Religion: Desecration in India

To express their outraged feelings, the 1,250,000 Jains all over Indiadeclared a general one-day strike. In the Shree Chawmukhiji Temple onKathiawar, religion-baiting goondas (hooligans) had destroyed theJains’ 2,000-year-old idols.

The “gentle” Jains, one of India’s oldest religious sects, believe thatalmost every living thing is man’s brother. They are thus careful notto harm any form of animal life, even the smallest insects. Gandhi once(1928) offended them deeply by killing a helplessly maimed calf. TheJains are humane to women & children but take a dim view of mankind ingeneral: billions of years ago humanity was very good, they say, but inless than 40,000 years from now, all men, having reached the bottom ofa “bad” cycle, will be less than one foot tall.