Devotees Don't Play the Blame Game

In the aftermath of the riots and murder in Charlottesville, and subsequent equivocation by the president by blaming both sides for the violence for many, some say that it is not enough for lawmakers to denounce racism and bigotry in general. There is a hew and cry over naming the President of the United States personally for blurring the lines when it comes to who is to blame.

The Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, said,

"We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." 

In answer to which, Charlie Pierce, writer at Esquire magazine wrote,

"Say his goddamn name. Don't tell me how much you deplore racism in the abstract. That does not make me feel good as a citizen. Tell me you deplore racism in the specific human being who's now president* of the United States. For anyone whose moral compass still points true north, that's the proper response. Otherwise, shut up."

On the popular Late Show, Stephen Colbert called out cowardly Republicans who refuse to stand up to Trump.

Of course, naming the president or putting pressure on congressional leaders to rebuke the president may make citizens feel good, especially if they are are in the opposing party and/or don't like him, but it turns out, the reality might not be that simple.

A Devotee Doesn't Name the Mischief Monger

5000 years ago, at the beginning of this iron age of Kali-yuga - the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the King of the world at that time,  Mahārāja Parīkṣit, came upon a man who was beating the legs of a cow and a bull, who happened to be Kali, the personification of the evils of this age, the cow was Bhumi, mother earth, and Dharma, the personification of the principles of religion. This was not just an allegory. This event actually took place, and all the personalities were involved in this pastime which is recorded in the Bhagavatam in order to instruct human beings who find themselves living in this age of Kali about the intricacies of the codes of religion.

When the king asked the Dharma who the perpetrator was, the bull said that it was

"very difficult to ascertain the particular miscreant who has caused our sufferings, because we are bewildered by all the different opinions of theoretical philosophers."

The king said,

"O you, who are in the form of a bull! You know the truth of religion, and you are speaking according to the principle that the destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator. You are no other than the personality of religion."

In other words, the identifier of the perpetrator is equally to blame as the perpetrator himself.

Srila Prabhupada kindly supplies the siddhanta in the purport:

"A devotee’s conclusion is that no one is directly responsible for being a benefactor or mischief-monger without the sanction of the Lord; therefore he does not consider anyone to be directly responsible for such action. But in both the cases he takes it for granted that either benefit or loss is God-sent, and thus it is His grace. In case of benefit, no one will deny that it is God-sent, but in case of loss or reverses one becomes doubtful about how the Lord could be so unkind to His devotee as to put him in great difficulty. Jesus Christ was seemingly put into such great difficulty, being crucified by the ignorant, but he was never angry at the mischief-mongers. That is the way of accepting a thing, either favorable or unfavorable. Thus for a devotee the identifier is equally a sinner, like the mischief-monger. By God’s grace, the devotee tolerates all reverses. Mahārāja Parīkṣit observed this, and therefore he could understand that the bull was no other than the personality of religion himself. In other words, a devotee has no suffering at all because so-called suffering is also God’s grace for a devotee who sees God in everything. The cow and bull never placed any complaint before the King for being tortured by the personality of Kali, although everyone lodges such complaints before the state authorities. The extraordinary behavior of the bull made the King conclude that the bull was certainly the personality of religion, for no one else could understand the finer intricacies of the codes of religion."

Betrayed by Leaders

Once pair of kittens were playing in front of Srila Prabhupada while he was giving darsan outdoors in Madhuvan, New Vrindaban in 1972, and they rolled up onto his lap. He commented that the kittens did that because they had total trust in him, because they knew he would not hurt them. He said that to betray such a trust of such creatures by killing them would be the worst kind of sin. Prabhupada said in chapter 14 of The Second Chance, entitled “Betrayal of Leaders”:

“A symptom of Kali-yuga is the abominable practice of animal slaughter. In this age animals are kept nicely sheltered, completely confident that their masters will protect them, but unfortunately as soon as the animals are fat, they are immediately sent for slaughter…In Kali-yuga, people have no shelter. Due to corrupt government, they are uncertain of their lives and property. The mass of people should always feel secure because of the government's protection. Therefore, how regrettable it is for the government itself to cause a breach of trust and put the citizens in difficulty for political reasons. We saw during the partition days in India that although Hindus and Muslims had been living together peacefully, manipulation by politicians suddenly aroused feelings of hatred between them, and thus the Hindus and Muslims killed one another over politics. This is a sign of Kali-yuga."

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 6.2.4-6, the Vishnuduttas state:

“The mass of people follow the example of a leader in society and imitate his behavior. They accept as evidence whatever the leader accepts. People in general are not very advanced in knowledge by which to discriminate between religion and irreligion. The innocent, unenlightened citizen is like an ignorant animal sleeping in peace with its head on the lap of its master, faithfully believing in the master’s protection. If a leader is actually kindhearted and deserves to be the object of a living entity’s faith, how can he punish or kill a foolish person who has fully surrendered in good faith and friendship?”

In this regard, the current President of the United States gone back on the promise of the previous administration to give shelter to the refugees of war torn countries like Syria stating rallying his political base with xenophobia and hatred against Muslims in order to gain power.

A couple years ago, a young friend of the devotees named Kayla Mueller travelled to Syria to help the refugee children of Syria because she said she “saw God in their eyes.” She was kidnapped, raped and murdered by ISIS. Now we are ignoring the plight of these refugees, merely for political reasons. Is this how this country repays this example of compassionate selfless service of one of its citizens?