Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sin Eventually Crushes the Forbearing Entity

I was reading a forwarded mail, incorrectly attributed to Bill Cosby:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/imtired.asp
and decided to write this. I think we don't have to wait to be 83 or 76 to see some truth in it. Life is certainly not fair. We have the Karma theory extending beyond the current life or the concept of God to take the unfairness in our stride. But we can still help it to some extent.

As more and more bad behaviors are accommodated into the daily living, we may think that we are helping a section of the society to gain their freedom. But eventually, living, on an average becomes increasingly difficult. Take the instance of marriage, which is so fundamental to civilized living. Many bad behaviors, such as adultery,  greed, sloth, and most of the other deadly sins got accommodated into the divorce laws, either directly ("no-fault", irreconcilable differences) or indirectly (through distorted implementation / interpretation of the law). The whole idea of making money from a marriage after indulging in one or more of the deadly sins and still gaining freedom from the responsibility of the marital bonds is ill-conceived.

Trust can easily be broken and still the person breaking the trust immensely benefits from the law. The result? More and more marriages have been breaking, more and more children are growing up in sub-optimal circumstances, possibly leading to substance abuse. An Internet search for "marriage rates" shows how much it is declining and the subsequent ill-effects. We are increasingly finding both men and women opting not to marry or have children or both. So, the tolerance we are showing towards certain bad behaviors seem to be actually destroying the institution of marriage itself. The joint-family is almost dead now and family is following that path.

The society and the lawmakers seem to be caring more for sensual freedom. Ancient wisdom made it very clear that sensual freedom leads to misery. We should do only that which is right for the world, not that which satisfies our senses. Unfortunately, the society seems to be rapidly moving towards sensual, material freedom, forgetting the real meaning of freedom. Movies, TV, and media are increasingly glorifying what was once considered crime, illegal or unethical. Only when the leaders are determined to preserve the real meaning of freedom, can they ensure real happiness to the masses. Freedom of the senses is bondage of the mind and soul. Only when the senses are bounded by determination and will, will the mind and soul be free. - Vishnu Pendyala