The Indian Christian

The future?

2007-03-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

But what about learning Hebrew and the Jewish prayers? "I think it's great. The more knowledge, the more understanding," says one of the mothers. "They learn all they need about Islam at mosque school. Actually, the kids often sing Hebrew songs in the bath, which is a bit confusing because we speak Gujarati at home, but I think it's great."

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Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all

A guided tour of the gutter

2005-12-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

When a London cab horse fell, passers-by helped it up and sent it on its way without first demanding to know if the animal’s stumble had been its own responsibility. Surely, Booth argued, we should behave towards men with the same compassion we showed to horses. That principle — help where help is needed, without blame or recrimination — is the basis of the Salvation Army’s social work

...No one was asked to pray or give thanks to the Lord. In the small hours of the morning, after the last call had been made and the night’s work was done, we drove to a cul-de-sac near Gray’s Inn and, after eating what was left of the sandwiches, said a prayer of thanks for being allowed to be of service. Although they made clear that atheists were not expected to feign religion, I joined in.

...Everyone knew that the Salvation Army existed to help, not to pass judgment. So it does. But it also works to rehabilitate. Its strength is the way it encourages a return to the paths of righteousness without seeming righteous itself. Officers of the Army regard exhibitions of moral superiority as a sin. They believe in a strict, indeed a rigid, code of personal discipline and religious belief. But they do not impose their beliefs on those they aim to help.

They share Booth’s conviction that deprivation is the Devil’s ally and that a man or woman, raised from the gutter, is more likely to find God than one who is left to rot in squalor.

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Every Christmas season, I admire the cheery and dedicated volunteers standing in front of stores, ringing the familiar bells and holding the red Salvation Army "baskets". I do think they should be supported.

William Raspberry: Our Civil Disagreement

2005-12-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it was then that I found myself trying to write in such a way that people who didn't agree with me might at least hear me. Then I found that they were talking back to me in similarly civil tones. And it felt good.

It reminded me of something a wise divinity professor once said. If you are having an argument with some "enemy," he advised, try to reword his position in a way that would make it at least palatable to you . Then invite him to do the same thing with your position. You won't appreciate the dispute-melting magic in that until you try it a few times.

The trouble, of course, is that such an approach is unlikely to produce winners and losers, and we've come to think that producing winners and losers is the essence not just of politics but also of life.

It isn't. Making this country work for everybody is, and it would be a good thing if all of us -- journalists emphatically included -- remembered that.

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Tintin in Tibet at the Young Vic

2005-12-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Tintin in Tibet, a stage version of the well-loved tale of the cub reporter and his faithful dog, has just opened in London.

Since his first outing in January 1929, Hergé's most renowned creation, the wide-eyed and bequiffed Tintin, has proved a worldwide success. To date, more than 200 million copies of his adventures have been sold, in 58 languages.

Spin-offs include a series of television cartoons, a BBC radio series and a wide range of merchandise, including model cars, rockets and even crockery.

Additionally, the film director Steven Spielberg, who acquired the rights to make a live-action version of the books in 1982, is said to be looking to bring Tintin to the big screen sometime soon.

And the stage version of Tintin in Tibet, the 20th of Hergé's 23 graphic novels, published in 1960, is currently packing 'em in at London's Young Vic, a fast-paced alternative to the traditional British Christmas pantomime.

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Scientific research in India

2005-12-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

Rajeev Srinivasan (the Nizhal Yoddha) has a post about "Science", the prestigious journal of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He states that

what this case brings into sharp relief is the issue of how truthful and reliable the 'prestigious' journals of the white-dominated research scientific world really are.

...the journals have long been a cozy cartel: you publish my crap and i'll publish your crap, old-boy-network, pointedly excluding people from outside the pale, that is non-whites.....women and people working in labs outside europe and the us.

so what gets published has always been highly censored if you will by prejudice

I don't buy the "prejudice" argument - usually that is a cop-out for facing up to a real problem. First, it appears that plenty of Indian scientists get published after they move to Europe or the US. Second, the AAAS recognizes the Chinese Academy of Sciences too. So the real problem appears to be the standard of pure science research in India. (By "pure science" I mean scientific subjects excluding engineering.) As far as I know, the standard is generally quite low in India except in very few institutions. The quality of research and the inability to publish peer-reviewed papers indicates the dismal state of scientific research especially at post-graduate levels.

I do think this is because, quite often, the best and brightest choose to go on to engineering and medical schools - the hype has to have a detrimental effect somewhere. There is also less funding available for scientific research too, because of a perception that there are no immediate tangible benefits. Until biotechnology came along, very few private industries invested in basic scientific research, leading to a dearth of opportunities for the young graduating scientist.

How can we raise the quality of pure science research in India? Please use the comments section to post your ideas.

Christmas - then and now

2005-12-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

It was around 200 A.D., according to St. Clement of Alexandria, that theologians in Egypt settled on May 20 as the birthday of Jesus, while others argued for dates in April and March.
This wasn't a major issue, since early Christians emphasized the Epiphany on Jan. 6, marking Christ's baptism. Then sometime before 354, Rome began celebrating the Feast of the Nativity on Dec. 25. Eastern churches kept using different dates, but the Roman custom became the norm by the end of the 4th century.
"It was all quite confusing," explained classics scholar Joe Walsh of Loyola College in Baltimore, who explores this maze during his "History of Christmas" class. "Early Christians didn't really lock in on this kind of thing, since they believed their world was going to end soon anyway."

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Update: More from Dr. William Tighe on Calculating Christmas

Happy Mothers Day

2005-05-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day