A few years ago addressing the rectors and presidents of the Universities who were invited to be part of the celebration of the new millennium in Rome, Pope John Paul the Second spoke about the need for a New Humanism to counteract the culture of the present century which has denigrated the culture of life. This New Humanism involves the infusion of ethical values into modern scientific research.
This emphasis on New Humanism i.e. on the need to emphasize ethical values in human endeavors has a great relevance in our discussion on the challenges facing the immigrants from India. We too are becoming part of a secular culture whose power on every facet of our lives is unbelievably intense. Through the news media, the T.V., social customs, and peer pressure, the secular world is exerting unimaginable pressure on our moral and religious values.Once traveling by train in Kerala, I happened to meet a young man who was returning from the States after taking his Ph. D. from the M.I.T. The conversation turned to religion and the young man told me that he was traveling through the various regions of India in search of some spiritual messages which could pacify his inner restlessness. This young man who posed such searching questions is not an isolated individual but is a representative of the hundreds and thousands of young men in our modern society asking similar questions about religion, faith and morals.
The secular spirit of the age is producing a vast chasm between the immigrant parents and their children brought up in this new environment. Most of the children, born and brought up here find themselves caught in a difficult situation because of their inability to integrate their parents’ rock-like faith and the moral values derived from them and the values they encounter in their secular environment. Everything becomes blurred and confused for them. What they see and hear from the outside world is one thing and what they see and hear from their families is another. There is a constant tension going on in their minds in their effort to understand and integrate these forces.
As Indians, we know we are the products of a culture that is ancient and multi-layered. There are so many strands of customs and traditions, varying from state to state, from one language group to another. In spite of these variations, there are common strands of traditions and customs that bind us together.
The philosophical thought embedded in the Vedas and the Upanishads belongs to the patrimony of all Indians. When Mahatma Gandhi articulated the truths of Indian tradition as Ahimsa and Satyagraha, every Indian irrespective of the religion he pursues could feel one with him. Gandhiji’s vision is the finest flower blossomed out of the Indian philosophical thought and it inspires every Indian. The following words of his articulated in his work “ All Men are Brothers” are shared equally by all: “ My mission is not merely brotherhood of Indian humanity. My mission is not merely freedom of India…but through the realization of freedom of India I hope to realize and carry on the mission of the brotherhood of man. My patriotism is not an exclusive thing. It is all-embracing and I reject that patriotism which sought to mount upon the distress or the exploitation of other nationalities.”
Thus we carry forward in our lives the ideals of an Indian way of life, based on the values of the Indian tradition of Dharma and Sarvodaya(the well-being of all), but sanctified and refined by the values of the Gospel for the Christians and for others by their respective religious teachings. In an Indian perspective, the acquisition of wealth (Artha) is always controlled by the final goal which is eternal salvation(Moksha). There is also an innate desire on the part of every Indian, after he has discharged his duty as a parent, to retire from the active pursuit of wealth into a way of living more quiet and mellow which reflects the vanaprastham and sanyasam of the Indian Scriptures. If we examine our lives who are born and brought up in India , we will find that our lives resonate some of these ideals of the Indian way of life, in spite of having lived a major part of our lives here.
In our family traditions and ways of life, our faith—religion -- is a dominant factor although we may not realize consciously the great power it exerts on our lives. It is difficult for an Indian whatever may be his religion to visualize a life devoid of the influence of his religion. Our traditions and customs are derived from our religion.
It is from these perspectives that we have to examine the challenges confronting us in this new environment.
What are some of the features of the new environment? As all of you know, we are caught up in the American Dream—that success is within the reach of all, that any one, with hard work and intelligence, can reach the heights of prosperity, and that one doesn’t have to come with an inherited wealth to climb the ladder of success. Like any other immigrant to this land of opportunities, we too are dazzled by the opportunities open before us and strive hard to become part of the story of success.
Another feature of the American culture is the work-ethic which is a strongly held belief of the Puritans—that good work and prosperity are signs of God’s blessings. Therefore there is a constant emphasis on work and it sometimes takes precedence over all other values. As there is so much emphasis on the morality of work, one even is tempted to ignore one’s obligations to one’s family and other vitally important aspects of life. The corporations and other job-giving sectors have absorbed this spirit so much that they don’t at feel any squeamishness in asking their employees to give up their most prized values and commitments for the success of the industrial ventures. All immigrants are caught up in that culture in such a way that some of the most important values of lives such as the observance of the Sunday obligations and the commitment to our children and parents become a secondary factor.
The separation of the Church and the State also creates a problem for all immigrant communities for whom their religion was the defining factor of their culture, traditions and customs. The practice of faith is so private here that nobody takes any kind of pride in the communal celebration of his faith. We too slowly absorb the air of this environment and we begin to think of our faith as something private and separate from our social lives. Our children too absorb that culture and we see them drifting away from the faith of their fathers.
The emphasis on extreme individualism is again a challenge to the immigrants who have believed in their responsibility to their extended families and the society. Here, it is each one for oneself (of course, in a more figurative sense). So there are not many who would devote their time to take care of the weakest or the older people in their families. This extreme form of individualism is reflected in the attitudes of children, brought up here and they are more concerned about their own well-being and prosperity than about the feelings of the parents or other elder members of the family. In a culture where the parent was the sole decision –making authority, we move to a culture where the parents end up as distant observers of what is happening in the lives of the children.
Then, of course, the pressure that feminism and other extreme forms of liberal wings of thought that preach sexual liberation and laxity exert on the lives and attitudes of people diminishes the moral standards of the society. Divorces were unheard of in the traditional families of India. Now we find some of our families are also becoming overpowered by the onslaught of a secular culture.
In the midst of all these varying movements and shifting of perspectives and standards, where do we stand? Our feelings are similar to the feelings of the people of the 19th c. described by Matthew Arnold: “ One dead and the other powerless to be born”. Again in his poem “ Dover Beach”, he comments on the fading of the faith: “ the Sea of Faith/ Was once , too, at the full , and round earth’s shore/Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled./But now I only hear its melancholy , long, withdrawing roar.”
Where should we start? How can we reconcile the spirit of this new environment with the traditional values of our culture?
We have to begin again at the family level. Our families are our domestic churches. It is there that the children and we ourselves learn the lessons of charity and forgiveness and deepen our faith. By spending more time with the children as they mature through the years, and by changing our roles from being a parent to a friend and a counselor, we can become active agents in the formation of the attitudes of our children.
We too need further knowledge and support in our growth of faith. More involvement in the activities of our respective religious organizations, cultivating social bonds, helping the needy in their times of difficulties, and caring for the parents in their old age are some of the ways in which we can protect our values in the midst of the extreme forms of individualism and permissiveness.
More than all these, it is our deep attachment to God and our decision to guide our lives in the spirit of our religious traditions and teachings that help us to protect ourselves from the onslaughts of secularism and consumerism.
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