Left, right, left: The impending crisis of religion in a Left majority polity

The Left is back in power in Kerala. Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan is at the helm of affairs and Comrade Achuthanandan is rumoured to being given an advisor’s role with a cabinet rank. The public may have a lot of opinions on who should be Chief Minister and who not but ultimately it does depend on the decision of the party or coalition who has won the election. We may even have our own theories and opinions about the ministers without actually knowing them but it is within their rights to be given the chance to head a particular ministry.

As a church member what intrigues me though is the way that churches and other religions have conducted themselves during the course of this election and afterwards. On the one hand various churches find the Left alliance anathema and completely against the church values and on the other hand you also have churches or church leaders, priests and laity who have embraced the Left because of a perceived closeness to the Kindom values preached by Jesus. Many have given press conferences, preached against and even openly threatened candidates in their own religious way. Some of those candidates lost while some others won. Interestingly many churches have followed the easy route of immediately claiming the victory of candidates who have won, as theirs, and also claiming to be the spoil sport in the case of certain losses. We do not know how far this is true but what we do know is that there is a tendency to side with the party or alliance that has won.

This is now what is also happening in Kerala. The BJP has campaigned hard and won a lot of votes but only one seat, the Congress is cooling its heals waiting for a come back the next time around and the CPI(M) led Left alliance is basking in glory with a well-deserved victory. Political parties have their ideology and their election agendas. But what about various religions and churches? Are they supposed to change their ideology and belief with every election or is it a given that they will follow one particular ideology and that is based primarily on love?

Is the Left coming back to power bad news for churches in Kerala? It depends on how you look at the Left and what about them you are discussing? It is true that the churches should have no problem to accept liberation of the masses, upliftment of the poor and equality for all even if the Left takes that forward. The interpretation of the Left as a Godless movement has changed over the years with several leaders openly professing their faith in God. But churches or church leaders will have a problem with the Left if churches are pro-rich, anti-poor and against equality. On the other hand blindly supporting the Left need not be what a particular church has to do. Violent and revenge filled politics practiced by certain sections of the Left can’t be accepted and justified by the church as okay and acceptable.

Religion and churches in particular will find themselves immersed in a crisis by supporting whichever party that comes to power for their own needs at any particular time. This is because the people in the church will understand the double standards being played out. It may be true that the Left may have not been able to rule out gender and caste issues within their flock but they have been able to do something about it. It may be true that all Left leaders are not living a simple life style but there are many people who are called with respect as a “Communist comrade” (going on to mean just not a leader but a person respected by all for his/her simple life style ) by people from all walks of life. It may also be true that the Left has not reinvented itself to attract the modern generation but there are educated and inspirational leaders who are doing just that.

When the church is pleased with the victory of the Left, is happy that it has come to power, shouldn’t there be an introspection as to why God may have allowed such a thing to happen? Will the church when supporting the Left work on deep and contentious issues of gender and caste within the church so that a Left leader who has come up from a very difficult background is truly and honestly welcomed into the church? Will the church start preaching simplicity and ordinary living by practicing it at different levels in the church starting from the top? Will the church reinvent itself to prevent being obliterated and becoming completely irrelevant for the younger generation?

The coming of the Left is a nice thing in a state like Kerala. Kerala has seen much change happening through successive Left governments and no one can take that away from them. The church aligning with the Left is not anti-religious or non- Christian anymore. The church, however inspired it is by the word of God and by God’s revelation can go wrong when leaders misread the sign of God because they misunderstand their way as God’s way. Movements like the Left have shown through UPA I that an irritant is necessary to keep bad things at bay. The church can learn a bit from the Left movement about gender and caste consciousness, about simplistic living and about new trends in society. Similarly a close proximity with the church can also make the Left realize that violence won’t lead to solutions and positive results.

It is a welcome change to see the Left and the church together. But unless it is used by both to bring about quick change and benefit for the people, this is going to be an alliance of convenience which is going to give more strength to caste-gender- power and violent politics, which will be such a shame after showing so much promise.


Picture courtesy: www.foxnews.com
Bolivian President Evo Morales presents Pope Francis with a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle.

Why dislike the left?

Conformity is the biggest global rule master in all forms of governance, be it national governments, organisations, religious groups and society. Thinking out of the basket is therefore seen as abnormal and absurd. When one does that, he/she is categorised as a difficult person and one who wants to rock the boat. Therefore education, training, advice is all given to make one conform to the constructed majority opinion and way of things. This being the case one cannot question, differ, and disagree. The church goes through the same framework of constructing those who conform.

One of the stand-out symbols of closeness and fellowship that a Christian priest performs is the drawing of the cross towards the congregation and praying for another, placing the hand on the forehead. This is invariably done with the right hand. But why the right hand one may ask? Why not the left? Some priests I know are left handed and yet they have to train themselves to be right handed. Children who are normally left handed are made to change themselves and use their right hand by their parents. The parents are worried about how their daughter/son would survive in a world of right handed people! This clear discrimination is conformed to by the church as well.

The recent assembly polls in Kerala leaves one asking whether it was a victory for the Congress led UDF (United Democratic Front) or the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI (M)) led LDF (Left Democratic Front). A wafer thin margin managed by the UDF is already giving the Congress a severe headache courtesy their strong allies. This time the various church leaders in Kerala except a few did not openly canvas for a particular front. But churches have largely been on the defensive over the open vibes put forth by influential members of the Left. Even recently a youth wing leader asked the church leaders to keep to the spiritual upkeep of their flock rather than interfering in things which should be left to the government of the state. Today the CPI (M) party secretary talked of the loss of votes due to the interference of religious and caste based groups in Kerala.

What should people look for when they vote? Should it be good governance, policies for the betterment of the poor and security for all or should it be based on the basis of left, right and centre? Can’t a religious person vote for the left because it is the left just like not drawing the cross with the left hand or can one take a decision based on one’s own right not to conform? This does not mean that the left is on the other hand devoid of all that is bad. If that was the case Bengal would not have voted against the left after 34 long years!

There are two things to remember. One, religious groups should refrain from pressuring its people to vote for one particular party and two, religious groups should not allow any political party to influence people based on lies and withholding of facts. This calls for the true freedom of the people to exercise their right to decide. Right or left, let it be left to the people to choose and live with.