Fr. Jose Vallikatt MST

“The Charismatic preachers have borrowed ideas from Western Pentecostal preachers as well as aligning with Kerala Pentecostal groups which advocate Islamophobia.”

We are living in a visual culture of the perspectives of persuasion and manipulation which are constructing religious and cultural movements. We see fundamentalism growing everywhere, ev-en inside the church there is the rise of fundamentalism? Is there a relation?

Visuals offer spectacles to view the reality around us. We are a generation that is too obsessed with visuals, both still and moving. Scholars such as Derrida and Roland Barthes, have been intrigued by the visual construction of power relations, which they have conceptualised as the “gaze,” which is the visual field that evaluates space and object as intelligible forms.

Images as well as objects play an important role in the practice of religion. Catholics for example do have a rich legacy of Icons, statues, religious art ranging from pictograph on vestments to stained glass windows. Fundamentally images provide a sense of community, which indeed is good. They also do influence us to shape the collective opinion on the basis of caste and creed.

However, in the last two decades, precisely after the September 11 event, the visual media has been used immensely to spread religious fundamentalism. Different sections of people including media companies, religious groups and terrorists have benefitted from manipulative media. They help polarise people and build new constituencies. The strategy and the effect of the same is also seen in Kerala as well. Images of terrorist activities, beheading of people, destroyed churches etc have helped particular sections of the community mobilise vested interests and polarised people. Placing linocut picture of Shiva and Hanuman, the famous Hindu deities, on the cars is a common trend recently. Lino cuts are high contrast images and it evokes special waves in the minds of the spectator as well as provide a sense of communal identity. Some Christian fundamentalists were far successful in forcing a film director to withdraw the name of his movie (Keshu) which apparently had a similarity with Yeshu as it had been presented as a speck in their collective conscience.

Marshall McLuhan sees a civilizational conflict in the world between the West and the Arabic world, how realistic is his prediction?  How do you look at  Pope Francis following a different paradigm of dialogue?

I go along with McLuhans Global Village idea which he coined to signify that how the once-fragmented world will shrink to be a village aided by the proliferation of media advanced technologies.

There had been periods in history when large areas have been considered a single unit for example under the Roman and Persian Empires which brought diverse cultures and religions under centralized legal orders. The Roman Empire was greatly weakened as it split into Eastern and Western realms, leading to the collapse and fragmentation of its Western wing with the invasion of the Germanic tribes. Whereas in the Eastern side, Islam got powerful and united many Arabian tribes into a world power. Islam further expanded the global unity brought about by the Romans and Persians. Up until recently when Islam rose as a destructive force in some countries, the Islamic order stimulated trade and cultural exchange from Europe to Southeast Asia.

However, emergence of the Islamic extremism has divided the world into many factions again. Marshall McLuhan’s assertion on terrorism that ‘without communication, terrorism would not exist’ is true. Media has given increasing visibility to the terrorists and extremists groups. Media coverage even has helped them greater bargaining power. The rapid developments of media technology have provided opportunities for terrorists to broadcast their messages and ideas across borders without impediments or restrictions. The Arab Spring movement reflects a strong desire by new generations of Arabs who challenged their autocratic elites, demanding a liberal democratic form of government and paying the ultimate price for such a demand.

The efforts of Pope Francis to make a world without borders is praiseworthy. His latest encyclical FrateliTutinot only delineates the principles for a peaceful co-existence, but also binds every catholic to live that call.

Science and technology is uprooting every one which is a reason for nostalgia, how do we overcome the nostalgia by becoming communal and fundamentalist? Do you relate it with the rise of Hindutva?

Science and technology have their own fascinations as much as religions have their own. It is true that communication technology has become very easy to use and affordable for every common man. However, using the aphorism of McLuhan the medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. The phrase “the medium is the message” means that content and medium are intertwined, so the central message or effect of something is not in the content it carries, but in the way it is presented.

Many people who use modern communication technology indeed are not aware that the dynamics of technology has equal or more weight than the message they convey. This is very much applicable in the idea of Truth. Visual culture presumes that whatever is seen is the truth. However media messages are most vulnerable to be manipulated. Hence today much of the truths we get are half-truths, distorted truths, or even lies. So we say ours is a post truth society.

Right wing fascist groups resort to and found great success in the spread of lies or pretentious truths. This has tremendously destroyed our social fabric and peaceful co-existence. The devotion to Lord Shiva has traditionally been characterised by the dictum, Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram which are Truth, goodness and beauty. Human society has to seek these virtues. Normative sciences (Logic, Ethics and Aesthetics) seek to discover ‘good’ ways of doing things, or the ‘right’ way of thinking. Nevertheless what we see around us is a life devoid of these virtues for which Hindutva is a reason.

How do you understand the Islamophobia in certain sections of Christians in Kerala and the polarisations it creates? Is it mimetic rivalry based on certain biased notions of wealth and certain hate campaigns the reason?

I have been reflecting about this question for quite some time and have written a few pieces in my digital social wall. Islamophobia in Kerala deserves a deeper study which should comprise both quantitative and qualitative methods. I do not consider wealth as the primary reason for islamophobia. However two other reasons are of prime importance for Islamophobia by the Christians.

Recently we have been observing the infiltration of right wing fascist ideologies and strategies within the mainstream church. Partisan messages, hate speeches, and message capsules have been generated to spread among Christian communities. Several extremist groups have been mushrooming within the Church, although they do not claim apparent approval by the Church authorities. They have been producing chauvinist messages which said Islam is a threat. These created feelings of hate, isolation, otherness and so on. Now the tension between the two communities is irreparably bad.

Second reason could be the impact of Evangelical (Charismatic) movement within the Church. Although Charismatics claim to have done some good to the faithful, the damages it perpetrated were slow but severe. It has catalysed Christian fundamentalism in the form of strict interpretation of 1st commandment, exclusivist as well as triumphalist language, spread of superstitions in the guise of pious devotions. Recently they started an apologetic approach which has strangled the communal cohesion of our multicultural society. This has occurred partly because the Charismatic preachers have borrowed ideas from Western Pentecostal preachers as well as aligning with Kerala Pentecostal groups which advocate Islamophobia. Both these groups are tremendously using media for their purpose. What is dubious is that the official leadership of the Church has not condemned these tendencies and trends.

Population fall and increase become an important tool of politics parlance, do you think religion is an important factor deciding population? Economic status and education are said to be the most important factors; the lowest birth rates in Kerala are among Nairs and Mar Thoma Christians, why the religion does not play its role?

The increasing tendencies of population is cultural rather than religious. Decreasing trends may be linked to scientific developments in the field of health care. Political regulations also may cause population control. Religious or ideological outlook may influence some people to increase or decrease the number of their children. Christian religion supports large families ideologically.

What I consider most is, whatever be the reasons, the social institutions should focus more on increasing the quality of life of both families and individuals. Unfortunately our society today is not socially or economically conducive for rearing large families. The role of religions, I understand, is to provide a climate suitable to lead a quality life. Then people will decide whether they need a large family or not.

In elections no socio-economic issues are debated or addressed but certain skin deep flimsy and sensational matters are debated, why? Is democracy degenerating and becoming mobocracy? What is the future of Indian democracy?

Humanity has passed through different phases of history, each of which had its own unique characteristics. What we call today, the post postmodern era has its own peculiarities too. Technological changes have influenced the behaviours and thought process as well. These have influenced people including politicians to priests. We may not see a political dedication of the past as we did see in the time of the freedom struggle, where our motive and motivations were different. I think our democracy is evolving. We are in a state, as Victor Turner would say, of liminality, a state of betwixt, an ambiguous neither-here-nor-there state. Social media has given a greater power to people, and many are using it constructively. I am hopeful about this evolution.

Is the media the watchdog of our democracy? Or are the media navigating aro-und the God of the Capital?

Media is not a monolithic idea. Earlier we had media houses which now have been purchased by corporates who want to please the powerful ruling class. Yet, at the same time, with the social media and web 2.0 Individuals and small groups have come up as watchdogs and whistle blowers. We can’t say that all media do that, but what the traditional media is not all what is about media.