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Promiscuous priests: Flings with the faithful

Every religion invariably preaches self-abstinence.

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Sudhanshu Ranjan

Senior TV Journalist & Columnist 

Every religion invariably preaches self-abstinence. But ironically, its representatives and priests indulge in carnal pleasure and exploit vulnerable and credulous women of their respective communities, taking advantage of their hallowed position. Many self-styled Hindu monks are cooling their heels in jails over allegations of rape and murder. Aasaram Bapu and Ram Rahim have already been convicted in rape cases by the trial courts. 

In the recent past, many nuns have charged fathers and bishops with sexually exploiting them. The latest brouhaha is against Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal. A nun from Kottayam has accused him of raping her. After exhausting other avenues, she has finally beseeched the ambassador of the Pope in India to conduct a speedy inquiry into the case. The Kerala police have confirmed the rape. As happens in every such case, the accused smells a rat calling it a design to besmirch his personal reputation and traduce his religion. Franco has done the same. 

Sister Mary Chandy, an ex-nun, had created a sort of tremor by her telltale autobiography, Nanma Nirnajavale Swathi (Peace to the one filled with grace). It has many harrowing stories of pregnant nuns and wayward fathers. Sister Jesme, in her book Amen: The autobiography of a nun, gave lurid details of activities inside a convent, and how she was exploited. This applies to most of the deras and ashrams also.

There is hardly any congruence between what the religion preaches and what its adherents practise. The hypocrisy is ignoble but largely innocuous. The situation becomes really dangerous when the so called protectors of religion become predators and prey upon the unsuspecting faithful. 

Initially, Catholic priests were not celibate before they became Popes who were legally married. Some were sexually active even after their election as the Pope while some others were accused of being sexually active during their papacies. Such relationships were adulterous and considered a mortal sin. So, the Second Lateran Council (1139) made celibacy a prerequisite to ordination leaving no scope for married priesthood. Christianity was opposed to homosexuality but Pope Paul VI was a homosexual. After becoming the Pope, he made his boyfriend his secretary. His successor was quite intelligent and liberal. He ordered an investigation of cardinals and bishops who belonged to Masonic Lodges which were outlawed by the Catholic Church. Only the most affluent of the world are their members. They perform secret rituals, comprising sexual orgies and things like that. The investigation revealed that many top Vatican officials were Freemasons. So, the Pope ordered to remove them from the office.

Communist leader late ZA Ahmed has written about an incident in his autobiography which created a sort of revulsion for religious rituals in him. It happened in the Naushahro Feroze district of Sindh. At a police station, he saw its in-charge Ghulam Qadir and all others suddenly standing up on the arrival of a gentleman. He was dumbfounded as he had never seen Qadir standing up like this earlier no matter whosoever came. Then Shakir, a friend of his, told him that the gentleman was pir saheb (a Muslim saint who performs daily religious chores). He further said that whenever a pir goes to another village and stays with someone, he is provided a young and beautiful girl who must be a virgin. The girl from a poor Muslim family becomes 'pirji dachi' (camel of pir) and the girl who is compelled to become pirji dachi once is condemned to remain so lifelong as she cannot marry. When Ahmed asked him why people accept this reprehensible practice, he blurted out, "Who has the courage to refuse? People consider these preceptors second God. They are the contractors of religion. Religion is what they say it is. We have accepted it as our duty to abide by them." Ahmed has written that Shakir was an orderly in the police department, and for him, he (Shakir) was Kabir, who acquainted him with despicable practices being carried out under the cover of religion.

Sex is a prohibited subject though scriptures deal with it. Phallic worship symbolises worship of reproductive powers of nature, and is associated with fecundity. Phallic symbols are found all over the world and are seen as an expression of the human desire for regeneration. In ancient Greece, phallic worship is centred around Priapus (the son of Aphrodite) and the Orphic and the Dionysiac cults. In Egypt, it is manifested in the worship of Osiris. In Rome, its most pronounced form was that of the cult of Cybele and Attis. This cult was notorious for its annual "Day of Blood". It was a unique festival in which the enthusiastic participants wounded themselves with knives. They also castrated themselves as it was an essential prerequisite for admittance into the priest caste of this phallic cult. In Japan, every spring, a large crowd assembles in Kawasaki City on a special occasion. It is an atmosphere of revelry as people chant and celebrate, but wait to get a glimpse of the venerated shrine paraded before them- a giant penis. It is found even among native Americans who had a phallic buffalo dance.

Hindus worship Lord Shiva, represented as a phallic symbol called the lingam. Hinduism recognizes two paths- pravritti (the outward path) and nivritti (the inward path). The first is the path of the householder who marries while the latter belongs to the hermit who does not marry. The householder drops his semen in the womb- of his wife (literal) and of his society (symbolic). Thus, he creates whereas the hermit, a celibate, does not shed his semen but reverses its flow which is known as urdhva-retas, symbolised as a hermit with erect phallus but eyes closed. So, he is excited by inner wisdom and power, not external sensory stimuli. Shiva, the hermit, is encouraged by the goddess to take to the path of the householder. This explains his marriage to Sati and Parvati, and his tryst with the Ganga, and the birth of his sons, Kartikeya and Ganesha. 

Saints like Raman Maharishi and Samarth Guru Ramdas did not have any guru. Even Mahatma Gandhi did not have any as he could not find anyone who had the requisite qualities of a guru.  Sex does not need to be condemned and stigmatized, but has to be consensual. 

Bertrand Russell, in his essay, “The place of sex among human values” has written, “I am in agreement with the church that in thinking that obsession with sexual topics is an evil, but I am not in agreement with the church as to the best methods of avoiding this evil. It is notorious that St Anthony was more obsessed by sex than the most extreme voluptuary who ever lived. I will not adduce more examples for fear of giving offence. It is a natural need, like food and drink.”

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