So this will be my first post ever, excitement(?). I guess, seeing as my blog site is Be the Change I'd like to start by addressing a facebook group I came across today entitled "Ghandi was a racist". http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2217566906&ref=mf
Needless to say I was initially appalled and rather indignant that a group like this would even exist about such a glorious man. ghandi has been a driving force in my quest to discover my own personal beliefs. As a person dedicated to service I have constantly turned to ghandi for inspiration, most certainly I idolized him. and then...screeeeeeeech, this site. However, the site did present some interesting perspectives on Ghandi's early life that I was not aware of. I guess what ticked me off is that this group was making a blanket statement about a man who did so much to better the world. This was a response I left on their board:
"It seems to me that proponents of this group are equivalent to those who blindly call Ghandi a saint. I'm glad I found this site as it made me aware of the fact that ghandi was indeed human and had human failings. His attention was solely on promoting the rights of Indians and he was affected by the views of those around him. Basically what this group is arguing however is that a person can never change. Ghandi may have had issues of racism (note that calling a group a kaffir has been easily rebutted by those with historical background on the subject, as well the other arguments presented in this group are very open to argument, thus I say may) but his policies and belief's evolved. Like everyone, ghandi made mistakes, ghandi was subject to preferences and prejudices that he was raised with since birth, he had goals that he was willing to make large sacrifices for etc. One site notes that if ghandi had been scrutinized by the media of today he never would have attained the saintly status his memory enjoys. Spiffy, of course the same would be true of buddha, or Confucius, or Mohammed (though he's already well torn apart by fearful christians), and yes even jesus. How much literature is there on the life of jesus? next to none. So yes, ghandi was human, but he was also a highly influential man even outside of the sphere of india. His legacy has been extremely positive and has encouraged people throughout the world to seek peace rather than violence and to love rather than hate. That's the legacy he has left and that is why he is remembered as a hero. This group seems to believe that somehow Ghandi could throw off ALL the beliefs and ideas that he was born into, well that's impossible. While I agree that Ghandi had flaws in his character I would like to remind everyone in this group that EVERYONE has such flaws and you are no better than the people who completely ignore these flaws."
I'm actually glad I came across this site, it's dangerous to idolize any person to the point of failing to remember that they are human and have flaws. These flaws cannot be overlooked. For instance, it is the oblivious nature of followers that allow religions to have such power and reek so much destruction. However, the goal of this group seems to be the destruction of Ghandi and by doing so they blindly fail to recognize all that he did that was good.
*Writers note: I don't actually know if my response has any merit, few people can track my random thought patterns so I have given up on having deep conversations with the majority of my friends at App. Most that are able to keep up are all at least 2 hours away. I'm hoping that by starting this blog, as well as updating people on my travels, I'll be able to gain cohesion in my perspective on life. we'll see how that goes. The majority of my posts will be about my travels most likely, but from time to time I may vent my frustrations or post observations or news here as well.
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Needless to say I was initially appalled and rather indignant that a group like this would even exist about such a glorious man. ghandi has been a driving force in my quest to discover my own personal beliefs. As a person dedicated to service I have constantly turned to ghandi for inspiration, most certainly I idolized him. and then...screeeeeeeech, this site. However, the site did present some interesting perspectives on Ghandi's early life that I was not aware of. I guess what ticked me off is that this group was making a blanket statement about a man who did so much to better the world. This was a response I left on their board:
"It seems to me that proponents of this group are equivalent to those who blindly call Ghandi a saint. I'm glad I found this site as it made me aware of the fact that ghandi was indeed human and had human failings. His attention was solely on promoting the rights of Indians and he was affected by the views of those around him. Basically what this group is arguing however is that a person can never change. Ghandi may have had issues of racism (note that calling a group a kaffir has been easily rebutted by those with historical background on the subject, as well the other arguments presented in this group are very open to argument, thus I say may) but his policies and belief's evolved. Like everyone, ghandi made mistakes, ghandi was subject to preferences and prejudices that he was raised with since birth, he had goals that he was willing to make large sacrifices for etc. One site notes that if ghandi had been scrutinized by the media of today he never would have attained the saintly status his memory enjoys. Spiffy, of course the same would be true of buddha, or Confucius, or Mohammed (though he's already well torn apart by fearful christians), and yes even jesus. How much literature is there on the life of jesus? next to none. So yes, ghandi was human, but he was also a highly influential man even outside of the sphere of india. His legacy has been extremely positive and has encouraged people throughout the world to seek peace rather than violence and to love rather than hate. That's the legacy he has left and that is why he is remembered as a hero. This group seems to believe that somehow Ghandi could throw off ALL the beliefs and ideas that he was born into, well that's impossible. While I agree that Ghandi had flaws in his character I would like to remind everyone in this group that EVERYONE has such flaws and you are no better than the people who completely ignore these flaws."
I'm actually glad I came across this site, it's dangerous to idolize any person to the point of failing to remember that they are human and have flaws. These flaws cannot be overlooked. For instance, it is the oblivious nature of followers that allow religions to have such power and reek so much destruction. However, the goal of this group seems to be the destruction of Ghandi and by doing so they blindly fail to recognize all that he did that was good.
*Writers note: I don't actually know if my response has any merit, few people can track my random thought patterns so I have given up on having deep conversations with the majority of my friends at App. Most that are able to keep up are all at least 2 hours away. I'm hoping that by starting this blog, as well as updating people on my travels, I'll be able to gain cohesion in my perspective on life. we'll see how that goes. The majority of my posts will be about my travels most likely, but from time to time I may vent my frustrations or post observations or news here as well.
