AS I See It

To Be David Or Goliath? That’s The Question‍

Valson Thampu To Hamlet, the agonizing question was: ‘To be, or not to be’. To us, as Christians today living in Modi’s India, the corresponding question is: To be with David, or to be with Goliath? Let me explain. The David-Goliath face-off, chronicled compactly, but with mythological resonan

Fellow Keralites: Choose Life, Not Death!

Valson Thampu It was not long ago that Vayalar, the lyricist par excellence of Malayalis, sang: ‘Give me once again the boon I pray // To be born on this, the blessed shore of beauty.’ I am glad he is not in our midst. Else, he would have, I fear, withdrawn this immortal lyric from […]

Poverty of The Prosperity Gospel

Valson Thampu ‘Twenty years ago,’ said a young lady over the phone to me the other day, ‘when I was a student at Women’s Christian College, Chennai, the Christianity dished out to me by an evangelical group was all about ‘Health, Wealth and Prosperity’. Now, as I face the challenge of living as a believer, […]

CAN CHURCH BE A HEALING PRESENCE IN KERALA?

Valson Thampu Everyone is aware, even concerned, that Kerala is drifting into greater societal and cultural ill-health. Surprisingly, there is very little discussion on what may be done to stem the rot. Does it mean that we are giving up on ‘God’s own land’? Or, is it that our faith in God’s competence is so […]

If The Church Is To Be The Body Of Christ….

Valson Thampu We are familiar with the story of five blind men who went to see the elephant. For a blind person, touch is sight. So, they touched various parts of the elephant. The first, who touched the belly of the jumbo was convinced that an elephant was smooth and solid like a wall. The […]

Trump and the Resurrection of a Shibboleth

Valson Thampu When Donald Trump unveils to navel-fondling right-wing American audiences his ideology of ‘America First’ – his mantra for Making America Great Again (MAGA) – it awakens a weary sense of deja vu. It portends the resuscitation of the good old shibboleth of European nationalism that plunged the world into two successive World Wars. […]

Indian bishops slam terror attack on tourists in India’s Kashmir

No action taken against police who assaulted Catholic priests in India