramental ministry of the church.

2.     To attain peace of mind: Yoga doesn’t offer anyone Peace of mind and those who claim that have not really experienced the real peace which Jesus offers to his followers. In fact what yoga definitely offers is a state of calmness and this is often or even deceptively referred to as peace. It is like a deceptive baker selling his bread as a cake because the natives have never seen a cake.

Since one may imagine that I am only disputing about words; let me explain: If one is disturbed on account of a public insult then yoga deals with it through its method of either breathing or mantra or physical exercises, either by ignoring it, rationalizing it or suppressing it. On the other hand the Christian deals with such disturbances in prayer, either through surrender, forgiveness, letting go of what one has held back. Further, to help the weak do it we have the wisdom of the cross and the grace thereof to attain the peace that surpasses all understanding. (Phil 4:6)

3.       For good health: Exercises do give us good health but do they deal with the problem at its root? What is the main reason for most of our ill-health? The few reasons for ill-health:
-        Our not being reconciled to the one true God is the primary reason for the ill-health we face in life and this ill-health working in us can ultimately lead us to eternal destruction, even though we may live long on account of our disciplined life of right eating, right sleeping, and right exercises.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.”  Rom 5:8-11 (Bible)
-          The bitterness of un-forgiveness can be also a big reason for ill-health and most of our sickness. What would be better: to eliminate the problem or to ignore or rationalize or suppress it or may be just rise above it?
-          The guilt of wrongdoing could affect us and lead to some deep emotional problems too. But yoga will seek to ignore guilt as bad and thus suppress or ignore it rather than deal with it  as catholic would do through the confessional.
-          The pain of deep hurt and rejection can leave deep emotional scars which again could be suppressed through physical exercises.
-          The deep rooted fears could be calmed too by yogic exercises with seeking to eliminate the root reason for it.
-          Likewise, many other emotional issues are not dealt with in the true human spirit and thus yoga rejects the truth of man.
Yoga through its exercises seeks the physical and spiritual bliss by ignoring the reality of the above mentioned problem.

4.       To lose weight/ slim down: On the one hand it is claimed that yoga brings about harmony between man and nature and deal with climate change and on the other hand it does encourage the reduction of weight through exercises; which means indulge yourself and then exercise to lose weight. Compare this with the ascetic spirituality of being frugal with our eating and drinking and thus donating and support the poor and orphans. Which would be more environmentally friendly?  Most of these yogi’s are such vegetarian fanatics that they would want to preserve the bovines in order to increase the green house gases in the universe but will not give up on their milk.

5.       To remain young and youthful: The new self is self-confident, seeks to achieve, believes in oneself and adopts a spirituality that helps them in their selfish ambition to be achievers at any cost. There is very little of the moral principle at work.  What is forgotten is that one could remain perennially young and youthful but lost forever into eternal damnation. Because scripture reminds us that God had reduced Man’s lifespan so that he may, reflecting on death would think of his creator and pay him homage (cfr. Gen 6:3; Ps. 39). Whereas yogic exercise has to lead you the other way: long life and youthfulness but eternal damnation. 

6.       For better performance: Indeed yoga could help one perform better in rote learning and may be alertness and in concentration minus the moral principles and emotional control! Unless one has brought their sense of morality along on account of their family or school background one is lost in the maze of a deceptively glorified idea. Much of the sound discerning wisdom is in the morality of life’s principles.  In India a cow may be of more value and may be worshiped than a human being.  I have seen how concern for human life is poor and the karma principle justifies the indifference. 

The immense evil in Yoga vis-à-vis the human being is remarkable: Though yoga may offer some of the benefits which I have acknowledged and described above but in keeping with its tall claim it ignores the moral principle in human nature and even the emotional nature of man.  The claim of peace, de-stressing, equanimity, etc is at the cost of ignoring of the human conscience. What sets human beings apart from the animal world is their conscience which at times even needs to be formed so that he may respect the other, not cheat or give false hopes and promises and make lofty statements of assurances and not fulfill them and give different value or meaning to the same word of assurance given.

All that unity and harmony that it claims to achieve in man is done minus/without reference to the conscience of man which is either ignored or suppressed or harmonized in oneself in order to create a new situation of health, harmony, goodwill, etc. But what appears apparently to be good is nothing but a creation of an intolerable world view that will not tolerate opposition to its ideological claims once it attains full power.  

Finally, a hint of the evil in certain physical exercise revealed in Scripture: “In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us."  This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.” 1 Macc 1:11-15 (Bible)

Choose:I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days,” Deut 30:19-20


For a still more detailed write-up on the subject I plan to write a book. Those interested could kindly write to me at frconrad@rediffmail.com with name, address and the number of copies.