Depoliticising holy ground

HAVING read the article “Keep politics out of temple: parting guru” (POST, August 8 - 12) and the comments by Professor Gan Moodley, the executive member of the Tamil Federation of KZN, that cultural and religious bodies need to work together, will never happen, and it is a thing of the past.

Infighting has now become common in most religious organisations all because of power in many temples. The behaviour of the parties involved is not only showing disrespect to the presiding deities at the temples but also to the founding fathers. It is important to note that if we show disrespect, we will lose a whole new generation and turn them into selfish and disrespectful youth, who will have no respect for people or authority.

It is fundamental for all officials serving in these temple organisations to remember that being involved in temples is not a place to “massage one’s ego” or improve one’s personal CV.

A temple must be a place of humility, selflessness and, most importantly, a place of spiritual enlightenment. Temples need to wake up and look around. While they are often driven by power hungry officials, sadly, people are leaving in their droves to greener pastures, where there is a simple concise message being delivered.

While many organisations have “operational issues”, which require robust discussion and debate, there is indeed an equal level of appropriateness within which these issues can be resolved.

People need to ensure that if a situation arises, the elders or community leaders need to be brought in so that issues can be amicably resolved. At all times, it is key for people serving temples to remember that nobody is bigger than the presiding deities and the organisation, so serve humbly please.