Mohandas Gandhi is famous for his nonviolent fight for independence in India. He was a peaceful and powerful revolutionary admired by many across the globe. He was given the title Mahatma, which means Great Soul, because of the way in which he lived and led.
Gandhi was also a self-proclaimed Hindu. He believed that love, respect, and truth were the underpinnings of all religions and the basic foundation for a moral life. Once, when asked if he was a Hindu or not, he answered saying, “Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.” In the movie named after him starring Ben Kingsly he finishes a similar statement saying "...and so are you."
No one can deny that Gandhi made a positive impact on the world, especially in India. Nobody can deny that Gandhi did some great things and was sincere in his love for others as far as nonviolent practice goes. However, does that mean Christians can celebrate this Hindu (or pluralist) man?
What do you think? Can Christians celebrate the life of Gandhi? Why or why not?
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Comments (28)
The fact that he's a Hindu shouldn't discount or marginalize the role he played in India's independence, any more than the fact that some of the Founding Fathers owned slaves should discount the role they played in the US's independence.
" However, does that mean Christians can celebrate this Hindu (or pluralist) man?"
As a side note, there isn't any particular dichotomy between being a Hindu and a pluralist. It's quite common for Hindus to be pluralists. And not surprising, given the beliefs of some of the predecessors of Hinduism and its own development out of sometimes disparate traditions.
To answer the main question, I would celebrate the good he brought into the world. There is much to appreciate in his philosophy and practice of the same.
He also use to call Africans "kaffirs" when he was in South Africa and encouraged Indians to join the military forces to put down a Zulu rebellion after they were reduced to peonage after losing the Zulu wars.
I think people like you focus a LOT on Gandhi. It's interesting.
Depends what you mean by celebrate. It's good in the proper context to recognize any good that somebody does. But as you know concerning soteriology, it's irrelevant.
I am ashamed that this question was even asked, needless to say featured on Revelife. I am offended.
Do we have nothing else to debate and wrestle about? Are there no greater matters for us to ponder and meditate upon? Is there nothing we as a community of Christians need to address? Are there no other pressing matters that we need to Pray upon and ask wisdom from God, other than 'Should Christians Celebrate Gandhi?' oh my goodness.... 'Does that mean Christians CAN celebrate this Hindu?' What the heck...
To me this question implies that there is something wrong with celebrating Gandhi. That for other Christians out there, there is something that troubles their soul and conscious to celebrate a Righteous non-Christian man. It is something that we should not do and is from down upon.
Why is this even a question?! This is a freaking insult! This is how I feel I may be over-dramatic but I think there are others who might feel this way if they saw this questions, Christian or not.
Just because someone is not a Christian we can't give them respect or value there work? Wasn't Martin Luther King Jr. inspired by Mahatma Gandi? Don't you think he inspired a lot of other people? You highlighted all of the good he has done and yet still cannot give him respect? You can't give him kudos, or props you can't even celebrate him? You question that it might be 'wrong' to celebrate him, that others may also feel that we SHOULDN'T celebrate him?If you cannot do this much for this great soul, well then by all means to hell with even one else. All the other Hindus, Muslims, atheists and everything that is Non-Christians we shouldn't even give them a time of day.
If we question wheter it is right or wrong to celebrate Mahatma Gandi, then that doesn't mean we respect him enough to give him props (that's how I see it at least) and if we don't respect someone we cannot truly Love them. And if a man such as Mahatma Gandi cannot be respected then everyone else is Non-Christian does not even stand a freaking chance.
Do you follow my logic?
Okay I know that was long, but at the very least can you or anyone respond to
1) Why is this even a question?
2) Does anyone feel that we should NOT celebrate him and why?
I am open to anyone's comment or response to my message.
Ghandi was a Brahman who stepped over the starving, diseased bodies of Untouchables on his way to community organizing glory. I think Ghandi was a reprehensible person.
He was assassinated because he instigated nationalist and caste hatred.
Celebrate? I think we should be careful about putting too much attention and praise on any man. Everyone will let us down at some point. Balance is necessary. We can learn some useful things by examining a man's successes, but we also need to ask sober questions. What was his motivation? What limits did he place on himself? Where did he go wrong? Did he truly bring glory to God?
@viet1_n_only@xanga - I love that you have a passionate reaction to this. Honestly, I wrote it merely to see what conversations it might give birth to. Personally, I think discussing how we interact with people of other faiths and how we see them and their lives is important and worth discussion, even if this particular framing isn't the ideal way to do that (and despite that we're seeing different opinions popping up so that's nice). With that said, if you feel like there are other issues for us as a Christian community to discuss then I hope you'll be writing and submitting discussion worthy material that you believe truly builds up the community and can be applied to our lives. What do you think you'd submit this week?
There was a lot things he did that were wise and good. But there were also other things that by Christian standards of righteousness that would be considered strange and outrageous. For instance on a regular basis history records that he slept naked with groups of pre-teen naked girls in a king sized bed while he also was naked. Supposedly he was righteous because he could do this without having sex with them.
So he was a complete failure in that respect, but he was successfull in his political nonviolent pressure and means in institutional and governmental reform. But long before Ghandi was Jesus Christ whom also instituted nonviolent means related to the spread of the gospel that eventually infiltrated the highest levels of the Roman Government. I think a better measure of righteousness would be Jesus Christ.
I think we should be more educated of who he was and what kinds of things he did both good and bad, e should not celebrate him though. When he is compared to the millions and millions of Christian martyrs down through the centuries his light was not that bright compared to them. Should we be educated of him-yes, celebrate-no, certainly not.
Those quotes make him sound more like a Baha'i than an Hindu. But regardless, I would not celebrate him, nor any other man of the world. I can recognize him as a peaceful man, see that he appeared sincere, while also recognizing that he proclaimed a lie and a deception to many people that will lead them to rejecting the gospel of Jesus which declares Him as the One hope of salvation.
Also, I might add that I think rendering respect due and offering love is different than celebrating someone.
But we should have the wisdom to discern that he is not an example for us to follow because he chose a path that led away from Jesus. We know who we should follow, and we have His witness, both in the Bible and in the living Holy Spirit who dwells inside us, if indeed we have Him living and dwelling within.
I rejoice with every good deed.
@RobertLeeRE@xanga - Gandhi was able to achieve fame because he was opposing the British who were Christian.
Had Gandhi opposed Mao, Stalin, or Hitler or a Muslim imam, they would have shot him and every last one of his followers and left their carcasses to rot.
Christ gave Gandhi his victory quite literally. And then one of Gandhi's own Indian brethren sent him to meet his maker.
It doesn't matter how "good" a man appears to other men.If he doesn't believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only through Him can man be redeemed,then his goodness is nothing but filthy rags.Like EVERY man,Gandhi did good things,but he also did some not so good things.God uses everything we do and has a purpose for everything we do,but just because God uses bad things for good as well as good things,doesn't mean the person who did them is good or bad.
@sometimestheycomebackanyway@xanga -
Exactly, bravery is easier when you know nothing will happen. Like when movie stars quote horrible things about Christianity and they act like they are so brave and such reformers of the world. Well, quote the same things about Islam and they will kill you for that. Do that, and you truly will be a martyr, then I will say you are a true reformer.
Well, yeah! He did wonderful things for this world, regardless of his religion!
@TheGreatBout@xanga - Now that you state it like that I can understand where you’re
coming from, in wanting to see how other Christians interact with other faiths.
Even though you didn’t frame it in a perfect manner I still took some offence
to it because it sound like you implied ‘celebrating’ Mahatma Gandi was a bad
thing. Also in response to other peoples comment, yes ‘celebrating’ and paying
respect to someone are two different things and if we dove further into it
things will turn into more of a battle of semantics more than Ideology or theology.
Also the blog “I Don’t Understand: Words Christians Use” is a perfect example of the troubles of people interrupting words differently. Celebrating is a minor example when compared to other words.
I personally think it is okay to celebrate the man. I use celebration in terms
of “to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice, as through newspapers or novels”
(
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/celebrate the 3rd one). In my case by telling a friend or updating a FB status. I see nothing wrong with it and do not think there is anything with it at all. Even if the man is that a Christian and even if he has done wrong. He has done so much more good than a lot of people I know or heard about. A "Hey man its Gandhi Day" or "Have you heard about Gandhi" is not a bad thing.
@YourOuterCritic@xanga - I agree with you and how you see things. I just want to empahsis that its not a bad thing. Also correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that Gandhi was interested in Christianity and went to a church but due to some communication with the usher boy Gandhi was not allowed to sit in the front so he felt unwelcome and left. That was part of a sermon my youth Pastor told me years ago to highlight how we should treat everyone with well, you never know who they may be.
@RobertLeeRE@xanga - As for his short comings such as sleeping naked with a
group of pre-teens and not doing anything with them, well as stated that people thought him
righteous for it. So in some sense we can chalk that up to cultural norms and
differences, but I have to admit I did not know that about him and yes that is
mildly weird to me also. The thing about using the ‘culture card’ is it has the
same danger as using any other ‘card’ (ie. Race card) people use it too much
and expect it answer all questions. I agree that there are universal human qualities
in every culture and some things are just out-right-wrong-no-debate, but there are also many
other things that ARE due to culture differences and we should not down play
that fact.
I also agree that Jesus Christ would be a better measure of righteousness, he
is the Son of God. There are endless amounts of things that we can learn from
Jesus and one life time would not do it justice. However I do not thing it is bad
or wrong to learn from others. Some may
agrue why waste time learning from ‘lesser’ sources when we can learn from
straight from Jesus, I would say God’s Will has been done. If there is a good
man and he has done good things, then there is something we can learn.
This is also extended to millions and millions of Christian martyrs. I do not
like to think in terms of who is better or who isn’t. I find it a bit limiting that we only choose to learn from Chirstians, why is it so bad that we find good in other
religions? People are people, no matter race or religion. It is taught that we, as Humans, are all made in the image of God. I do not like to down play others of
different race or culture. I agree that we should educate ourselves more about others before we
make our decisions. However in this day and age that honestly requires too much
time and energy, with work, school and other social obligations I don’t think
normal people could do that (I’m not a full time philosopher or religious expert,
I’m a college student!) So because of that I try to look at the good in people.
@UnworthyofHisgrace - Yes, it is by God's Grace that we are saved and not through works.However I believe Ganhdi's mission was to free his people not to be viewed as a Holy Man. Those were lables and what not that others gave him not ones he strive to achieve himself.
The reason that I am going to such great means to defend Gandhi is because I feel so much hostility is directed against him that is uncalled for! Is it really necessary to call his goodness "filthy rags". He wasn't even trying to DO good, that was a result of something that we was working towards and doing in a non-violent way. I agree that God uses people, but I see it as a two way path. God also gave us free will, we can choose to do as we wish, wether that be a chef, party animal, or civil movement agent. I do not think it is right to glamorous and over-extend someones action but on the same coin there is no need to downplay it either. Now lets think outside the box a bit. Was it TOTALLY Gandhi's fault that he is NOT a Christians? Did some British minister not find it in his time to reach out to him? Should we, Christians, not shoulder some of the blame that we did not work in full effect to show him God's love? What would happen if he DID proclaim himself as a Christian and that he truly belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Truth? How would the religious demographic of India look like today if that happened?
Well that's all for abstract thinking for today.
I have much more to say about a lot of other comments. TheGreatBout just so you
know I refrain from making comments or blogs on topics like these because I
tend to get too drawn into them and things might get too heated. Plus I should do some chores and study =P.
I consider myself a Christian because I believe in the Trinity all 3
aspects of it The Father, the Son and the Holy spirit. However I refrain from
involing myself in a bible study group because of the same reason why I don’t comment
or blog, not having enough time and I get too riled up. I much rather read the
bible, pray, meditate and research on my own (granted I have not been doing
much recently). But to your last comment I will respond. I’ll post it on my
site so be on the look out for it and send it into Revelife.
@viet1_n_only@xanga - I know very little about Gandhi and my comment about our works apart from God being "filthy rags" is straight from the Bible.It isn't my wording.I was talking about anyone who thinks their works save them or put them in some better standing with God is a wrong thinking.In Christ,you have no greater standing before God.Yes,we are called to do good and treat others kindly,but we aren't to get so caught up in our works that we get boastful because our good works COME from God.Without Him,we would want nothing to do with good works.I was not trying to disrespectful in any way to Gandhi.He was a man just like me,able to make plenty of mistakes just like me and everyone else.We learn from our mistakes.If we don't we are a sorry lot for sure.Some of our mistakes cause conseqences we have to struggle with,but we learn and grow through it.I just started back messing with this site after about 3 years I guess so I haven't been on here much.I usually say what I want to say and go.If someone responds against what I say and it makes sense,I'll respond back.But if its just to be ugly,I don't bother to respond.I don't have time to piddle with silly discussions that really don't make much difference except to the person who wrote it.I'm sure studying Gandhi is interesting and he was probably in interesting man.I just don't get caught up in any man except the God Man Jesus.
@viet1_n_only@xanga -
Actually I was not pulling out the "culture card," rather I was pulling out the "religion card." This is a Christian website and a Christian discussion about Ghandi's common practice of sleeping nude with nude preteen girls when he was a middle aged man. To me this is kinda creepy in any culture, even in India. It is also a legitimate lifestyle to consider in the question of whether or not Christians should celebrate Ghandi.
Maybe we are all asking the wrong question. Maybe the question should be was Ghandi a righteous man? Did Ghandi do or say anything about the common practice of sexual slavery in India in the time he lived?
Here are a couple links on Ghandi's life that I think Christians should investigate on this matter. The first is text. The second is a you tube video by two famous comedians with interviewing of a Ghandi expert. Warning on the youtube-there is some swearing so if this offends you you might want to refrain.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1264952/A-new-book-reveals-Gandhi-tortured-young-women-worshipped-shared-bed.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlibA2Lt8T0
Of course they can, and they should. Goodness isn't limited to just Christians. Gandhi was a lot more decent than a lot of Christians I know anyway.
Someone in the world who is NOT a Christian? CAN THEY BE TRUSTED? ARE THEY REALLY AS GOOD AS ME???? HOW COULD A HEATHEN, NON-CHRISTIAN BE CELEBRATED FOR DOING GOOD THAT IS NOT IN OUR LORD JESUS' NAME?
Disgusting.
Yes we can! Why? Because I do.