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Sex Offenders: Off-shoot of Materialism

Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:16:46 -0000 To: AM-GLOBAL From: J. Erikkson Subject: Sex Offenders: Off-shoot of Materialism Baba "Toma'r pathe cali a'mi, kon ba'dha'y pechoba na'..." (P.S. 1390) Purport: Baba by Your infinite grace I am moving forward on Your divine path. By Your grace I do not care about any types of obstacles. I will never look behind in frustrated mood. You are my everything; You are my Goal; You are my sadhana. Baba, fortified with the strength of Your divine name my life is moving. Your name is like the lamp on my path of forward movement. By Your grace You have made me realise that there is no comparison to the strength which is residing in Your holy name. Baba, by this way days and months are passing. Our closeness is getting more and more intimate, by Your grace. In my heart I realise that You are my everything. Baba because You are and I am. Except this I do not know anyone. By Your grace I am moving on Your path without bothering about any sorts of hindrances. It is Your grace...
== SEX OFFENDERS: OFF-SHOOT OF MATERIALISM ==
Namaskar, At present, life in the so-called advanced, materialistic nations is bursting at the seams-- in all directions. The absence of higher values invites degraded behavior and from there things tailspin into an even uglier situation. Even good people are getting pulled onto the muddy path of sin and crime. Perhaps the most glaring manifestation of this harsh equation is with regards to sex offenders; and arguably in no place is the problem more out of control than in the USA-- the most materialistic nation on the planet. Offenders are coming in all shapes and sizes: Child molestation, rape, abduction, homosexual, heterosexual, teens, adults, in all kinds of ways. It is really sad and quite disturbing - and needs to be addressed. But, the manner in which the authorities are handling the situation makes the matter even worse.
SEX OFFENDERS: WHERE DOES THE CONTROVERSY BEGIN
Every decent human being understands well that perverted conduct and sexual crimes are some of the most disastrous and revolting incidents going on these days. On this point there is no disagreement. The differences stem when people attempt to identify the problem and offer a solution. On this aspect, the materialistic viewpoint and the spiritually based outlook of Ananda Marga are worlds apart.
MATERIALISM BREEDS CRIMINALS-- SEX OFFENDERS
Lacking any higher goal or proper vision, life in grossly materialistic nations, like the USA, just moves along the degrading path of sensual pleasures. Everything is matter-based and step by step everyone just lives according to their baser propensities-- animal life. In fact, in such places sexual overtones and crude expressions are everywhere. Open sex is flagrant and accepted; and the media and big business use sex as the way to lure people to their messages & products. Sexual display is such a prevalent & rampant problem that half-naked bodies have subconsciously become accepted as the norm-- both in real life and in advertisments & films etc. This has become one with the very pulsation of life in materialistic societies. That is why people have become numb to it. No one blinks an eye at overt sexual display; no one is shocked by seeing this. Rather everyone expects to see sexually revealing dress & behavior everywhere : On the TV, in the restaurants, in the banks, everywhere. Obviously such a morally degrading environment breeds temptation and adversely affects everyone. Yet no one claims this to be a problem-- until the worse-case scenario occurs and a sexual crime is reported. Then suddenly the grand authorities get on their moral high ground and condemn the guilty party to the depths of hell. Indeed once one gets labeled as a sex-offender then they will never get a job, never find an apartment, never be able to survive. Just they are outcaste to the dungeons of the prisons or the outskirts of society. And with no process of rectification etc, such convicts just become repeat offenders-- at the next opportunity they commit another sexual crime.
CRAZE AGAINST SEX OFFENDERS
Right now in materialistic nations like the USA, there is a mad dash to identify and lock-up every sex-offender. People act as though there is a full-blown war against sex criminals-- as if those offenders are the source of the problem. To that end, the various authorities have created on-line databases that identify thousands and millions of sex offenders who are moving around the USA. This is their materialistic approach to manage the situation. To put full blame on the sex offenders and expose them in front of all.
MATERIALISTIC ANSWER: DATABASE
Here is a sampling of just a few of the thousands of website databases that exist to identify the sexual offenders. #1: "Welcome to the New York State Sex Offender Registry information center. The purpose of this site is to provide an overview of the sex offender registration law and how the public can obtain information about sex offenders." (NY State, Division of Criminal Justice) #2: "This site will provide you with access to information on more than 63,000 persons required to register in California as sex offenders....Information on approximately 22,000 other offenders is not included on this site, but is known to law enforcement personnel." (Office of Attorney General, State of California) #3 "Hi! We're glad you're interested in learning more about STOP Sex Offenders! (SSO). SSO began after an informative mom watched a television news story about sex offender registries. Since there was no one website containing links to all of the sex offender registries, the decision to create a national sex offender registry became very clear. In early 1999, STOP Sex Offenders was born!" (www.stopsexoffenders.com) These are but three of the thousands of databases in vogue which highlight the names, addresses, phone numbers, and pictures of sex offenders. This is the materialistic solution. But you know what: The problem is getting worse not better. The number of sex crimes is growing day by day and the nature of the crimes is getting more violent and grotesque every week. Yet the only "solution" that materialistic nations give is more and more databases listing the ever growing number of offenders.
ANALOGY: THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MOSQUITOES IN THE SWAMP
If anyone walks into a hot, muggy swamp then they expect to encounter an onslaught of mosquitoes. This is the expectation. Because everyone with an iota of common sense understands that swamps breed mosquitoes. Similarly, when a society is deluged with sexually provocative scenes in each and every direction. And when overt references to sex is part of the ebbs and flow of life, then in that degenerated state surely there will be a rash of sex offenders. Because the very environment breeds such criminals. That is why it is not at all surprising to read a statement such as this on one of their fancy websites: "A sex offender could be a person across town, your neighbor across the street, or someone you know very well." (www.stopsexoffenders.com) The point here is that sex offenders are everywhere in the materialistic countries. Because everyone's lower vrittis are constantly getting stimulated and lacking any proper guidance people commonly lose control of their senses. This happens even to good people. That is why the large bulk of the population in the US is either actually committing sexual crimes or they have the strong desire to do so but out of fear of the police they refrain themselves and end up just being frustrated and depressed. Even then, the authorities do not consider the matter-centered environment to be the problem. Rather they think the only solution is more and more databases to identify the ever-growing number of offenders.
BABA IDENTIFIES THE ROOT CAUSE
In our Ananda Marga, Baba has pointedly given the solution to each and every social problem: From the most complex to the most basic. Here below in clear-cut fashion Baba has given the exact answer as to why there are sexual crimes being committed in the materialistic nations. Baba says, "In the modern world there is a wide variety of films which excite the passions and have a degrading influence on boys and girls, adolescents and young men and women. Such films create in cinema-goers the desire to emulate in their individual lives the criminal activities, the vulgar expressions of love, or the adventurous behaviour that they see enacted on the screen. This is another example of how keeping bad company causes depravity." (HS-1) Thus whether in the films or in advertisements or in whatever arena, Baba clearly guides us that a depraved environment is the root cause of sexual crimes. Here again Baba identifies the problem: Baba says, "There are glaring examples that honest people can become dishonest as a result of environmental pressures...Nearly all deceitful acts, such as swindling, fraud, gambling, looting, seducing women, and travelling without a ticket, are commonly a result of the influence of bad company." (HS-1) By His precise evaluation, it is clear that the degrading environment-- not the individual-- is the root cause of the rash of sexual crimes in materialistic societies.
THE NEXT STEP: CHANGE OF SCENE
In His perfect and thorough approach, Baba then gives the next mode of action to overcome this problem of sexual crimes. Baba says, "If, after thorough investigation, it is discovered that particular people or circumstantial pressure have caused these criminals (whatever their age) to take part in antisocial activities, it will be the duty of the judge to remove them from that environment." (HS-1) As Baba explains above, if the negative environment is the cause then the judge's duty is not to just throw the offenders name on some public database. That will not help the situation. Instead Baba guides us that the offender should be removed from that negative stimuli. Then they can grow in a proper way.
PERMANENT SOLUTION: INCULCATE SPIRITUAL VALUES
Here Baba gives the final-steps in solving this problem of sexual crimes. Baba says, "Civilized people today should be more interested in preventing base criminal propensities from arising in human beings in the first place, than in taking corrective measures." (HS-1) By His above guidelines it is clear that the best way to overcome this systemic problem of sexual offenses is by removing the negative influences in the environment and inculcating a new set of values in the society. Building countless electronic databases listing the offenders will not yield any fruit. Rather the depraved sexual overtones of society must be eradicated and a bright new mental outlook is needed. This all must happen on the collective level. In this next guideline, Baba gives an easy comprehensive way for everyone to proceed in their individual lives. Baba says, "Mental purity helps particularly in keeping a person healthy...That is why every human being should make a strong as habit as possible of selfless service and Iishvara Pran'idha'na (meditation). The best way to attain mental purity is to follow the principles of Yama and Niyama." (Yogic Treatments, Appendix, Sect. G) By His above guidelines anyone can understand that shifting from a sexually oriented materialistic society to a spiritually based society with high ideals is the ultimate solution.
BABA'S BLESSING
Here is Baba's blessing upon one and all. Baba says, "...Your endless efforts to broaden and smoothen the path of human movement will render your present existence, and your future history inestimable." (A'nanda Va'nii #55) Namaskar, Jayanta
Note 1: HOW A TEETOTALLER BECOMES AN ALCOHOLIC
Here below Baba shows how a wrong environment affects even good people with good habits. Baba says, "Suppose a teetotaller mixes regularly with a group of alcoholics. The frequent anti-teetotaller gibes and the positive portrayals of the wondrous virtues of wine by the alcoholics will one day tempt the teetotaller to taste a little wine. His drinking friends will say, "We don't want you to become drunk. But what's the harm if you just taste a little! This surely won't make you a bad person! What a moralist you are! Oh friend, to be such a moralist in the world today is ridiculous!" So one day the teetotaller tastes wine and this becomes the cause of his downfall. But on the day the unsuspecting teetotaller took wine, he did not realize that from that very day wine would become the cause of his degeneration." (HS-1) Similarly those people who are normal and good people get goaded into sexual crimes due to the degrading ways of society. Either by watching lewd movies, seeing porn websites, or by drinking liquor etc, then even upstanding citizens may fall and commit a sexual offense. All due to the negative environment of materialism.
Note 2: SEX CRIMES IN USA: MINORITIES NOT THE CHIEF OFFENDER
Some may wrongly think that that increase of sexual crimes in the US is due to the increase in immigration etc or that such crimes are only committed by minority populations. But the follow statistic by the US department of justice points in a different direction. "Four datasets (the FBI's UCR arrests, State felony court convictions, prison admissions, and the National Crime Victimization Survey) all point to a sex offender who is older than other violent offenders, generally in his early 30's, and more likely to be white than other violent offenders." (US Dept of Justice) Thus it is not that black and Hispanic populations are the main offenders. White Americans of European descent are the chief culprits. So it is not a problem related with minority populations only. It is a main-line and systemic issue.
Note 3: EVER-GROWING ARRAY OF SEXUAL CRIMES
Here is an incomplete list of the vast array of the sexual crimes committed in the US due to the nasty effects of materialism. Tragically authorities still think it is totally the offenders fault. When in truth 99.9% of the cases are the result of living in a crude sensual society. That is why the extent and array of sexual crimes is increasing steadily. The State of Utah Dept of Corrections maintains this list of sexual offenses:
Enticing a Minor Over the Internet 76-4-401 Child Kidnapping : 76-5-301.1 Unlawful Sexual Activity w/a Minor : 76-5-401 Unlawful Sexual Intercourse : 76-5-401z Sexual Abuse of a Minor : 76-5-401.1 Unlawful Sexual Conduct w/a 16 or 17 year old : 76-5-401.2 Rape: 76-5-402 Rape of a Child : 76-5-402.1 Object Rape : 76-5-402.2 Object Rape of a Child : 76-5-402.3 Forcible Sodomy : 76-5-403 Sodomy on a Child : 76-5-403.1 Forcible Sexual Abuse : 76-5-404 Sexual Abuse of a Child & Agg Sexual Abuse of a Child : 76-5-404.1 Aggravated Sexual Assault : 76-5-405 Sexual Exploitation of a Minor : 76-5a-3 Incest : 76-7-102 Lewdness Involving a Child : 76-9-702.5 Agg. Exploitation of Prostitution : 76-10-1306
By reading the above, one can understand that the problem is systemic and not individualistic in nature. That is, the root cause is the lack of higher values in society, not the offender per se.
*************************************** Capacity of A'tma
Baba says, "Till you have a human body go on doing great work. After death in absence of the brain the mind cannot function in which case one cannot do anything. But the unit consciousness (atma) can still work. It has the capacity to work in subtle form." (Delhi DMC 1984 Discourse)
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