Is Perfect Justice Possible?

I have these questions being posed from time to time: Is Perfect Justice Possible? How many more years/centuries must we wait before perfect justice becomes a reality? The questions may sound very simple to some, but those who asked did so because they longed for justice. To be emphatic, I would answer the first question in negative. Perfect justice is not possible. However, I would add two comments as part of the answer to the question. This will also answer the second question.

Perfect justice is not possible because human heart is "fallen". Human heart has the propensity for greed, hatred, jealousy and other vices. This is not to mean that human cannot do good. Human heart has immense potential to do good as well. But it is also the source of all vices. Given this "fallen" nature of human heart, perfect justice will not be possible as long as human heart continues to be as it is. This is the first point.

However, the fact that perfect justice will never dawn in this human civilisation does not mean that we should altogether cease talking about justice. For example, the fact that we would one day die should not dissuade us from taking care of our body. But for someone who is gripped by evil sight day in and day out, it is easy to become cynical and begin questioning if justice is worth talking about. For me the fact that I believe in Jesus Christ who has conquered death and whose teaching says that he will one day triumph over all evil gives me hope to speak and work for justice now. I do not get cynical just because crucified yet risen Jesus Christ tells me that he is in charge... the injustice that I now see will come to pass when heaven and earth become one and Jesus Christ re-appears once more. Then justice will dawn for ever and all tears will be wiped away. Perfect will last for ever and ever.

Call for Paper on "Re-Imaging the Idea of Nation"

                              Theological Research And Communication Institute (TRACI)

                                                                                 &

                                      Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI)

                                                              Organise

                                            Re-Imagining the Idea of Nation

Concept Note:

In recent times, there has been debates around nationalism, Indianness, and heightened sense of patriotism which is largely fuelled by the right-wing-saffronites' assertions. A lot of these developments, obviously, tries to undo many of what has been established since independence. Any opinion that questions the dominant narrative of the day is charged with sedition and labelled anti-national. And we've seen some ugly turn of events in various university campuses across the country.

With such developments, perhaps, it is important to take a re-look and re-imagine the idea of nation, nationalism, patriotism, etc. And alongside, it has become critical to re-examine the implications of the rights enshrined in the constitution and more importantly the rights of human beings. This conference is being organised to invite critical engagement of Christian minds as we go through a crucial juncture as a nation. How do we respond, as Christians, to the dominant narratives in our society/nation today?

In a way, this effort seeks to advance Christian engagement on matters that confront the university, society, politics and government. It is also aimed at answering some of the critical questions faced by many of us. As Christians we face questions such as: what kind of society do we envision? How should the majority community interact with the minority? What political theory do we endorse? Should we be Left or Right, Conservative or Liberal?

Students and research scholars across various intellectual traditions are invited to engage with their peers and beyond to explore and exchange ideas in pursuit of progress, peace and human flourishing for a society, nation and the global community.

As we try to respond to some of the issues in our society, it is essential to reflect along with our university students and research scholars the issues they are addressing through their subjects. Participants of the Conference can present a papers on certain topic listed below, with an explicit or implicit Christian response, to make the reflection meaningful. Those papers that are selected for the Conference will be published in a book or a journal bearing ISBN/ISSN number.

Some possible topics/sub-themes for engagement are listed below, though it is not an exhaustive one, and related topics may be explored:

1. (Re)construction of nationhood: liberal, secular and/or conservative perspective
2. Integrating religious minorities and their cultures: diversity and harmony
3. Cultural hegemony: victimisation and oppression
4. National heroes, myths and legends
5. Theories of nation-building
6. Spatial representations of nation and nationality
7. Regions and nation
8. Multiple narratives of Indian nation
9. Literary imaginations of India: past and present
10. Christian missionaries and Indian nationhood
11. Tribes, Adivasi, minority communities and their contribution to the idea of India.
12. Linguistic and ethnic minorities and nation
13. Perspectives on Sub-nationalism: Linguistic and ethnic
14. Eschatological 'not yet' and 'already' tension, church and the society
15. Indian Christian writers and their contribution to understanding education/society/politics
16. Women writers and their position in society
17. Contribution of Christian education system to the making of modern India
18. Christianity and modern Indian minds
19. Christianity and Indian politics/society

Call for Paper:

Submission of the Abstract by January 5^th , 2017

Intimation of Selection of the Paper by January 10^th, 2017.

Submission of Full Paper by February 10^th , 2017

Date of the Conference: February 23-24, 2017

Registration Fee: Rs. 500.

Submission Guideline:

1. Papers for the conference must conform to the word limit of 3500-5000 words along with an abstract of 150-300 words.

2. Provide 3-6 key-words at the end of the abstract.

3. Do not quote from Wikipedia.

4. Authors are requested to follow ‘APA’ style sheet for the purpose of referencing.
5. Authors are requested to use TIMES NEW ROMAN font throughout the text.
6. Title of the paper should be in font size 16 and should be centrally aligned

7. Name of the authors and their affiliation should be placed just below the title of the paper.

8. Name of the author should be in font size 14 and affiliation in font size 12.

9. The subheadings and the body of the text should be in font size 12.

10. Abstract should be in font size 12.

11. Line spacing should be “1.5”.

13. Paper should be submitted only in MS-Word format.

14. Plagiarism or articles submitted or published elsewhere will not be accepted.

17. Editors of the conference publication may edit the manuscripts for clarity and reduce the length of the paper if it exceeds the word limit.

Registration Procedure: For those intimated to write Full Paper, soft copies of Full Paper along with Registration Form must reach by February 10, 2017. Those who are presenting paper may stay in the official Guest Room. (Registration form will be sent along with the intimation letter to write full paper once abstract is received.)

Venue: E-537, TRACI, Greater Kailash, New Delhi

Inquiries and Papers to be sent to:

veiopou@gmail.com (+91-99108 20029)

jeremiahduomai@hotmail.com ( +91-9821949211)

On Demonitisation

Modi sarkar demonitised Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations on 8th November, 2016. It was stated that such step will address three factors: Curtail terrorist funding, unearth undisclosed cash and flush out counterfeit notes. 

I am very doubtful about the success of the first objective. For the second, one would have to wait and watch. And for third there is no doubt that it would be dealt with pretty well. 

The reason why I remain doubtful about meeting the first objective is because terrorists will find ways to exchange their notes. Moreover, they will in few months time begin to accumulate money once more.  If Govt. has to curtail funds to the terrorists, it has to go to the root cause of the problem. And to do that govt. would have to win over the heart and mind of the people who are funding the terrorist. Okay, this cannot be applied to Pakistan. But this can be applied to the supporters of the Naxalites and those in the North East. 

The fact that there are more frequent attacks occurring in Jammu and Kashmir demonstrates that demonitisation does not even have an iota of effect in curbing insurgency. 

For the second point, one would have to wait and see how much money will come back to the Reserve Bank of India. And how much of undisclosed money has been detected. The cost of this exercise has been massive ( 1.25 trillion rupees, says news report), and if the amount of undisclosed money is very small, then the whole exercise would be in vain. So let us wait for the final figure to arrive. 

Regarding counterfeits notes, there is no doubt banks would be able to flush out quite effectively. But this process can be efficiently done without having to demonitise all the big notes at one go. 

The main criticism against the whole process of demonitisation is with regard to the unpreparedness of the concerned authority. The massive cash shortage has hurt the economy. Though it cannot be quantified now, there is no doubt that the blow to the economy will be massive. Had the concerned authority taken adequate steps by way of having got more notes ready or kept the size of Rs. 2000 similar to that of Rs. 1000 so that fitting it into the ATM will be quite easy, the damage would not have been this bad. 

Overall, I would say let's wait and see whether there is net gain or loss. This will show whether demonitisation has been a useful measure or not. This is the first point. The second point is with regard to the prepareness of the concerned authority. And in this regard, my view is that there is no preparation. The way this has been carried out is a disaster. 

A Beautiful Duet

David Phelps and his daughter Maggie Phelps

Rawl's Primary Goods

Rawls writes about primary goods in section 11, titled 'two principles of justice' in book A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971). He says that primary goods are '"things that every rational man is presumed to want" ( p. 62). He classifies primary goods into two categories: Social Primary Goods and Natural Primary Goods. 

Social Primary Goods include rights and liberties, powers and opportunities, income and wealth ( and self-respect) whereas Natural Primary Goods include health and vigor, intelligence and imagination ( p. 62). 

Whatever kinds of plan of life that a person has, these goods normally are useful for the person to achieve his or her end. 

Samples of APA Style

In APA style, for "location" the names of the city and the state are to be used. For example, if the book is published in New York, it is to be cited at " New York, NY". The name of the state is to be in shortened form. But  states outside of the US do not always have shortened form. These are the samples on how to fill the "location" for books published outside of the US.

" London, England: Taylor & Francis." You can find it here.

And another sample: " Paris, France: Presses Universitaires de France". Link is here.