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The BBC
News Online carried an interesting article on 1 March 2005 about
Nepal. It was an overview of the situation in Nepal one month after
King Gyanendra took direct power.
Whereas the action received condemnation from many countries including
Britain it was defended by those within Nepal. The BBC quote Tulsi Giri,
the cabinet deputy chairman, as saying:
"It was no different from America's action
after 11 September or India's war in Kashmir."
What makes this interesting is that further on in the article Mr Giri
is identified as belonging to "Nepal's tiny
Jehovah's Witnesses religious community."
Explaining that he has now returned from self-imposed exile in India
the article continues,
"A minister in Nepal's first democratically
elected government of 1959-60, he then sided with King Mahendra - Gyanendra's
father - when he sacked that administration, and played a key role in
1960-1990, when there was no democracy, serving as prime minister."
However how is it possible for an active Jehovah's Witness to be in
such a situation in the light of the following article entitled, How
True Christians View Politics and found in The Watchtower
1 November 1956, pp.645-646:
"POLITICS is more and more in the news.
And more and more people are turning to politics, either by becoming
members of political parties or by voting for party candidates. Amid
the growing popularity of politics is heard the voice of religion. This
voice too talks politics. But sermonizing on political matters is not
all; religion urges professed Christians to be active politically, as
did Pope Pius XII, who, according to the New York Times of July 23,
1956, "urged Roman Catholics today to take an active part in politics."
But even without clerical exhortation, the masses of professed Christians
are so immersed in politics that many are more active politically than
religiously. All this prompts some questions
"…Is it by plunging into
politics that a person demonstrates he is a follower of Christ? Is this
quest to better the world through politics the example set by Jesus
and the early Christians?
"We can read in history books about the position
taken by the early Christians regarding politics. Thus the book Christianity
and the Roman Government by E. G. Hardy speaks of early Christians and
"their aversion to all civic duties and offices." Another book, On the
Road to Civilization, A World History, by Heckel and Sigman, tells us:
"Christians refused to share certain duties of Roman citizens... They
would not hold political office."
"Were those early Christians
wrong in not trying to better the world by taking part in politics?
How could they be? They had Christ Jesus, the Founder of Christianity,
and his apostles to guide them. "The Textbook of Christianity, the Bible,
tells us why those early Christians shunned politics. It shows that
a fundamental principle of Christianity is separateness from the world...
To delve into politics would mean to show friendship for the world,
and to show friendship for the world would mean to make oneself an enemy
of God."
I wonder if there will be any
official comment or action?
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