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Christ forgotten, Christmas celebrated
Posted by Indian Muslim Observer | | Posted in Editorial

The matter of the fact is that the two communities, Christians and Muslims, who revere and love Jesus in their own way, are at loggerheads with each other without taking any advantage of knowing the blessed teachings of Jesus, and that too on the behest of those who neither respect him nor recognize him as a true messenger of love and compassion. The Christian countries hailing from both the major Christian sects Catholic and Protestant have geared behind the minority sects such as evangelicals or Fundamentalist Christians of the USA for clashing with the sister civilization in the middle-east and the common believers in these countries are apparently supporting their warmongering Christian leaders. In a way the vast majority of the Christian world is either supporting these unjustified wars or chose to remain silent on them. This raises a question in the mind of a non-Christian, whether Jesus has been forgotten by his own followers although his birthday is celebrated each year with great pomp and show?
However, this year’s Christmas message of the Pope Benedict XVI on BBC revives new hopes in the strife-ridden world. On this celebrating moment, he prayed for God to punish the world's ‘oppressors’ and bring about ‘true brotherhood’. “Lord, make your promise come finally true! Break the rods of the oppressors! Burn the tramping boots! Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end!” Pope Benedict said at the Christmas Eve mass in the Sent Peter’s basilica. His angst and anxiety against the state of the world is quite clear. The reverend Pope who is supposed to bless the world on such festive occasion as Christmas is invoking the divine wrath on those who have spread conflict and violence in the world of God. This is tremendously an unusual Christmas message.
In order to understand the prevailing hypocrisy, let us examine the contemporary Christian life on the universally known Christian doctrine “Turning the other cheek”, exhorting a believer to respond an aggressor without violence. The phrase originates from the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. In this historic sermon Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:38-42, NIV). In Luke 6:27-31, NIV his these words have been recorded: “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. ….”
When this doctrine is seen against the recent aggressions of the west on some of the Muslim countries, this hypocrisy becomes even more pronounced. A few Christian dominated countries are playing contrary to this doctrine with almost unprovoked ill-will, vengeance and scheming against many nations. The US lead coalition has attacked Afghanistan in 2001 on the alleged charge that some terrorists protected by the Taliban ruled government had destroyed the twin towers of New York. A lot of ‘conspiracy literature’ available on the Internet successfully challenges this 9/11 allegation and creates a strong suspicion regarding the motive of the NATO invasion on this hilly country. How much blood has been shed thereafter in the entire ‘Af-Pak’ region due to this outlandish theory of ‘Islamic’ attack on the ‘Christian’ world! The world knows it evidently that Taliban, the abased militant group which entered the Afghan scene after the defeat of the USSR to fight the genuine militants there, was the brainchild of none but the America itself. Simultaneously, an imposed war has been waged on Iraq by the so-called coalition forces on the proclaimed pretext of a ‘pre-emptive’ measure against the would-be aggression of Saddam Husain through his so-far unfounded ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Two independent countries of the civilized world have been entirely destroyed, millions of lives lost, even more crippled and wounded and the peace in the major part of the world brought at stack. The sheer materialism and arrogance reined the western forces and the perverted media created a nightmarish havoc in the mind of common westerners and people in other parts of the world about some invincible ‘enemies of humanity’. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI there seems the lack of “strength to overcome the tyranny of might” as the world so faces it.
The modern protagonist of peace and non-violence Mahatma Gandhi remembers Jesus Christ as “a man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” Certainly, as other communities, Christians are also living a life which their faith could hardly endorse. Therefore, the Christ’s absence from Christmas celebrations is becoming pronounced year after year. In the wake, may the prayers of the Pope be heard and responded by the Heavens so that the world could become a peaceful abode for humanity at large!