CREEDE HINSHAW: Seeking justice opposing the orthodoxy of one’s faith

What does a person do when, guided by God and conscience, he or she is convicted of an action running counter to the sacred writings of that religion?

This theme is common: A certain man, involved in human rights and lifting human dignity, publicly opposed the teaching and tradition of his own faith’s sacred scriptures, convinced sacred scripture could not consign people to second-class citizenship.

By eschewing the scripture in this matter and remaining unswerving in his commitment to a particular oppressed class, he was opposed – at times violently — by the hierarchy of most followers of his religion. Priests, scholars and practitioners opposed him and some of his own followers wondered if he had gone too far.

These two paragraphs could describe any number of social and religious reformers over the centuries, including Jesus. But the man I write about lived in India.

I am currently reading Ramchandra Guha’s 900-page biography on the second half of Gandhi’s life entitled “Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World 1914-1948.” This book, released by Alfred A. Knopf last year, is destined to become the classic work on the life of this spiritually mature Indian who influenced his nation and world.

Gandhi had a growing, unyielding — some would say intransigent — determination to eliminate the caste system in India, specifically to elevate the Untouchable Class of Indians to the same level of dignity and potential as all other Indians. Recognizing the power of language, he refused to use the odious name they had been given, choosing instead to call them harijan, which means “Children of God.” This group of people, still present in India, are now known as Dalits (“broken/scattered.”)

These lowest caste Indians were barred from restaurants, hotels, village wells, post offices and Hindu temples. Their travel was restricted, their wardrobe was proscribed, they could not use public bathrooms or ride bicycles in public.

What Gandhi called “a blot on Hinduism” was enforced in the name of religion. The Hindu priests claimed that God had ordained this, that scripture is scripture and they must not undo what God had done. But Gandhi was absolutely convinced God had made all people equal from birth and that India did not deserve to be an independent nation until it resolved the issue of this deep prejudice.

This was immensely threatening to those — including the British, who ruled India — who wanted desperately to maintain their power and status. These powerful people were perplexed and stymied by this frail patriot with spindly legs and horn-rimmed glasses who was willing to undergo a fast to his own death in 1932 if that was what it would take to free the harijan from the stranglehold of religion.

Gandhi was right about human dignity and right to oppose this stain on his own religion, and Guha’s portrayal of this struggle is quite inspiring.

This column is one week late. Martin Luther King Jr. was an admirer and student of Gandhi, especially for Gandhi’s love of the Sermon on the Mount and his pursuit of nonviolent means. There come times when one seeks justice at the cost of opposing the orthodoxy of one’s own faith.

Email Creede Hinshaw at [email protected].