Baba
Racial killings in US: PROUT
Namaskar,
Here is a case study of a crime motivated by hatred arising from racial bias and how the laws protect the perpetrator of the crime instead of imposing circumstantial pressure to prevent hatred or biases from manifesting itself in deadly ways.
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Ananda Marga’s sublime spiritual philosophy given by Sadguru Baba accords divinity to each and every being in this universe. Nobody should be hated, much less be a victim of crimes fueled by hatred. Yet, due to a lack of proper psycho-spiritual education, it is common to see hatred in our societies. Humans hate their fellow humans on the basis of race, gender, nationality, social status, political ideologies, language and many such biases. Hatred in itself, even when not acted upon, is a debasing tendency. However, when hatred manifests itself as a crime committed by one human against a fellow human, then it is an indication of the depravity of society and poses a grave danger to human life, ultimately endangering societal progress. It has to be accepted that the vritti or propensity of hatred is present in humans. While the long-term, permanent solution is to build a society where humans have evolved spiritually and have developed refined sensibilities to overcome hatred, in the short-term, there is a dire need for stringent laws to prevent crimes motivated by hatred. An absence of such laws is a matter of concern. In fact, some of these laws protect the criminal rather than impede the crime.
Killer not charged: White killed Black
Here is a case study of a crime motivated by hatred arising from racial bias and how the laws protect the perpetrator of the crime instead of imposing circumstantial pressure to prevent hatred or biases from manifesting itself in deadly ways. A trivial parking space dispute at a convenience store in Florida turned into an incident of gun violence where the victim, Markeis McGlockton who was black, was shot by a white individual Michael Drejka, even after McGlockton backed off from the dispute indicating he was no longer a threat to Drejka. This lead to the death of McGlockton. Yet, Drejka will not be charged with murder owing to the state's Stand Your Ground law. (See Ref A and Ref B)
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Analysis of the situation
Racism: One race perceives the other the other as a threat. In this case, a black individual was shot and killed despite not posing any threat to a white individual after an initial altercation. The black man was perceived to be a threat. He was not a real threat to the white individual. But, strongly held racial biases and hatred of whites towards blacks skewed the perspective of this white person who eventually shot and killed his victim.
Laws: Laws should be in place to deter the base propensities of an individual from manifesting themselves in harmful ways. Laws should be designed with a view to detering the crime from taking place, provide justice to the victim should the crime take place and to reform the criminal. Instead, Stand Your Ground law only serves to embolden a person in possession of a gun to indiscriminately use it with impunity and absolutely no fear of punishment.
Why black, white, and yellow skin of humans
Prout Philosophy states, "A study of geography tells us why there are differences in the degree of heat of the sun’s rays. Where the sun’s rays fall on earth obliquely, there is less heat of the sun, and where the sun’s rays fall straight on the earth, the heat is greater. In very hot countries white-skinned people find it very hard to live, because their skin, having less of the chemical substance called melanin, is unable to stand much heat. Body skin with a great quantity of melanin in it turns jet black, and obviously, a lesser quantity of melanin makes one’s skin white." (1)
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In Him,
Praka’sha
~ In-depth Study ~
Racism: Dangerous sentiment
Prout Philosophy states, "In the past, many races and sub-races have been suppressed and exploited by powerful or dominant races. Racism has been propagated by those with evil designs in order to divide society and establish their own pre-eminence. Society must guard against such narrow and dangerous sentiments. This can be done only if every ethnic group has adequate scope for its expression and development. The multi-colored garland of humanity will be enriched to the extent diverse human groups blend together from a position of strength and independence out of a genuine love for each other, and are not forced together through fear or compulsion." (2)
Demons spread hatred among humans
Ages and ages of discrimination of blacks in the form of slavery and segregation in the USA, has led to the marginalization of the entire black community to such a great extent that the blacks struggle even to this day to fully integrate into the society and be accepted as trustworthy members of the society.
As highlighted by the case study, a black man was perceived to be a threat even when there were clear indications of him ceasing to be a threat to anybody around him. Yet, he was shot at and killed due to hatred, lack of trust, contempt held by the shooter for his victim’s precious life, all of which stems from deeply held biases against this black person or the racial group he belongs to. The perpetrator of the crime, a white individual, did not think even for a second before firing the shot at the black individual. Use of arms, in this case, was not an act of self-defense but a mere act of total disregard for a black person’s life which the shooter obviously deemed inferior to his own.
Baba points to the root cause of the problem in His above teaching. Narrow fissiparous tendencies of a few in the past has created a deep chasm in our society between the blacks and the whites, the rich and the poor, the privileged and the marginalized leading to hatred among humans. Breaking this bias by accepting all humans as an expression of the Supreme, each one a divine being whose life matters is the solution to the problem of racism and hatred that ensues.
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Example of racial hatred in US
Prout philosophy states, “What we want is the rule of rationality. Human society is one and indivisible. Apparently there is heterogeneity but in essence there is homogeneity. For instance, in the Middle East there are Muslims, Jews, Christians, Semites and Blacks. But they all belong to the same supreme race – they are all the progeny of the Supreme Progenitor. This is what the spiritual philosophy of Ananda Marga says. Only due to dogmas, people think in terms of heterogeneity. There is only one ideology in the world which is not only all-embracing but also all-pervading.” (3)
It is clear from the case study that, Michael Drejka is not a policeman and had no business taking it upon himself to initiate this inquiry and demand that they move their car. If he was concerned that the family had parked in a handicapped parking spot, he should have called the police. He himself did not need the parking spot at that moment, and neither did anyone else. Furthermore, Markeis McGlockton had no gun and Michael Drejka's life was not in immediate danger. On this basis, it is clear that Michael Drejka had no basis for shooting McGlockton. Those who have conceal and carry permits in states with stand your ground laws even are trained in classes they have to take that you are to retaliate in kind. That is, if punched, you can punch back to defend yourself. One has no right to escalate the level of force in the absence of that level of threat. On the basis of this logic, we can conclude that the Sheriff is plainly not acting with the force of logic and is himself a racist. If the shooter had been black and the person who got shot had been white, then the shooter would have been arrested and charges filed.
No race is superior, no race is inferior
To eliminate the problem of racial prejudices affecting one's judgment the idea that all humans are a manifestation of the Supreme needs to be internalized. Humans are beings created by the Supreme mind; all humans are the progeny of Parama Purus'a. Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior. The distinctions one sees in the color of the skin and facial features are only superficial in nature. There are no deep differences between the so-called races that accord a superior status to one race and an inferior status to another. The color of the skin, facial features and physical characteristics of these so-called various races are only a result of environmental factors and geophysical conditions these groups of people lived in. The superficial differences among humans are only an evolutionary adaptation of humans for survival in these diverse climatic and geophysical conditions. Moreover, these differences which are merely environmental in origin have added diversity and variety to the human race enhancing the collective beauty of humanity. There is no rationale for considering that color of one's skin or physical attributes a basis for distinction. It is true that these factors contribute to variety, but at the core, all humans are "homo-sapiens", progenies of the Supreme with equal potentialities to flourish spiritually. This is the right outlook towards the diversity we see in our human society. There is beauty in diversity just like the beauty of a bouquet of varied flowers.
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Origin of various races
Prout philosophy states, "The greater the heat of the sun, the greater the amount of ultraviolet rays in the sunlight. A study of geography tells us why there are differences in the degree of heat of the sun’s rays. Where the sun’s rays fall on earth obliquely, there is less heat of the sun, and where the sun’s rays fall straight on the earth, the heat is greater. In very hot countries white-skinned people find it very hard to live, because their skin, having less of the chemical substance called melanin, is unable to stand much heat. Body skin with a great quantity of melanin in it turns jet black, and obviously, a lesser quantity of melanin makes one’s skin white." (4)
All humans are one
Prout philosophy states, “There is no reason whatever to recognize one race as superior to another race. The external differences in constitution among these human groups cannot alter their basic human traits – love and affection, pleasure and pain, hunger and thirst. These basic biological instincts and mental propensities equally predominate in human beings of all complexions in all countries and in all ages. A mere rustic, unlettered, half-naked tribal mother of an unknown hamlet of Chotanagpur Hills (in Bihar in India) bears deep maternal affection for her young children; in the same way, a well-educated mother of a locality of New York pours out of her heart a great love for her own children. The subterranean flow of love and affection exists in all hearts alike... fundamentally their mental existence flows along the same channels of ideas and consciousness. Containing the same cosmic momentum and under the same cosmic inspiration, they all have set out for a tryst with the same destiny.” (5)
No right to hate anyone
Ananda Marga Ideology states, “Everything in this universe is the expression of the Divine, so you have no right to hate anybody. Even the Nucleus of this vast universe [Parama Purus´a] has no right to hate anybody. He cannot do two things: He cannot hate anybody, and He cannot create another Parama Purus´a! There is spiritual potentiality in all people. Some people have harnessed it, and these people are able to help other people to arouse it. Some people will arouse it if they are in the company of those who have already awakened it; this is the importance of satsaunga [good company]. Your duty is to awaken yourself and help others to awaken. I find that divine effulgence in the face of everyone here. No one is inferior, no one is degraded! You are committing a sin if you think you are a sinner or degraded! You cannot hate anyone. Do you have the right to hate anyone, to hate yourself? No.” (6)
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Gun Laws
Prout Philosophy states, "If we try to expand the scope of the few fundamental cardinal human principles and draft the constitution, legal code, administrative and judicial systems in adjustment with the expanded scope of those cardinal principles, that will pave the way for the greater unity of human society. Humanity or Neohumanism will thereby acquire accelerated speed, which is one of the essential factors for the path of proper movement. If the fundamental unity of human society increases more and more, and divisive differences steadily decrease, then universal humanity is bound to be united under a common ideology. This should not remain a utopian dream. It should be the first expression of the practical wisdom of humanity" (7)
In any civil society, the laws should be based on cardinal human principles based on Yama and Niyama. In the absence of such well-defined laws, there is bound to be chaos and misinterpretation of the law, as was seen in the case study, where on the basis of Stand Your Ground law, the police officer refused to arrest the shooter. The actions of the shooter was in opposition to cardinal human values though not in opposition to the law. Legally his action was not a crime. But, when evaluated in the light of cardinal human values we see that he committed a crime indeed. So, laws should be based on cardinal values.
There is also a debate regarding the circumstances under which Stand Your Ground law can be invoked to provide immunity to someone who uses force for self-defense. Some state laws do not permit the use of this controversial self-defense law to evade arrest or trial, if the person hiding behind this law is the one who initially provoked the use of force against his own self. In short, the one who initiated the conflict, cannot himself hide behind this law under the pretext of self-defense, when any force is used against him. In the case study, a heated argument which led to the unfortunate death of a black man was the result of a verbal conflict initiated by the white man, who ultimately shot and killed the black man. But he was not arrested by the police officer under the Stand Your Ground law.
Adding further ambiguity to this whole situation, legal experts claim that the part of this law which talks about initial provocation of force cannot be applied to verbal provocations. In this case the white man, who took the law into his own hands by questioning a black individual’s right to park in a parking spot, is believed to have only provoked a verbal conflict. Hence he seems to have full rights to use this controversial “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law to his advantage. (See Ref C)
Solution: Laws based on “human cardinal principles”
When this situation is thoroughly analyzed, we see that it gets complicated because the laws are not formed on a firm foundation of “human cardinal principles” of Yama and Niyama. However, when laws are based on cardinal human principles, any action that goes against these principles will be considered a crime and justice will be delivered appropriately with the view to reform the perpetrator of the crime.
Prout Philosophy states, “Regarding the term “human cardinal principles”, to act according to the dictates of Yama and Niyama is to act according to cardinal human principles and to go against them is to act against cardinal human principles. To violate Yama and Niyama is both a sin and a crime. Proutists should have nothing to do with local faiths or customs while framing the legal structure of human society.” (8)
Gun Laws in this country are so defective that possession of guns and use of guns, both have not been regulated appropriately. They are not framed in accordance with the cardinal human principles of Yama and Niyama. The Stand Your Ground law says someone can stand his ground, and use up to lethal force even if he can safely retreat while under imminent threat. This authorizes a person to use force indiscriminately and completely absolves him from the crimes he may commit in this process. This law is in direct violation of the principle of Ahimsa which professes one should not inflict harm on any being through thoughts, words or actions. Ahimsa does not profess non-application of force. But thoughtless, indiscriminate use of force, as professed by the Stand Your Ground law is not in line with the principle of Ahimsa. Hence, the solution lies is in reforming the laws of the nation to be in accordance with the principles of Yama and Niyama. The onus of reformation lies on the shoulders of lawmakers who themselves need to be established in Yama and Niyama to be able to properly guide the society.
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Reference A:
"It seems like an obviously unnecessary escalation: An argument about a convenience store parking space turned into deadly violence. Michael Drejka, after being shoved to the ground, shot and killed Markeis McGlockton, who had pushed Drejka but started to back off. But Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the authorities will not charge Drejka for the shooting, citing the state’s “stand your ground” law." ~ Courtesy of Vox
Reference B:
"A stand-your-ground law (sometimes called "line in the sand" or "no duty to retreat" law) is a justification in a criminal case, whereby defendants can "stand their ground" and use force without retreating, in order to protect and defend themselves or others against threats or perceived threats."
~ Courtesy of Wikipedia
Reference C:
“A popular question has emerged in the weeks since Markeis McGlockton was shot and killed in a convenience store parking lot. Didn’t the shooter, Michael Drejka, trigger the whole situation when he took the law into his own hands, confronting McGlockton’s girlfriend about why she had parked in a handicap-reserved spot? "You cannot provoke a fight and then hide behind ‘stand your ground,’" said Michele Rayner, a Clearwater attorney representing McGlockton’s family, referring to the controversial self-defense law that has protected Drejka from arrest… But whether that part of the law comes into play in this case is iffy. According to legal experts, it generally doesn’t apply when the confrontation is just verbal, barring any threats of violence.” ~ Courtesy of Tampa Bay Times
References
(1) One Human Society, Human Society Is One and Indivisible – 1
(2) A Few Problems Solved, Part 9, Socio-Economic Groupifications
(3) A Few Problems Solved, Part 8, The Rule of Rationality
(4) One Human Society, Human Society Is One and Indivisible – 1
(5) One Human Society, Human Society Is One and Indivisible – 1
(6) Ánanda Vacanámrtam, Part 31, No One is Negligible
(7) Prout in a Nutshell, Volume 3, Part 12
(8) Prout in a Nutshell, Volume 3, Part 15
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