eric's little black star » This democracy is demon-crazy

sitproperly on Jul 31st 2008 at 9:07 am Gaudia Vaisnava

This democracy is demon-crazy

There was an article that posted to the Sampradaya Sun earlier this past week admonishing devotees for siding with the Republican party in America. I couldn’t agree more with that.

How some devotees support ideas like intelligent design is mind-boggling. We clearly do not believe the same thing that Christians do when it comes to creation. The only similarity is that they are both God-centered. The Christian believe is that the world was created in six literal days and that the earth has only been around for 8,000ish years, barely longer than our Kali-yuga. Yet some devotees side with them due to the dangerous philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

However, the article in question is a thinly veiled defense of Barack Obama. Previously, a devotee published an article ripping apart Obama for his unvaisnava qualities. Rightly so, I suspect, since Obama isn’t a vaisnava.

But this most recent article, while claiming the left wing (democrats, etc) to be “bad,” actually defends Obama. He references Obama stating that Christ’s Sermon on the Mount should guide American policy.

Now, I’m a rather large fan of the Sermon on the Mount. You know, “blessed are the peacemakers, meek, etc.” And while it’s definitely a good idea to use these principles to manage your life, there is certainly no way in hell that America (or any other government, for that matter) would use them to guide policy. And if you believe that, you are being duped in some pretty nasty ways.

I’m very sick of devotees following the Republican party. But I’m equally sick of devotees following the Democrats (possibly more sick, to be honest).

In Aprilish, a devotee blogger even compared Obama to Brahma. Yeah, Lord Brahma. There were other postings gushing about how super awesome Obama was and how Krishna is blessing us with him. Someone certainly drank the Kool-Aide on this one.

He was the same devotee who gave the Obama “Hope” poster vaisnava tilaka, marking Obama as a devotee of Lord Caitanya. It is hard for me to think of something more lame than that. I’ve tried, not possible.

So will someone please tell me why so many devotees find it necessary to affiliate themselves as members of some political party? Aren’t we supposed to be above that? And fine, if you want to be a democrat or a republican and vote for “the lesser of two evils,” go for it. But why in all that is holy do you try to co-opt them and “make” them part of Krishna consciousness? Seriously, cut it out.

We are devotees. We are above this. Governments in Kali-yuga are corrupt through and through. However, the Bush administration was no more corrupt than Clinton or Grant (back in the 1870’s) or George Washington’s for that matter.

The government is made up of cheaters. The followers of either party are the cheated. We are devotees, followers of Lord Caitanya. We are not the cheaters, nor are we the cheated. We have a higher purpose.

Even our Srila Prabhupada has said, “This democracy is a demon-crazy. It has no value. It is simply waste of time and effort and no feeling, demon-crazy.” He said this many times in reference to American democracy. So why should we support it?

And so, dear vaisnavas, how about we stop wasting time supporting this demon-crazy government, or any government, and start focusing on spirituality, ok? Srila Prabhupada has given us everything we philosophically need. Why would we want to support some politician whose views cannot possibly be our own? Why settle for the “lesser of two evils” when we have Krishna consciousness? Through this we can help society, spiritually and materially, much more than lofty and soon-to-be-broken campaign promises.

Revatinandana: The symbol of the Democrat party in America is the ass.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Because they are asses.
- Room Conversation — December 13, 1970, Indore

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6 Comments

Comment by Chaits

2008-07-31 15:29:58

Haribol Eric,

I hope all is well with you. I am in general agreement that trying to make one government party or another “KC” is silly an unnecssary. They are what they are and we don’t have to make them into something more i.e., “spiritualize” them so we can feel justified in interacting with, or supporting, them.

I want to leave a comment about using Prabhupada quotes to help prove a point. I think your point was well presented and did not require a quote from Prabhupada to legitimize it. I know this is well established in the ISKCON code of ethics but my impression is that you are a person who often see through/beyond some of the institutionalized cultural norms.

Srila Prabhupada said so many things about so many topics and depending on the specific situation those instructions often seem to contradict each other. For example, below is an excerpt of a recorded conversation with Prabhupada, Hayagriva and Kirtanananda at New Vrindaban on June 9, 1969. If you compare the quote you listed above with the one listed below – out of the context of which they were presented – they appear to contradict one another.

Anyhow, I really enjoy reading what you write, especially youre latest efforts with The Hing. My point was to express some of concerns on using “Prabhupada saids” with you, someone who I think would understand and appreciate my point.

Seeking the Essence,

Chaitanya Mangala dasa

——————————————–

Prabhupada: Well, if… This deposition is very difficult to solve. (laughing) You want it to stay, and he wants to burn it. (laughing)

Hayagriva: Yes. I mean it will come down to something very basic like this, something very simple. Now you said that according to you it should be burned. According to you… If the president is in charge, then if he says to cut it down, it gets cut down.

Prabhupada: No. The committee. The majority decision will be…

Hayagriva: That’s democracy. That’s democracy. That’s no good.

Prabhupada: Democracy? This is the age of…

Hayagriva: I thought you said we should have enlightened monarchy.

Prabhupada: No. Monarchy is out of date now. When you form a committee… But what can I say? If you disagree in that way, then… If you have to live together, you have to work together; if you disagree in that way, it will be a difficult job.

Comment by eric

2008-07-31 16:14:50

Haribol!

Thanks for the really kind words, that’s pretty cool of you. As for using Prabhupada to prove a point, I’m not sure that I did that. The quotes were both sort of funny. “Demon-crazy” and “asses”. It’s more anecdotal. I probably didn’t convey that very well.

As for the Prabhupada conversation that you posted, I don’t think that it contradicts the “demon-crazy” thing.

Prabhupada seems to be referring to a small democratic committee, not the “democracy” of the American government.

Incidentally, the conversation, which I found on Vedabase, is pretty amazing. Prabhupada seems to be in a good, jovial mood throughout it. Even though it’s laying the groundwork for how things should be managed in ISKCON, Prabhupada was rather chipper and allowed the devotees to suss it out for themselves.

He also goes on to explain that even great kings like Maharaja Pariksit were not autocrats. He also explains that he doesn’t want New Vrndavana to become a Hindu temple. Very interesting. :)

But anyway, when quoting Srila Prabhupada (or reading quotes of Srila Prabhupada) it’s important to *not* take them out of context. I try very hard to not do that. I’m sure that I make mistakes and I’m positive that I misunderstand and thus misrepresent Srila Prabhupada. I try my best not to, but it’s bound to happen.

Thanks for posting the snippet from the conversation. I’ve never read it before and I’m really glad to have gotten a chance to read the whole thing.

Comment by Chaits

2008-07-31 19:12:08

Eric,

It sounds like we are pretty much in agreement.

To clarify a little: I wasn’t meaning to say you were directly quoting out of context. I was pointing out that you might be dancing close to the edge.

The two quotes don’t contradict themselves when they are understood within the context they were spoken. Pulled out of context and used to bolster someone else’s point it they can appear to contradict.

I’m glad to hear you looked up the rest of the conversation and enjoyed reading it. As a former resident of New Vrindaban, and having spent a lot of time with both Hayagriva and Kirtanananda, I also appreciated reading the transcript of that conversation.

And, finally, I agree that Prabhupada was definitely having some fun with the English language in the quote you used.

Chaits

Comment by Ryan Beggar

2008-08-02 02:15:26

Clearly you haven’t been watching the news. Obama is a black radical muslim. I saw it on FOX, so it has to be true.
I say put mccain and obama in a cage, death match, the winner is prez. it may seem unfair but think about it, obama is young, mccain is a war veteran… could be feisty. and it would be required that mccain quote simpson’s “mcbain” the whole time. referring to obama as a commie nazi would make the whole show worth it.
it’s better than the show of an election we got now…

Comment by eric

2008-08-02 08:56:42

I’m loving the death match idea. It’s definitely more logical than voting. The McBain quoting just goes without saying, really. And to make it fair, Obama should be required to quote Bill Cosby as portrayed on The Simpson’s.