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Journalism of Courage
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayans comment that the party held Christ as a great revolutionary who stood for the oppressed and the exploited,has evoked mixed reactions from prominent churches. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy joined the issue on Saturday,saying that depicting Christ as a comrade would hurt religious sentiments.
The CPM should not have stooped to the level of using Christ as a revolutionary for political advantage, he said.
What provoked Vijayan to kneel down before the Biblical image of angry,young Christ was the criticism raised by the Congress against the display of Christs portrait at an exhibition organised in connection with the state conference. It was similar to the temptation Christ had faced from Satan as per the Biblical verses, said Congress state chief Ramesh Chennithala.
Bishop emirates Philiphose Mar Chrysostom of Mar Thoma Church,a prominent non-Catholic segment,said Christ was not a private property of Christians and he agreed with Vijayans view. We Christians believe that Christ was a great martyr and revolutionary. If we can consider Christ as revolutionary why cant Vijayan say so? Why should one protest when Vijayan recognises Christ was a great revolutionary? I think Vijayan seemed to have understood Christ better than the believers.
But Catholic Church saw the CPM stand as a pauperism of that party.
That the CPM has accepted Christ as a revolutionary shows that the partys icons had grown unpopular and become redundant. The party wants to cash in on the acceptability of great leaders such as Christ. Now,will the party would accept the Christian principles of love and spirituality, asked Syro-Malabar Catholic Churchs spokesperson Fr Paul Thelakkattu.
