Vedic Perspective
Editorial Commentary
9-3-87

  It has been suggested that during the Pope's upcoming visit to America, he
will tell Americans how far they have strayed from the values taught by
Jesus Christ.  The current trend among American followers of Jesus Christ is
to call themselves as loyal followers of Christ and at the same time these
followers want to engage in activities not sanctioned by the Pope and
traditional Catholic practices.
  One of the practices that runs contrary to traditional Christian values is
abortion.  Another practice that these liberal Christians want to engage in
with the official sanction of the Church is to have women act as priests and
to have marriage between homosexual members of the same sex.
  There is no such liberalism in the Hare Krishna movement concerning these
issues.
  Concerning abortion, it is the fashion that people in America want to
engage in sex without taking any responsibility.  This was the fault of the
liberal attitude of the 60's sexual revolution.  In today's era of sexual
therapists, sex is natural and should be engaged and indulged in--without
guilt.  The result is that when one engages in this type of casual sex,
abortion becomes necessary.
  The Krishna consciousness science says, "Yes, if you want to have sex,
then that is good, but do it according to some practical restrictions."
After all, it is admitted that sex is the number one pleasure in this
material life.  But the human being should be intelligent enough to know
that sex is something that should be avoided unless one is after creating
nice Krishna conscious children.
  Unfortunately today, especially in America where abortion is legal and the
number of unwed mothers is constantly growing, the emphasis is on making
women independent of men and stressing the importance of satisfying ones
sexual inclinations without any restriction.  This has resulted in the
growing rift between the 2000 year old philosophy of the Catholic Church and
the current trend in America toward liberalized religion.
  According to the Vedic perspective, it is another example of how people
want to have the Kingdom of God here on earth, without God consciousness.
Somehow or other, people today have lost the science of how to use ones
sexuality and advance in God consciousness simultaneously.  No, they think
that by engaging in unrestricted sex, they'll be happy.  However, no amount
of unlimited sex has ever satisfied anyone and when it is encouraged by sex
therapists and others, it is irresponsible encouragement.
  So today people are holding their sexual liberties like casual sex and
homosexual habits as very important.  At the same time they want an official
approval from the Church to do so.  It would be a mistake for the Church to
give any approval for these activities.  On the contrary, it is a good time
for such Church officials to explain how sex is allowed only for making
babies who will be given a chance to understand what his relationship with
God is.  Otherwise, sex life and its relationship to civilized life, what to
speak of religious life, has no meaning.

--Vaishnava Dasa