varnam

The past month Public Radio had interviews with various authors regarding the rise of India and China. Kishore Mahbubani, dean and professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore,  rightly mentioned that both India and China were the economic powers till 1820 and are only rightly regaining their space in the world. Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures--and Yours, is optimistic that the economic rise of these two countries is good for Asia. Even in  popular fiction , characters are talking about these countries.

If you are shocked that India is shining, all you need to do is pick up New York Times and get your daily dose of Sominism. In an article on the development happening in Gugaon, she writes:

Almost half of India’s population has no access to the electricity grid, and many more people suffer hours without power. Nearly 700,000 Indians rely on animal waste and firewood as fuel for cooking. [Thirsting for Energy in India’s Boomtowns and Beyond]

Many great bloggers have worked on the expression Sominism, but so far no one has quantified it. Unless we find a way to measure Sominism it will be hard to compare articles by Pankaj Mishra, Arundhathi Roy and Praful Bidwai. While a complex mathematical formula involving string theory would be the ideal, we will settle for something simple due to lack of time and number of people to criticize.

For now we will use a measure which takes the position of the hatchet paragraph relative to the entire article. In the above article, it appears in paragraph five of a 28 paragraph article: the Sominism Coefficient would be: 5/28 = 0.18 S.

A number by itself is meaningless unless you put it in context. To see where Somini stands in the Sominic scale, she has to be compared to her contemporaries and one place to look for some would be in the Ramayana -- yes, the timeless classic written by Valmiki. We don't know whose brilliant idea it was to get Pankaj Mishra to write the introduction to R. K. Narayan's shortened version of Kamban Ramayanam; maybe Prakash Karat was not available.

By the fourth paragraph, Mishra hits the goal post.

Indeed, the popular appeal of the story among ordinary people distinguishes it from much of Indian literary tradition, which, supervised by upper caste Hindus, has been forbiddingly elitist [Ramayana]

Mishra's introduction which covers the mandatory "Hindu nationalist movement to build a temple on the alleged birthplace of Rama", "North Indian Brahmin called Tulsi Das" and a quote from Romila Thapar that the televised Ramayana was an attempt to cater to the right-wing middle class of India, is 31 paragraphs long. The hatchet job appears in the 4th paragraph giving it 0.13 S, thus giving him an upper edge over Somini.

Since this author does not have the stomach to read an Arundhathi Roy or Praful Bidwai article, finding similar values is left as an exercise to the reader. My guess is that Arundhathi Roy will is the one who will achieve the ideal value of 0 S, where the 'job' will be done in the title itself.

Technorati Tags: Somini Sengupta, Pankaj Mishra,

1. Bill Gates
2. Mother Teresa
3. Norman Borlaug
   

Who do you think is the most and least admirable? Steven Pinker writes

Yet a deeper look might lead you to rethink your answers. Borlaug, father of the “Green Revolution” that used agricultural science to reduce world hunger, has been credited with saving a billion lives, more than anyone else in history. Gates, in deciding what to do with his fortune, crunched the numbers and determined that he could alleviate the most misery by fighting everyday scourges in the developing world like malaria, diarrhea and parasites. Mother Teresa, for her part, extolled the virtue of suffering and ran her well-financed missions accordingly: their sick patrons were offered plenty of prayer but harsh conditions, few analgesics and dangerously primitive medical care.[The Moral Instinct]

Technorati Tags: Mother Teresa, Steven Pinker, Bill Gates, Norman Borlaug

Shriya Reddy (who?) married Vikram Krishna (hoo! hoo!). From the reports:

Well, chief minister M.Karunanidhi wasn’t able to make it to shower his blessings and his family members including his wives Thaayal Ammal and Rajathi Ammal, son M.K. Stalin and grandson Udayanidhi conveyed their wishes.[Blissful moments for Shriya - Vikram]

Is it legal for Karunanidhi to have multiple wives? Well, apparently the rules are different in some parts of the world for some people.

The DMK chief now divides his time in the houses of both wives - spending mornings at the Gopalapuram residence with Dayaluammal while moving to the house of his other wife, Rajathiammal, at CIT Nagar in Chennai in the afternoons. The Chinna veedu concept is fairly common in Krishnagiri and Salem districts of TN, where males believe in more the merrier.

At least one top Union minister from Tamil Nadu is known to have two wives and so does a senior DMK official, who married his daughter's classmate. An academic said, "The social sanction for two wives can be traced to religion and mythology. Lord Muruga, for instance, had two wives."[In South India, more the merrier]

Then has the academic heard about Lord Rama who had only one wife? Probably that explains the DMK hatred towards Rama.

Technorati Tags: Karunanidhi

French journalist Francois Gautier's Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism put together an exhibition titled "Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal records."  The exhibition displayed various paintings which show Aurangzeb ordering the removal of his father's body and trying to convert a Jewish philosopher. There were also two paintings which showed the destruction of the Somnath temple and pieces of a temple being used to build the steps of a mosque.

This exhibition was held at Delhi, Pune and Bangalore without incident, but when it reached Chennai, the Aurangzeb DNA in some got activated. The folks at Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Manitha Neethi Paasarai, and someone called the Prince of Arcot did not like it a bit and with violence managed to end the exhibition. According to them the displayed objects were a fabrication  and would "promote enmity between various groups" and ironically they had to resort to violence to drum once more that Aurangzeb was a benevolent ruler.

There has been great effort in India to confer an aura of sanctity on Aurangzeb by naming roads after him and whitewashing his terror. State circular (Syl/89/1) published by the West Bengal Government explicitly removed certain lines from history text books. They include, ""The early Sultans were eager to expand the sway of Islam by forcibly converting Hindus to Islam" and ""As dictated by Islam, there were three options for non-Muslims, get yourself converted to Islam, pay jaziya or face death. In an Islamic state, non-Muslims had to accept one of these choices." Two paintings at the FACT exhibition shows exactly this.

The history books --- not the state sanctioned ones --- do not present a flattering image of Aurangzeb (1659 - 1707) and agree with depictions. This Mughal emperor reversed whatever tolerance Akbar had practiced. Restrictions were put on the practice of Hindu rituals, orthodox Muslims were preferred in courts,  Jaziya was reimposed and Hindu temples were demolished. This has to be contrasted with the rule of Akbar when religious tests and Jaziya were abolished and Rajput princes and other Hindus were given prominent positions in the state.^[1]

Why don't we all read the G rated NCERT text books and sing Kumbaya? Why rake up the past and cause communal disharmony?

One of the contentions of those, who protested against the exhibition, was that raking up the past would create a communal divide in Tamil Nadu, which has been relatively free of it.One of the lessons of history has been that remaining silent on unpleasant periods in history leads to a repetition of such unpleasant experiences. That is why Western school children are taught about the evils of rulers like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin etc. That is why the Jewish people keep reminding themselves and the  rest of the world about the holocaust. That was why some years ago Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French rightist leader, was severely criticised for denying the reality of the  holocaust.

When we deny harsh truths of history, we are only playing into the hands of jihadi terrorists, who see themselves as the Aurangzeb of today. [AURANGZEBS OF TODAY]

See Also: B Raman: “Aurangzebs of Today” , From Baroda to Chennai, FACT India, Will Arundhati Roy pl. stand up for Francois Gautier?

[1] Wonder That Was India by A.L.Basham

(Image by backpacker)

The Indian History Carnival, published on the 15th of every month, is a collection of posts related to Indian history and archaeology written in the past 30 days.

1. Sukumar attends a lecture by Asko Parpola on the Indus Valley script which disproves the Farmer/Witzel/Sproat theory that Indus Valley Civilization was illiterate.

2. Arvind Sharma finds out what ancient Indians thought about ancient Greeks and writes about the account of an Indian meeting Socrates. He has another post about the the Greek accounts of India.

3. Stephanie laughts at the outrageous reports of Herodotus, especially the gold digging ants of India.

4. illlaaa writes about the battle in India that stopped Alexander of Macedonia.
   

5. Priya finds it hard to believe Asoka's change of heart after the Kalinga war.

6. Here at varnam, we had the Spicy history of Malabar about times when Kerala was part of the global economy.
   

7. Manan Ahmed takes Amartya Sen to task for his "particularly cataracted vision of Indian history" and notes the similarity of thought with Karl Marx.

8. In 1750, India's contribution to world GDP was 25% and by the time the British left we were poor. Raj says don't the blame the British for, " with or without the British ruling India, the former was well placed to usher in the industrial revolution and reap the full benefits." (via DesiPundit)

9. Bala writes about the "Anti-Charitable Contributions Act of 1877", meant to punish people for donating to the poor and the needy during famines. This resulted in the death of 10 million people. (via email from Ravages)
   

10. Chandrahas quotes from Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo's new book The Spirit of India on freedom as understood by Gandhi both in the personal and in the political sense.

11. The book that is getting lot of coverage is Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. Patrix has some thoughts on this 900 page book. In his notes about the book, Hari narrates the tale of how refugee farmers were resettled in Punjab.

12. Apollo writes, "He [Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor] doesn’t seem to realise that technically India and China do not share a border" and corrects the ignorance of the history of the India-China border issue.

13. Recently the Prince of Arcot disrupted an exhibition showing the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s intolerant policies against his subjects. Nitin finds that this Prince of Arcot is still recognized by the Government and has the position of a Cabinet Minister, all due to a promise given to Queen Victoria.
    

14. Our modern day Huen Tsang, backpakker, takes a detour and reaches Nuggehalli.
    

15. Rajan Srinivasan had great pictures of Erumbeeswarar Temple at Thiruverumbur which were built by the Cholas.
    

If you find any posts related to Indian history published in the past one month, please send it to jk AT varnam DOT org or use this form. The next carnival will be posted on April 15th.

(Image by dhondusaxena)

While Buddha, Mahavira and Gosala were the famous Indian enlightened souls of the axial age, they were not the only ones. Ordinary folks had numerous options; they could believe in materialism following Ajita Kesakambali, eternalism following Pakudha Kacca-yana or become agnostic following Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta. It was not just a time of great material wealth, but also of a vibrant spiritual market and a common sight in those times were parivrajakas or wanderers preaching their doctrines and engaging rivals in debates in kautuhala salas built for the purpose. Philosophy was so addictive at that time that when people greeted strangers, they not only asked about their health, but also their spiritual doctrine.^[1]

Modern American religious landscape is dynamic too. According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, based on interviews with 35,000 people, 28% of American adults left the religion of their childhood for another one and the number becomes 44% if a switch from one version of Protestantism to another is included. The number of people unaffiliated with organized religion is 16% and this group which claims to be spiritual, but not religious has seen the largest growth. This is not just the time of the Facebook crowd, but also of the church hoppers.

The great news is that most Jehovah's Witnesses, those irritating people who knock on your door violating laws and privacy, moved out of their faith, but unfortunately were balanced by new converts. The winners of the osmosis were the unaffiliated ones who saw a growth of 8.8% and the next came the nondenominational Protestants. The losers include Baptists (3.7%) and Methodists (2.1%), but still the biggest loser was the Catholic Church (7.5%).. The number of Catholics fell from one-third to one-fourth and a large Catholic migrant population, mainly Latinos could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.

People switched religious affiliations because they were looking for different goods depending on where they were in their life. Some wanted churches which focus on services and others wanted comfort and solace or help in raising their children the right way; a few switched for theological reasons. There are other explanations as well. During childhood, parents forced the kids to attend a religious group which was their cultural center, but as they moved out and became individualistic, they looked for religions that addressed their needs and abandoned the ones which did not.

To appreciate this religious tolerance, one has to look at the parlous time in American history when being a member of the wrong denomination could mean death. Europeans of the 17th century believed that there was one true religion and the authorities had to enforce it and punish the non-conformers. The people who faced persecution in Europe came to United States and practiced a Procrustean religious policy. The "business" of the first settlers, a Puritan minister recalled in 1681, "was not Toleration, but [they] were professed enemies of it."

In 1658, the Massachussets legislature passed a law which allowed any constable to arrest and imprison every Quaker and banish them upon pain of death. The Boston martyrs, Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robinson and Mary Dyer were killed just because they were not Puritans.

From there we have a reached a time when non-followers of Abrahamic religions are welcomed and are able to do well in the American society. Indic religions do not have a vast following with Buddhists forming 0.7% and Hindus, 0.4%. Among the Buddhists only 32% came from Asia whereas Hindus were predominantly from Asia and four times more Hindus migrated to United States after 1989 than those that arrived before 1960.

Even with low numbers these groups reached the top of certain categories. Hindus and Buddhists lead the religious groups in terms of education and were most likely to have a post-graduate degree. In the income category, Hindus along with Jews were the toppers. Hinduism had the highest retention rate (9/10 remained Hindu) and strong marriages (5% divorce rate). 90% of the Hindus married a Hindu, thus leading that category as well.

The survey also points to an important fact --- vast majority of Americans are religious and thus different from Europe and even Canada and other industrialized countries. In fact 78% of America is still Christian which in fact implies that all this religion swapping is technically denomination swapping, like switching from Theravada to Vajrayana while remaining a Buddhist. But is it really so?

Ah, but what of the big numb stunner of a number, the one that says 78 percent of Americans still identify as Christian overall, no matter if they actually pray or attend church or run for Congress or secretly snort meth and visit gay hookers as they run an evangelical megachurch in Colorado? It certainly seems like an impressive number, like no matter how you slice it and no matter how many new beliefs spring up, we are overwhelmingly, devoutly Jesus-happy.

I'm not buying it. I suspect a huge chunk of respondents merely check the "Christian" box for lack of something else, because they felt they needed to choose something, even though they don't actually follow Scripture in the slightest, but since they're not technically atheists and they've never really ventured out on a unique spiritual quest of their own, they merely choose "Christian" as the default American position, the fallback, the safe bet, sort of like checking "average" on a customer satisfaction survey or saying "fine" when your barista asks you how you're doing today. Thoughtless, automatic, convenient. [How to abandon your God]

References:

1. Abraham Eraly, Gem in the Lotus: The Seeding of Indian Civilisation, 2005.
2. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, “Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,”

(Buddha's image by wicks)

Technorati Tags: Hinduism, Buddhism

Chinese Ambassador to India on what is happening in Tibet

“There was no such thing as crackdown. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens. These measures are totally in line with the law and truly supported by the people at the grass roots,” he read from a prepared statement at a press meet.

Another Lhasa resident, who also refused to be identified, said the Drepung monastery was encircled by "three layers" of army personnel while the Sera monastery had been surrounded by more than 2,000 police.

The resident said more than 10 trucks filled with soldiers, nearly a dozen police cars and also ambulances were seen heading to the area.

See Also: Episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The Catholic Church has updated the list of sins. According to the new list, you are a sinner if you harm the environment, deal with drugs or do stem cell research. Amusingly you are a sinner if you have obscene wealth.

No, what's perhaps most amusing is that in this modern age, someone still feigns to have the authority to invent new sins in the first place, to perpetuate the inanity of the very concept, to torque and mold and reshape divine will as he sees fit, just sort of making it up as he goes along, expecting everyone to basically kneel and cower and kiss the ring. Is that not fabulous, in a hey-look-we're-back-in-1328 sort of way?

And yes, I also enjoyed the new sin of excessive wealth, given how the Vatican is one of the most — if not the most — gluttonously wealthy organizations on the planet, oozing with real estate and massive stock portfolios, dripping with cash, billions of dollars in hoarded treasure and unknown gems, icons, art, the solid gold vaginas of 1,000 pagan goddesses locked up in its vaults. The hypocrisy is positively comical. Epic. Makes Eliot Spitzer's trifle look like Mary Ann smoking a roach in rural Idaho.[Thou shalt not kid thyself]

NEW DELHI: The Indian Left, which takes its political cue from China, promptly echoed the line of their handlers in Beijing and asked the Manmohan Singh government not to meddle in the “internal affairs (read Tibet)” of the neighbour. The party, which raised objections over the visit US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Dharamsala, said: “The government should see that their meeting does not turn into an anti-China meeting.”

Maintaining that Tibet issue was an internal affair of China, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan said, “All countries have internal areas where situation is sometimes disturbed. There should be no interference from anyone.” This loud advocacy for the respect for “One China” and “China’s territorial integrity” is not normally evident when Beijing makes its claim to Arunachal Pradesh. The Left, it be recalled, came out with a late response when China repeated its claim late last year.

It is heartening to see a newspaper write it so bluntly, along the style of bloggers. The title of the article , "Meet Mr Bardhan, China’s spokesman in India", alone is priceless.

Technorati Tags: China, India, Communism

The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition, 304 pages

"Istanbul of 1830s was a city in which everyone, from sultan to beggar, belonged somewhere---to a guild, a district, a family, a church or a mosque", writes Jason Goodwin in his second historical murder mystery: The Snake Stone. Sultan Mahmud II is on his death bed in the seventy-three bedroom palace satisfied over his accomplishments which included destroying the Janissaries, modernizing the army and creating a new identity for the citizens by a common dress code with the fez and the stambouline. The Greeks had declared independence from Turkey in 1832, but now in 1839, Greeks were being attacked in Istanbul.

When he came to know that grocer George was beaten up and book seller Goulandris was murdered, Yashim thought they were unrelated events. Yashim the eunuch was affiliated to the palace, but unlike other eunuchs, who worked in the palace as chaperons, messengers, protectors, and mediators, Yashim had his freedom. He could deflect attention, blend into the crowd and be invisible and this talent helped him successfully solve the murders of soldiers in the previous novel: The Janissary Tree. But when Maximilian Lefèvre, the shady French archaeologist who had arrived in Istanbul looking for Byzantine treasures, was found with his sternum split open, Yashim becomes a suspect since Lefèvre had spent the his last moments in Yashim's apartment.

Yashim has to use his rapier skills --- the ability to get information from people and navigate effortlessly through the palace as well as the markets --- to unravel the mystery and save himself. A word from the Sultan; that was all that was required to save Yashim from the cloud of suspicion, but a dying Sultan who no longer lived in the Topkapi palace could not do it. The suggestion that Yashim could be connected to Lefèvres' death could find a life in the palace where not everyone was Yashim's friend. Even if it was proven that Yashim was not involved, suspicion was enough. Also Yashim had to hurry before others got killed.

As Yashim follows leads, investigating the mysterious Greek group Hetira, he encounters a kaleidoscope of nationalities living in Istanbul. There is his friend Stanislaw Palewski, the Polish ambassador to Sublime Porte; an ambassador of a county which was consumed by its neighbors and Dr. Millingen, the Sultan's English doctor, who was with Lord Byron when he died fighting for the Greek War of Independence in Messolonghi. As Yashim finds out Lefèvre was looking for Greek treasures based on a Latin book written by Pierre Gyllius, a Frenchman who came to Turkey in 1550, the Jewish money lender Baradossa and the member of the waterman's guild Enver Xani too get killed.

The history of Istanbul, from the days of Justinian to the time it was overrun by Ottomans, is mixed into the narrative as Yashim finds intricate connections between various nationalities; the history lessons are so delightfully blended that it never appears artificial. The Sultan's French mother observes dryly that while the Turks wanted to be Europeans, she found the less formal Oriental life more interesting. The reader, through Yashim, discovers the complex relationship between various communities, but also various secrets that are ensconced under ancient monuments and with guilds; secrets for which people can be murdered.

When Goodwin wanted to write a work of fiction on Istanbul, after having written non-fiction books about it, it was his book editor who suggested a murder mystery. To make it engrossing, he chose the style of Dan Brown, writing short chapters interspersed with a few long ones. He also learned enough from Dan Brown not to end each chapter with a cliff hanger. Though a murder mystery, it never rushes forward madly, but even in the midst of deep intrigue, pauses a bit.

Goodwin's tale is well crafted; like the beads in the hands of one of his characters, the shrewd housewife Mrs. Mavrogordato, he slowly and delicately takes the story forward. The resulting piece is neither an exhaustive longueur like I, Claudius nor artificial like Wilbur Smith's Egyptian novels, but is a great Turkish dish, like the one which Yashim cooks often. Each character, like the ingredients in the dish has a part and only a careful reading, and sometimes re-reading, will make certain connections obvious. He stays away from the usual historical clichés of large battles, tales of kings and plotting viziers; his narration is along the lines of a Holmesian story, with focus on characters with vested interests. This very readable book recreates 19th century Istanbul splendidly and and the detailed observations of daily life helps in transporting us there.

Technorati Tags: Jason Goodwin, Snake Stone, Istanbul, Book Review

“Myself and my daughters would never like Sarabjit freed inexchange for any hardcore Pakistani terrorist lodged in Indian jails,” Sarabjit’s wife, Sukhpreet Kaur, told PTI. Ms. Kaur said that for the family, “nothing is above the nation and we can’t go against the interests of our motherland.”[We do not want Sarabjit in exchange for terrorists: wife]

In this day and age, when displaying nationalism condemns one to the lowest levels of the Indian liberal purgatory, it takes certain amount of boldness to be so politically incorrect. To fully appreciate Sukhpreet Kaur's admirable trait, we need to take stock of the atmosphere of surrender in which this lady living.

When a group of Tibetan protesters were planning a march from Dharmasala to the border of India and China, the Indian Govt. stopped them to prevent any embarrassment to the Chinese. China's Prime Minister warned India, his sepoys in India amplified their master's voice and People's Daily of China, published from Chennai put Stakhanovite stints in censorship. In fact, the Government is so scared of Chinese "feelings", that the Prime Minister is scared to step foot in certain parts of our own country.

If Sri Ramakrishna were alive, he would have told the following parable to Manmohan Singh: Once there lived a violent poisonous snake and when he tried to attack a monk, the monk recited a mantra and the snake lay on his feet like an earth worm. The monk initiated the snake to spiritual life and asked him not to harm anyone in the future. Observing that the snake had become non-violent, the boys in the area started throwing stones at him. Seeing no reaction they caught him by the tail and swirled and flung him on the ground and left him for dead. The snake read Michael Pollan's book, ate just fruits and became as slim as Katrina Kaif's waist.

About a year later the brahmachari came that way again and asked after the snake. Hearing the teacher’s voice, it came out of his hole and bowed before him with great reverence. But, the teacher asked: Why are you so thin? It can’t be mere want of food that has reduced you to this state; there must be some other reason! The snake said: The boys one day dashed me violently against the ground. How could they know I wouldn’t bite or harm anyone? The brahmachari exclaimed: What a shame! you are such a fool! You don’t know how to protect your-self. I asked you not to bite, but I didn’t forbid you to hiss. And Ramakrishma concluded: So, you must hiss at wicked people. You must frighten them lest they should do you harm. But never inject your venom into them.[THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND ETHNO-RELIGIOUS]

The leaders who are supposed to be role models are busy displaying competitive cowardice and preaching that being chicken is a virtue. When our leaders are scared even of fanfaronade and our business leaders are scared of singing the national anthem, it is comforting to know that ordinary citizens have a mind which is without fear and hold their heads high.

PS: In fact one should not insult chickens for even they display violent behaviour occasionally.

Technorati Tags: India, Sukhpreet Kaur, China, Tibet,

Pandering to the Christian Right, Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain recently stated that United States was a Christian Nation, despite the fact that United States has no official religion and has a clear separation of Church and State. According to Garry Wills, historian and Professor of History Emeritus at Northwestern University, the Founding Fathers were deists who believed in creation, providence and after life. They did not believe that Jesus was divine and you could get things by praying for them.

Steve Waldman has a new book, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America
which explores the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers.

Franklin, we learn, believed that God created the universe, then gave over its governing to various minor gods. (Waldman describes this as a form of deism, though it strikes me as vaguely Gnostic.) John Adams's "disdain for Calvinists was surpassed only by his contempt for Catholics," and he appears to have been equally disgusted with many facets of orthodox Christian theology. For instance, he refused to accept that one bite from an apple "damned the whole human Race, without any actual Crimes committed by any of them." Eventually, Adams joined a liberal Unitarian church, which emphasized Christ's teachings rather than his divinity.

George Washington was raised as an Anglican but seldom went to Sunday service, refused to kneel and never took communion. In many ways, he was more active as a freemason than as a Christian. But he spoke up strongly for religious tolerance, even during the Revolution: "While we are contending for our liberty," he wrote, "we should be very cautious of violating the Rights of Conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the Judge of the Hearts of men, and to him only in this Case, they are answerable." Waldman describes Thomas Jefferson as a "pious infidel" and James Madison as a "radical pluralist." Jefferson viewed Jesus as a moral teacher and nothing more: He actually cut up a copy of the Gospels, removing all references to miracles and any claims that Jesus was more than human.

Madison appears to have respected religion without being seriously attached to any sect in particular. But, like his fellow Virginians, he did feel strongly the need for tolerance, and it is to him that Waldman believes we owe our freedom of conscience. He helped frame the Constitution, which mentions neither Jesus nor God, and later the First Amendment.

In San Francisco, the only North American city hosting the torch, officials shortened the April 9 route through the city and have abbreviated the ceremonies. Mayor Gavin Newsom has said no one will be prevented from expressing his views, but permits are required to gather near the torch.[Drama as torch arrival set for Tiananmen, though protests not expected]

The Chinese Ambassador to United States did not summon Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco to his office at 2 A.M. Instead the ambassador made his way to the Mayor's office in San Francisco to discuss the Olympic torch relay through the city.

Contrast it with this:

A sign of the nature of a relationship between countries is the manner in which they officially communicate displeasure. So when the Chinese government calls in the Indian ambassador at 2am, to hand her details of plans by Tibetan protesters to disrupt the movement of the Olympic torch in India, you know what the Chinese think about the nature of bilateral relationship. China might have reason to be angry. That it chose to be demonstrate unfriendliness reveals that it believes the proper way to handle India is through overreaction and bullying[Doing it at ungodly hours]

The editor of the People's Daily of Chennai must be upset that Mayor Newsom was not summoned.

Technorati Tags: Gavin Newsom, Olympics, San Francisco, India