Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Dogmatic bigot

Part of tertiary education involves developing critical thinking skills, and learning to engage with ideologies and beliefs differing from your own. The library collection of any tertiary institution represents a spectrum of scholarly opinion. In plain English, just because an item is held in the library, it does not mean that the institution, its faculty, or library staff endorse the viewpoints of its author, authors, or contributors.

It is unprofessional for librarians to refuse to hold resources just because they disagree with the opinions expressed in them. I write this wordy disclaimer because my library holds literature both supportive of, and hostile to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishnas. 

Some of this literature was written by ISKCON's founder,  (1896-1977). I noticed that he went by the title of "His Divine Grace." It strikes me as blasphemous that the late Swami, a mere man, would consider himself to be divine in any sense. He was an ordinary man, just like I am, and in need of salvation from Jesus Christ, just like I am (Romans 3:10, 23, 7:18).

The Bible consistently attests that Jesus is the only sinless man who ever lived. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 4:15, 9:14, 1 Peter 1:19, 2:22, I John 3:5). I wouldn't want to entrust my eternal destiny to another fallen, sinful human being such as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, or indeed any other spiritual leader of his ilk. It would be pure folly.

http://www.ibtimes.com/swami-prabhupada-founder-hare-krishna-movement-virulent-racist-anti-semite-1412102

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