The Three Christs of Yipsilanti

(Posted in http://mt.m2day.org/ 15 March 2008)
This is how the story goes. There were 3 mentally ill patients who harbored the illusions that they were Jesus Christ at the Ypsilanti State Hospital of Michigan. One day a researcher psychologist by the name of Milton Rokeach had a bright idea. He decided to place the 3 self-proclaimed Messiah in the same therapy group. He thought that by exposing the three to similar delusions of the other he could bring them back to reality. To cut the story short - no - Rokeach did not managed to provoke any lessening of the patients’ delusions. The amazing thing is that the three ended up accommodating each other, and set up the very first ‘Society of Christs’, in order to persist in their delusions. The result of his experiment was a hugely insightful study into the basis of delusional belief systems.

Since the advent in communications that brought the whole world together we have seen this absurdity being played out time and again with disastrous consequences amongst the religious, national, racial, tribal etc groups. And now this absurdity is being played out by our beloved Saviors – DAP, PAS, and PKR. The way they have been behaving these few days – each asserting its ‘absoluteness’, each asserting its ‘rights’, even using underhand tactics to get an upper hand on each other, was completely stupid.

I always hated politics. I despised it. And that was why I abstained from voting until this year, my 48th year in life. I detested the hypocrisy and the one sided chauvinism being played out on both sides. Yes, I am talking about Barisan Nasional as much as DAP, PKR and PAS. Hardly one week had passed since the windfall victory and we are already seeing the ugliness raising its head in each of the respective parties. The anti-Islamic chauvinistic stance of DAP, and the hypocrisy of PAS…. I don’t want to elaborate any further here. If you want to find out more please read Raja Petra articles.

This is for the record – the first ballot that I cast last weekend, was not for any political party or parties. What I voted for is Barisan Rakyat. My vote is my declaration of solidarity to the silent movement of awakening spearheaded by Raja Petra, Haris Ibrahim et al. It is a vote of confidence for the high moral standards and selfless service demonstrated by these remarkable individuals. My vote has nothing to do with race, religion, and definitely not about any political parties.

I am not writing to condemn any particular groups or individuals, but to point out that race, or religion or ideology based politics has no relevance anymore. It is not even that the parties have to get together to come to some amicable power sharing agreements. No – that would only result in an absurd “Society of Christs”. The whole damm thing about racial, religious and ideological differences simply has to be dropped. And it can happen. The last weekend was nothing short of being a spectacular demonstration of it. The whole event was simply magical. If the Malays had known that DAP is going to win this big many would not have voted the rocket. If the Chinese had known that the 3 richest states are going to fall they would have opted for the safety of BN. I can only use Divine Intervention to describe the unfolding of events.

Winning the election was the easy part, as we are fighting a big, bad, stinking, rotten something that everybody wants to get rid of. But moving forward from here is going to be much more difficult. We have to face up to our own evils - personal ambitions, the petty differences, not to mention the soaring crude oil and commodities prices, the looming recession and sabotage from the BN stooges. Makhal Shakti has to continue. It is going to require active participation from all, and it has to continue in a much more organized and efficient manner. The collective voices of everybody has to continue to demand rightness. It has to heal the mistrust brought about by decades of misgovernance. It has to bring back to balance the distributions of wealth and opportunities. It has to wash clean of all differences and prevent any willful efforts to create separation.

I have absolutely no idea how to proceed from here, except that to pledge my 100% support and participation. The rest I will have to take it one day at a time.