Kevin Saldanha wrote thus to Fr. Ivo 1: wouldn't the inability to have your cake and eat it too apply here?
2: You appear to be keen on promoting casteism within the Church instead of working to eliminate it. 3: I would hazard an opinion that the Church is fighting to retain SC/ST status for the new converts instead of trying to encourage them to embrace their new-found freedoms. --- Dear Kevin, Since atheists do not believe something without its proof of existence, would you please provide proof that Fr. Ivo (or the Church) is 'keen on promoting casteism WITHIN the Church'? May I also ask you the following: Is the Statutory (Indian) designation of SC/ST an instrument of caste-discrimination or is it an (albeit inadequate) effort of creating a leveling of the opportunity field for those that society has discriminated against for several thousands of years? Those people belong to their TRIBES. That is what they are. They were classified as outcastes by those whose forebears conquered & subjugated them and took away their land. They were eventually (euphemistically) referred to as Scheduled Castes (courtesy the push by the progressives in the Indian National Congress and forward thinkers like Babasaheb Ambedkar). That is how they are able to (until the SC/ST Act is changed) receive some assistance. You want them to lose what the Statute provides for them as paltry reparation for the injustice done to them and their forbears for several millennia? What "freedom" are you referring to? One that exists without opportunity to earn a better living and removes the ability to apply for help in the quest for upward mobility? Are you suggesting that because there is (alleged) racial equality in Canada or the US, Afro-Canadians or African-Americans(or the Native populations) should not avail themselves of the opportunities reserved for them? Oh yes.....about the cake: I suggest that we should not let the icing get in our way. The real cake is beneath the icing. We just have to believe it or not (:-) good wishes jc