Environmental Ethics

Author(s): S M Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 86

followed. This resulted in fierce wars between invaders and peace loving original inhabitants. Generally the local people had better scruples and morals as compared to invaders who came from degraded areas. The recorded horrific history of atrocities committed by invaders is chilling. The victims were aghast as they could not even imagine that such cruelties can be inflicted by humans on other humans. People of invaded town or village ran helter-shelter to escape atrocities of rape, beating, killing, conversion, leaving material possessions and even dear and near ones. In such situations the instinct of survival of self prevailed as happens in case of fire in a house when the first instinctive response of residents is to run away. It is only after some time that infants, infirms left behind are remembered and measures to bring them out if possible are considered. Such extreme situations created by unscrupulous, recurrent invasions changed the social fabric in vanquished societies and nations and the collective effort to repulse was almost lost. People could not think of any solution and left everything to the will and in the hands of God or some deity. This gave birth to devotional surrender or Bhakticult.
Even extreme devotion, complete surrender to God or some deity, reciting its praise, its worship or any other sort of indulgence in Bhakti (devotion) has never solved any problem. It only promoted passivity and inaction. Recently prayer healing has been vehemently discussed with arguments and counter arguments by proponents and opponents. At least ten studies were done in last six years. The latest by Herbert Benson, cardiologist and director of Mind/Body Medical Institute near Boston reported in the American Heart Journal have indicated that the patients who knew they are being prayed for, had a higher rate of post operation complications like abnormal heart rhythms. Obviously such intercessory prayers have no healing effect. Dr. Partha Chaudhery, Head of nuclear medicine, Rajiv Ghandhi Cancer Institute, said that he had never come across a case where any terminally ill patient has recovered by such prayers. To solve any problem appropriate
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