It is only when you depart from a nation that was founded on Truth that you realize what a blessing it is, even when many of the Truths have been attacked and torn down over the years. America is not without its problems. Morality seems to be disintegrating at a greater rate than most would like, but even so America was given a moral compass to judge things by. Even those who do not know the love of Christ are trained in some sort of Truth by the expectations taught by our society, although whether they follow them or not is another story. When things are done that are wrong they are generally done in secrecy so as not to be exposed to the general population who would judge their errors.
In many countries this is not the case. In China we were told people would steal our things not out of malice but just because they were never taught that taking the possessions of another is not good to do. But in India our observation of the disgusting effect of lies has been easy to see on an even larger scale. Violence is very prevalent and accepted in Indian culture. It is not uncommon to see mothers hitting their toddlers on the face, even in public. Women are completely dominated and belittled by the men – they are not even supposed to look them in the eye. Not only is prostitution rampant, it is also common to see eunuchs (dressed like women) who were kidnapped by pimps as boys so that they could be sold like prostitutes once they got a little older. Until then, the boy-eunuchs are forced to beg every day, probably bringing in a fairly good revenue (none of which they get to keep) because it is believed that eunuchs will curse you if you do not give. Other children are kidnapped just for begging purposes – and to increase their ability for income are often disabled in some way by the pimp.
Everything I am telling you I have seen and have then had explained to me. What does one do with a culture as a whole who accepts all of this, with policeman who can be paid off to let anything happen, and with a religion (Hinduism) where tradition is that every so often the temple priest finds a young girl who just got her period for the first time and rapes her before giving her to all the elders of the community to rape her too?
I am not sure what to do with it, but I am thankful to be here seeing the love of Christ redeem individuals. Even though so many parts of the normal Indian culture is disturbing, their color and creativity reminds me of God’s beauty amidst the ugliness. He loves them even while they are deep in lies, even while their hearts are hard and darkened. I am thankful for the Truth that one day the whole earth will be redeemed, and I am excited to see what India will look like.
