== 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)
***************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment here