F.X. Clooney, SJ: Poisoned wine in a new Tetra pak – George Augustine

“Clooney’s high-sounding “dynamics of dialogue” has many takers among Hindus for reasons known only to themselves. The Jesuit’s old poisoned wine, once sold by the founders with a sword in hand, is now marketed in soft Tetra Pak and is contaminating otherwise positive development of Hindu thought in India as well as abroad.” – George Augustine

Francis Xavier Clooney, Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology and Director of the Centre for the Study of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School, typifies the 21st century face of the Jesuits. From his official profile, we come to know: “His primary areas of scholarship are theological commentarial writings in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of Hindu India, and the developing field of comparative theology, a discipline distinguished by attentiveness to the dynamics of theological learning deepened through the study of traditions other than one’s own. He has also written on the Jesuit missionary tradition, particularly in India, and the dynamics of dialogue in the contemporary world.”[1]

Though F/X Clooney* is based in the US, I am told he is a popular figure among many Hindus in Chennai, especially Vaishnavites who follow the Bhakti tradition. He visits Chennai regularly and gives lectures on Hinduism and its similarities with Catholicism. His credentials attest to his field of expertise in his online profile: “Professor Clooney is the author of numerous articles and books, including most recently Beyond Compare: St. Francis and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God (Georgetown University Press, 2008), The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus (Peeters Publishing, 2008), and Comparative Theology: Deep Learning across Religious Borders (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).”[2]

Clooney’s current preoccupation has to do with the comparison of religious traditions and finding similarities. It is apparently a harmless and even a peaceably beneficial religious activity for humankind, far removed from those times when Jesuits were armed to the teeth and doing in alien lands what George W. Bush was doing much later in Iraq, with only a technical difference in war machinery and tactics.

Rev. Clooney is a member of the Society of Jesus (S.J.), a religious order of males that follows the predominantly misogynistic teachings of the Catholic Church. It was founded in the 16th century by a band of seven militant zealots headed by Ignatius of Loyola to propagate and sustain the Roman Catholic faith at a time when a substantial number of converted Germanic people were already rebelling against the faith. The institution they founded was instrumental in causing untold miseries all over the earth for over four centuries. The notorious seven included Francis Xavier, whose horrifying carcass is displayed even today in Goa, an ingenious but arrogant and grotesque demonstration by the Catholic Church of how to make money by recycling corpses, which also evinces their inherent obsession with rotten flesh.

The functioning of the Society of Jesus, like all Catholic institutions, is shrouded in secrecy and we know about them only from what they care to tell us or by their deeds, which have been eloquent and more than enough to charge them with culpability for murder and grave offences committed over centuries. They are masters of deception and manipulators of the top order, because they are still around, scot-free, carrying on the same old work they did, but they have put on a new garb and have stowed away their swords. They know how to cover their tracks well, and when cornered, know well how to wriggle out of a difficult situation.

The Society of Jesus was originally an Al Qaeda-like militant organisation and its members were popularly known as “God’s Marines” and “The Company” among insiders when they first appeared in history. They were answerable only to the popes and carried out papal missions (assignments) without questioning in utmost secrecy. The only Jesuit characteristic we can pronounce with any clarity is their loyalty to the cause of the Catholic Church and the pope. Ignatius of Loyola is known to have written: “… I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it.”[3]

Their dogged adherence to the church doctrines is reflected in one of their current websites and pronouncements, though they seem to have shed their bluntness. “For over 450 years Jesuit priests and brothers have lived an amazing story of serving the Church in new and unexpected ways. We are still men on the move, ready to change place, occupation, method – whatever will advance our mission in the Church. We are expected to do anything or go anywhere to teach Jesus Christ and preach his Good News”[4].

The terrorist adventures of the Jesuits in accordance with these pronouncements have been recorded worldwide. In India, terror tactics were initiated by Francis Xavier on the Malabar Coast and proved successful only with Hindu fisher folk. The Eastern Christians who had been forced to submit to the Catholic faith rebelled and ousted the Jesuits. So, the pope sent mild-mannered Carmelites, who eventually managed to coax the rebels back into the Catholic Church. The Vatican employs their multi-faceted religious orders like varied weaponry and the Jesuits form their most offensive frontline weapons in areas they want to conquer.

A partisan book (Jesuits in India) on sale on the web[5] summarises the previous Jesuit activity in India thus: “The Society of Jesus enjoyed many successes in India, but these were often tempered by momentary trials and setbacks. In 1744 Pope Benedict XIV (1675–1758) issued a papal bull suppressing the rites used by Indian converts …. Jesuit missionaries struggled with social issues, often involving caste. At first their evangelisation targeted the lower-caste Hindus, who were known as ‘rice Christians’ because their mass conversions were seen as tainted by desire for material comforts (such as food), but subsequent efforts, which focused on social change through education, attracted high-caste converts. By 1858 they had founded colleges in Goa, Mumbai (Bombay), Calcutta, and Cranganore. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Jesuit missions in India are engaged in educational and social programmes, having established over twenty colleges, more than one hundred high schools, and several technical, labour relations, and management institutes in India.”

The Jesuits today form the largest single religious order with a membership of 19,216 (as of January 1, 2007)[6] with the largest number in India[7]. The concentration of Jesuits in India tells us that the Vatican’s mission is the strongest here. Moreover, American Jesuits like Clooney are deputed to work in India, which emphasises the importance of Hinduism in Vatican’s 21st century agenda. This fact is not exactly a new story. Observers in Europe have opined that the only challenge to the Abrahamic religions taking over the world’s sense and sensibility irrevocably is Hindus and Hinduism.

Enter Clooney and comparative theology

People who take F/X Clooney for a gentleman scholar should examine the facts behind his façade. No doubt, he is a “scholar” of “theology”. To know what exactly and actually Clooney is up to, first, one needs to know what he is: a Jesuit whose whole activity revolves around three dictums: “What have I done for Christ?”, “What am I doing for Christ?” and “What will I do for Christ?”[8]. To doubt that he doesn’t abide by these dictums is to question his integrity, in case you think he has one.

Then why is Clooney preoccupied with the so-called “comparative theology”? To me, as an ex-Christian, it looks like an attempt to fool people by creating an illusion. Clooney portrays Hinduism and Christianity as one and the same. For this purpose, he writes books and articles on Mariamman and Mary, and Holy Ghost and the Shakthi principle.

Using simple analogy, which method of comparison can fool only slack idiots, Clooney establishes an illusory parity between Iswara-bhakti and the blind trust that the suicidal Jesus is the perfection of goodness. At a later stage, which I predict with much confidence, Clooney would take out his “Christ’ from his pocket and overwhelm the Hindu with the supposed “uniqueness” of Christ, which he would say is the “only way” to salvation, which he will address at that time as “moksha”, regardless of the qualitative difference.

Is Clooney talking sense when he is comparing St. Francis with Sri Vedanta Desika or Mariamman with Mary? To me, it is complete trash and I’ll tell you why. First, as religious systems, Hinduism and Christianity or any Abrahamic religion are at opposing poles. There is a basic difference. So, any comparison of religions must start from that point. Hinduism presupposes that the human being is innocent and good by nature. Abrahamic religions believe human is naturally (genetically) evil. For this reason, the ritual of conversion (circumcision or baptism) is a must, without which one is still evil. In other words, without a real but symbolic act of perversion of nature, their religion is not complete. Non-Abrahamic religions have roots in nature and reason and Abrahamic religions are extra-phenomenal and imaginary. They can be compared, but it would be like comparing animate life with inanimate objects. The objects of comparison are not in the same class.

What Clooney does is juxtapose the acts of worship (superficial feature) and point out the sameness. He compares devotion to faith with bhakti, which share superficial features, because devotion is an expression of emotion. But what is important is the object of worship or faith, as recent studies show[9]. The fundamental strength of the Hindu religious system is its philosophies and not its pantheon of gods. The significance of gods has always been secondary in Hinduism to the principle of dharma. Unlike the blind Christian, it is through penetrative reason that a Hindu enters the realm of bhakti. Adi Sankara’s “Saundaryalahari” is a prime example of bhakti, but that is not his primary work.

Christianity can never aspire for true philosophy because its starting point is an extra-natural god who cannot be accommodated in any true philosophy. So the Christians have invented a discipline called theology[10] as part of the comprehensive charade. It is the study of their biblical god and they shamelessly pose it as philosophy. This is the mole that they have made into a big hill called “Professor of Divinity”. Clooney is like the special effects expert Rollie Taylor in the 1986 film “F/X – Murder by Illusion”. He creates the illusion of reality to fool people. Whereas Taylor used the effects against gangsters, Clooney is employing it against Hindus who have come under his charm.

Clooney’s special effects are not foolproof, but the Hindu being patronised finds it difficult to see through the illusion. In his profile it is mentioned that his “comparative theology” is “a discipline distinguished by attentiveness to the dynamics of theological learning deepened [sic] through the study of traditions other than one’s own.” (See quote in first Para.) He evidently wants to deepen his “theology” using Hindu thought, like the early Catholics cannibalised pagan festivals such as winter solstice (Christmas) and spring equinox (Easter). Of course, the old pagans were annihilated and they no longer exist. The Jesuits in India meddling in Hindu arts – classical music and dance – are part of the comprehensive programme of cannibalising Hinduism for fattening Christianity. The Jesuits, who were once called “Blackrobes” for their unique black cassocks, have assumed saffron robes in India and renamed themselves with classical Hindu names. Most Hindus don’t notice that it was the Jesuits who stole calculus from Hindu India and reinvented it in Europe[11].

Clooney’s high-sounding “dynamics of dialogue” has many takers among Hindus for reasons known only to themselves. The Jesuit’s old poisoned wine, once sold by the founders with a sword in hand, is now marketed in soft Tetra Pak and is contaminating otherwise positive development of Hindu thought in India as well as abroad.

Foolish Hindus think Clooney’s endorsement is a plus point in scholarship and play into his hands, just because he carries a ludicrously long academic title. By chumming with Clooney, some might think they can advance their material prospects, but it is a great disservice to Hinduism. It is an adharmic act to make compromises, or go along with asuras. No sura will ever make compromises with an asura. Dialogue with an asura is a dialogue with one’s own executioner. Clooney is a suicidal trap for Hindus!

Notes

*F/X is a satire on special effects expert Rollie Taylor in the 1986 Hollywood film “F/X – Murder by Illusion”

1] http://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/faculty/francis-x-clooney-sj

2] See footnote 1

3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus

4] http://www.jesuit.org/about/

5] http://www.bookrags.com/research/jesuits-in-india-ema-03/

6] See footnote 3

7] http://www.natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives/110102/110102k.htm

8] http://www.jesuit.org/about/

9] See “A Searcher with Faith in Mind” By Michael Gerson, Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/14/AR2009041401879.html

10] See Websters: “the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially : the study of God and of God’s relation to the world.”

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theology

11] http://indianrealist.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/how-jesuits-took-calculus-from-india-to-europe/

» The author is a freelancer