Money and the Catholic Church

Let me first say that I am a very devoted catholic. I respect the church, its members and all the preaching’s of the catholic religion. The Catholic Church has always been very influential. Maybe the most influential among any religion. It is like a political party in some sense. Now, I have been going to church since I could remember (sometimes forcefully). But I always liked going to church, listening to the priest, and the choir, etc. It always made me feel good. And I was always in the habit of offering some money (small amounts) to the church which is very necessary for the maintenance of the church. When I moved to Houston, I started going to St. Paul's because it was close by. The church was not very big but sufficient for everyone. They had already started construction of a new church building adjacent to the old one. As the deadline for the new church came closer, there were more frequent announcements on the updates and how much more money was needed. St. Paul's is located in a nice neighborhood where people are loaded and can afford to help the church. As the final stages of the construction approached, I heard an announcement about how the marble, the glass, the crucifix, and everything in the church was imported. Eg. The glass came from Germany; marble was from Italy, and so on. Then I heard something that made me really sick; the new church cost over $5 million. And the mortgage was $55,000 a month. It took me a second to actually come to terms with those numbers. The first thing that came to my mind was the people dying in Africa, second was the homeless and hungry people in the world, the orphans, the people who have lost everything in this recession.....and here we 'Catholics' are spending $5 million on a church. I can't imagine how many hungry mouths that money would have fed.
I cannot stop thinking; do we really need a church made out of marble and expensive glass? Has our faith gotten so materialistic that we cannot see what is really important and who really are the needy? The bible itself says, “Feed the Hungry and Cloth the Naked”......never does it say, “Build a Church with the Best Leisure’s You Can Find.”
I am not saying that a church is not important. I know priests who have spent their whole life building churches; building Churches in places where churches were needed; tribal areas, rural villages, where no one cared for people who lived there. I totally understand the need for a church but I can never understand the need for a $5 million church........
And yeah....the priest at my church has an IPhone....

Bottom Line: Have we lost sight of the 'Real' meaning of 'The Word of God'? And are we leaning more towards the devil and his materialistic promises?

Solution to Corrupt Politicians....

Is there any country that does not have corrupt politicians? I don't think so. Doesn't matter if it is a powerful country like America or a growing country like India. There are too many politicians being indited on money and sex scandals. And sometimes their lack of leadership is shown by attacks on innocent people like the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. It is sad but true that the people in power cannot be trusted. The root cause of this evil is none other than 'MONEY'.
It is very easy for someone to be corrupted by money. So when politicians come into power, they have a lot of money at their disposal. Most of it comes from tax payers and then more from people who want you to make a few favors for them. You can go into politics with your ideals and ethics but if you are not a team player (that is if you are not corrupt) then soon you will be isolated or worse - disappear. So, how can this problem be solved?
There is only one solution: When a politician comes to power he/she should make theirs and their families assets public. The public who pick their leaders should have a right to know how much money their leaders are making. This also needs to start at the top of the chain and trickle down. This is the only hope to have leaders who can be trusted.
I know it is easier said than done. But if all raise their voice to implement this, we can have better leaders.

Bottom Line: Can we make a difference? Let's not talk...but act.
Let me know if you agree with this.

When the Battle is at your doorstep.....it really does get personal...

When the cold war was going on....I said, "I am glad to be kid. I will not have to fight a battle."
When the Hindu-Muslim riots happened...I said, "I am glad to be a catholic."
When 9/11 happened.....I said, "I am glad that I am not living in NYC."
Every time there was a problem in the world, that did not effect me, I was always glad to be on the other side. But today the battle is on my door step. Catholics in my parents city of Mangalore, India faced atrocities by the government.
BJP a hinduist party in India came into power a few months ago. Believe me when I say that these people only care about Hindus. They are responsible for every hindu-muslim riot that has occurred in India. On September 14th, a massive organized attack on Catholics and churches was executed by the party leaders. Several churches were ransacked, people beaten up and innocent imprisoned with erroneous charges. When the people protested, the police charged them with canes and tear gas. The police are arresting people for no reason and they state, "We are being told to do so by the higher ups." The worst part is that even the women including the nuns were attacked. Shame on BJP.
Catholics have always been persecuted and this is nothing different. And this incident is nothing different. There are plenty of missionaries in India who build churches and schools in tribal places. And the BJP party have always been there to crucified these helping people. I still remember when these illiterate fucking assholes burnt a Australian missionary and his son alive when they were sleeping in the car. His wife with a lot of grief said, "I forgive them." One of these missionaries is my uncle. My uncle who is a priest and other missionaries have spent their entire adult lives living in tribes and helping people who are consider untouchable by the society. These tribals hardly have any support from the government and are never accepted by the Hindus. These missionaries give them a home, education, and most importantly a religion to follow. And the BJP thinks they are 'CONVERTING' people.
What happened in Mangalore is outrageous. If you want to get the complete story, go to
www.daijidubai.com. I cant help feel outrageous and helpless. Today, I know how people feel who have been through these situations. The soldiers who fight for their country, the Muslims in India, the victims and their families of 9/11. I am one of them.

Bottom Line: Today the fight might be mine......tomorrow, it just might be yours.

And yeah.....I am back blogging.

KARMA.......do you beleive it?

I sure do. If you believe in Karma then you always think about what did he or she do wrong to deserve that. "What goes around comes around." You probably heard this before. I am a hard core believer. I also believe in something my mom always says, "Whatever you do, your children will pay for it". Even the bible says 'As you sow, so shall you reep".
So what made me write about this. I was always a little pissed of about China's hostile take over of Tibet. Tibetans always seemed to be calm, quite and minding their own business people. And China took advantage of this harmless country mostly inhabited by monks. I do not know what prompted China to do this but it left thousands of Tibetans homeless. Was that right? I personally do not think so. And I always thought that karma will come back.
On May 12th, 2008 northern China experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing thousands and rendering 100's of thousands homeless. Not to mention this is the year that China hosts the Olympics. It is really sad to see all those innocent people in pain. I count my blessings everyday that I do not have to go through that. But I can not stop thinking that Karma is playing its role. In real harsh words, China got what they deserved. I know that innocent people are paying the price but then again What you do in life, your children will pay for it. In this case, the governments innocent citizens (children) are paying for.
Can there ever be peace in this world? Is the world coming to an end because sins are rising? I don't know. All I know is treat others the way you would want to be treated. Because Karma is real.

Bottom Line: Whether you believe in karma or not.....it does not give you the right to treat others inferior.