During Christmas day there are many Catholics in India especially in places like Bombay & Goa who drink bottle after bottle of country liquor or feni or whiskey or rum or brandy or wine or beer……all these drinks have alcohol in it……… Those who consume these alcoholic drinks end up damaging their health, cloud their mind, make them a danger to others, and lead them closer to hell and farther from God………. And even though society tells you that drinking is fun, that people who drink are social and attractive, and that a little wine is good for your health, the Bible tells us something very different: Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."…………Who do you think has your best interest at heart, the big corporations who make millions off of you by getting you to drink as much as possible? Or God in heaven who created you and who warned you against alcohol and told you to live soberly and righteously?...................Do you think anyone would have listened to John the Baptist or Daniel or the disciples if they would have been hanging out at the bar during happy hour and getting drunk?..................These men were used by God in a mighty way. God was able to use them because they did not defile their bodies or minds with alcohol..........Let all those christians in india who drink alcohol take a pledge that from 25th December, 2011 onwards they will try to stop drinking alcohol and whatever money that is saved by not drinking alcohol they will donate that money to activists and ngos......involved in battle against corruption.....involved in protecting lands of farmers - tribals - fisherfolks......involved in serving poor people.
Please don’t expect the Parish Priest to discourage the laity from drinking alcohol……the Priests are too busy misusing church funds, selling away vacant church properties, playing politics during school admissions by refusing admission to children of poor catholics in parish schools………With due respect to the priests, they are shepherds of the flock. They should contain themselves to just that. The priests come for a few years, finish their term of 2 – 6 years and leave to serve another parish. Therefore, it is best that all the matters related to the church funds – church properties – parish school administration is left to the laity and the priests restrict their duty only to religious matters. JESUS is GOD – GOD is JESUS……..God came in a human form on earth not just to preach humanity, equality, justice, peace but also to revolt against corrupt political & religious leaders………today it is not just politicians & sarkari babus who are neck deep in corruption even the religious leaders have resorted to corrupt activities…..…and it is time the lay catholics awake from deep slumber and revolt against all those who are involved in corrupt activities. EastIndians ( http://www.bombayland.blogspot.com ) lost all their agricultural lands in bombay to the britishraj, indian government, maharashtra government, slumlords, landmafia, politicalgroups, slumlords, mmrda, mhada, collectorsoffice, bmc, etc………..a few eastindians managed to save some of their agricultural lands and sold those lands in the 1980s and 90s and became wealthy..……..but a vast majority of eastindians ( http://www.east-indians.com ) who were busy with alcoholism, infighting, jealousy were not in a position to save any of their agricultural lands and became poor and have been reduced to a status of backward class……………all eastindian associations federations panchayats will have to come together and organize rallies at shivaji park, azad maidan, etc as well as meet MPs, MLAs, Corporators, etc to demand 5% job quota for eastindians in bmc, police, mmrdaoffices, mhadaoffices, rationoffices, collectorsoffice, citysurveyoffices, town planning dept, urban development dept, building proposal dept, suburbanrailways, metro, monorail, airindia, ongc, hp, indianoil, rbi, nationalized banks, bombay/kalina university, iitpowai, central/state govt. undertakings, public sector undertakings and other government institutions operating in bombay........... the Indian govt. is modifying the land acquisition act where it will be mandatory for the industries to reserve jobs, pay market compensation, provide shares, etc for the people whose lands will be taken for industrial development, SEZs, etc the govt. also needs to extend the provisions of the act to those who have lost their agricultural & ancestral lands in the past. If you ask the Chief Minister of Maharashtra who eastindians in bombay are he will scratch his head…..if you ask the BMC commissioner the same question he will also scratch his head……..except for goans & mangaloreans there is hardly anyone in Bombay , Maharashtra or India who know about the eastindians because of the inappropriate name………….when India got independence in 1947 there was a debate among some eastindians that the name eastindians should be abandoned and the name Maharashtrian should be adopted………..but since the marathi people have monopolized the name maharashtrian for themselves due to which it was not feasible for eastindians to adopt the name maharashtrian…………using the name mumbaikar is also not an option because even the kolis & maharashtrians don’t identify themselves with the name mumbaikar they identify themselves as kolis & maharashtrians……………a debate is going on in some sections of the eastindian community to abandon the name eastindian and identify with some other new name which can be identified with this city. To protect the coastal populations of konkan ( thane, bombay, raigad, sindhudurg, ratnagiri districts), goa, mangalore, karwar, etc from the killing impact of tidal waves and heavy rains it is important to protect the openspaces, mangroves, ponds, lakes, wells, saltpanlands, forestlands from being taken over by builderslobby, slumlords, landmafia, sezlobby, mininglobby……….sure industries, electricity, etc are needed for economic progress & job creation but why most of the land acquisition happening only in konkan & other parts of west coast of India what about madhyapradesh, bihar, uttarpradesh, kashmir, rajasthan these are some of the backward states where more jobs needs to be created why is the government not setting up more industries, nuclear reactors for electric generation, etc in these backward states. We live in confusing times. Secular society bombards us with messages promoting philosophies, positions and products. These claim to be the right answer, the best solution, the ultimate path to a happy and fulfilling life. Yet we often end the day with a feeling of emptiness and uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring and how we will survive it. The Bible does not say that if you don’t attend next weeks Sunday mass or church service or revival meeting you have denied the Christian faith and you are worse than an infidel in Gods eyes……….The Bible says if you do not take care of your household financially you have denied the Christian faith and you are worse than an infidel in God’s eyes. Jorge Monteiro Bombay. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------