Contradictions in the Streets

While in India, there was a sharp and disturbing set of seeming contradictions in play. This is a culture in which the movie stars do not kiss in movies; they modestly just turn their heads to the sides, and the scene ends. Romantic physical and sexual contact are not a topic of conversation the way they are in the US. Yet, at the same time, we heard story after story of children being sold on the street for sex slavery, sex trafficking, and more. There were dozens of stories - among only the children with which we came into contact - about prostitution, child prostitution and rampant sexual abuse, exploitation and assault.

(In the home we visited for HIV+ children and women, the impacts of the "modest" culture were even more apparent. More on that in another post...)

A contradiction that was even more upsetting to me, personally, was apparent in the streets. There were people in various stages of dying all over the place. All over. Dirty, hungry, sick and broken. And they were literally in every direction your eye could look. How to begin to even fathom this fact?

In the course of our trip, a powerful observation was made by our collective conversations: India is a country whose culture is based on Hinduism. (Please know, I am not an expert on this subject - far from it, so please forgive me if there are places where I could be more accurate. My explanation here is meant to give rudimentary context, not theological instruction. That said... ) The Hindu belief system doesn't include within it the same kind of understanding of human life that we may have. There is no "self evident" truth that all men are created equal. In fact, within the framework of reincarnation, each person more or less has "earned" his or her station in life through a previous life or series of lives. So, the wealthy, well kept and healthy have earned their favor. Whereas the poverty stricken, starving and marginalized have, likewise, deserved their own situation. As I let this concept seep in, it began to make more sense - intellectually - why a people may not seem to give much care or concern for the unfathomably poor, but might also go out of its way to honor and protect cattle as they freely wander the streets.

One other specific comment was made that also had a huge impact on my view of these things: "It's a culture with as many as 300 million gods, and none of them care." Ah, light bulb. Regardless of your own personal view on God or the status of your relationship with Jesus, our western cultures are rooted in Christian beliefs (thank You, God!). We believe in the inherent value of human life. We are motivated to be altruistic. And, at the very least, we are sorry and sad for those who are in need.

A co-worker who recently visited India shared with me one of his experiences. He visited a Hindu temple, and although he was allowed to be there as a westerner (and Christian), as he approached the statues of some of the gods, the workers in the temple got very very busy covering the air with incense and other smelling powders. After he left, it was explained to him that the belief is that his smell - as a human - is a reminder of his presence that the gods (or at least that particular god) found offensive. The coverings worn by the woman he saw there, and the abundance of incense was meant to mask the presence of man. His simple reflection on this topic summed it up well: "We know God loves us and accepts us just as we are, so it seems so weird." Well, yeah, weird. And it certainly makes the structure of their world make more and more sense. I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks now, and has lent itself to a real sense of sadness for the people of India, and an inexplicable seed of understand about how their culture could be in the place in which it is. Pray friends. Please.