Murdering Gandhi

The Rev · 05-24-2009, 01:00 PM

I was watching Richard Attenborough's movie, "Gandhi" last night, and I was left with a disturbing thought. As you know, Gandhi was opposed to violence and suffering, and made great personal sacrifices to promote non-violence and cooperation between people. It is truly a credit to the human race that we can claim such a person as one of our own.

On the other hand, we must also claim the man (or men) that were responsible for his murder. I am both awed and shamed that I belong to a race of people who, among it's membership, could find someone who actually thought it was a good idea to murder Gandhi. This thought echoes in my mind, "Someone actually decided it was the right thing to do."

Humanity is truly something beautiful and terrible to contain such extremes - those willing to die for love, and those who consider them such a terrible threat.

The Rev

verklingen · 05-25-2009, 08:43 AM

it's the "dark" side of having free choice. but imagine the potential for release this allows. . . unimaginable, utterly ecstatic release!

Prophet Saddam · 05-25-2009, 09:27 AM

Humanity. We've all got it in us, some have just misplaced it.

Ego Tripping · 05-25-2009, 01:59 PM

I've been thinking about this recently quite a bit recently, of dark choices (murder, torture) and their role in the world. I was speaking to my girlfriend about it and she said to me 'it's less about the sadness of the pain and more about the joy of the healing.' It's true, there's been so much trauma that we've inflicted on ourselves in our history on Earth but as a result, there's so much healing occurring. It seems that no matter how much pain can be inflicted, there's an equal if not greater amount of healing and love that it leaves in it's wake. When I researched the history of torture, I found it interesting that the most painful forms eventually always became outlawed and not practiced anymore due to their 'barbaric' nature. It's progress but the type progress that is akin running on a slippery floor with oiled feet to get to the other side. You'll get there, but it'll take time and will have it's hard falls.

I like to think that perhaps we're moving (slowly) towards a world where we stop taking the painful detour to arrive to the love and the place we all want to be and will be eventually anyway.

xxoozero · 05-25-2009, 04:54 PM

I don't believe Gandhi did anything really significant for his people.

I used to work in an Indian joint, and I got this idea from my manager, who was Indian. He hated Gandhi with a passion. The guy was an asshole to his wife and most of the people around him. His ideas, while peaceful, were not progressive to the culture as a whole.

When asked what type of guy would kill Gandhi, I picture my old manager. He was a decent dude, pretty laid back and always smiling. The folks who killed Gandhi weren't monsters, they were just people who didn't agree with the way he was taking their culture. There is a lot more to the story than just this skinny guy refusing food for a cause. Other people were getting screwed over and they got tired of it.

I don't think we can really judge actions made by other men unless we were there, and it was our culture at stake.

Ego Tripping · 05-25-2009, 05:07 PM

Pretty sure murder is a monsterous thing to do to a man proclaiming peace and enacting change that the culture and world was ready for (or else he would have just been ignored by the masses). Was Ghandi taking the culture anywhere or was it his followers? How were the ideas not progressive to the culture as a whole? I don't think it's as cut and dry as your manager is making it.

Ghandi was a vehicle for the knowledge but he didn't force or make the culture do anything, the people that comprised the culture were the ones who made that choice. I believe the phrase 'don't kill the messenger' is used for a reason. The murder of Ghandi was cowardice and misdirected hostility.

xxoozero · 05-25-2009, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Ego Tripping

a vehicle for the knowledge but he didn't force or make the culture do anything, the people that comprised the culture were the ones who made that choice. I believe the phrase 'don't kill the messenger' is used for a reason

The same thing could be said about Hitler.