John Mutukat (M J John)

THINKING ON A CLEAN SLATE: PREFACE TO THE HUMAN STORY

by John Mutukat (M J John) | Dec 8, 2014 | Articles

In ancient Africa, there was a saying: ‘When an old man dies, a library goes up in flames’. Thus the next generation had to start everything ON A CLEAN SLATE. Some reptiles shed their skin (a process known as sloughing that makes these snakes medicinal), and thus they get rid of their degenerated systems to become fresh. So Nature demands us to start everything – be it a new home, a new system, a new civilization or even a new knowledge – ON A CLEAN SLATE. No species, including the pre-modern humans, leave behind any how-to-live manual for their offspring or their next generation. Such ‘instructions’ are automatically ‘written’ and handed down by Nature to the DNA of the next generation who will further develop their own innate intelligence best suited to their new environment or habitat. Thus this naturally and gradually developing intelligence would go on again being naturally ‘written’ down and handed down to their succeeding generations. Thus Nature, through her millions years of human evolution, made man the ‘noblest’ and the ‘crown’ of all creations’ – as a free thinking species – literally the ‘most wondrous of all wonders’. That is why the great French philosopher Rousseau called man the ‘Noble Savage’. Suddenly, with the introduction of the printing press a few centuries back, everything got reversed. Having suddenly got the intelligence, knowledge, opinions or ideas of others in ready-to-use and long conservable packages, in the forms of books and other printed materials — these are a sort of SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE developed outside the KNOWER — modern humans soon started the non-use and non-development of...

Press Reports and Reviews

by John Mutukat (M J John) | Jun 29, 2014 | Blog

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Pope Francis: the Second Christ

by John Mutukat (M J John) | May 29, 2014 | Blog

Pope Francis is a force for positive change within the Roman Catholic Church. He represents a major change in direction for the church. By revitalizing and breathing new life into over 1.5 billion strong institution, like the Catholic Church, the new Pope is actually revitalizing and breathing new life into the whole mankind of the ‘global village’. This particular facet of his characteristics has been the focus of my study/Pope-Francis: the-Layman’s-Pope/ in page 342 to 347 in my book LIFE ON MELTDOWN published in Kerala–India in March 2014. As a first major step towards righting many wrongs in the Church, the pontiff has shown all the indication that celibacy of the clergy may be the foremost obstacle for bringing some inevitable positive changes in the Church, and therefore in the world. He may be certainly believing that married priesthood would right many wrongs. This aspect has already been extensively studied in chapter 13: rape-of-mind: role-of-organized-religions-in-the-degeneration-of-spiritual-faculties/ in my book LIFE ON MELTDOWN published in Kerala–India in March 2014. Recently when the Vatican’s Secretary of State has told a Venezuelan newspaper that the issue of mandatory priestly celibacy may be discussed, the news has not surprised...

POPE FRANCIS (1936—): THE LAYMAN’S POPE

by John Mutukat (M J John) | May 29, 2014 | Articles

People’s Revolution here comes from the top, through religion. Pope Francis is a rare revolutionary and an everyman at the same time. “Pope Francis stood out as someone who has changed the tone and perception and focus of one of the world’s largest institutions in an extraordinary way,” Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs said, after Time magazine named Pope Francis as the Person of the Year 2013, and she described him as “the first Jesuit pontiff who won hearts and headlines with his humility and common touch”. The Vatican’s Gorbachev: As de facto ruler of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbacheve tried to reform the stagnating Party and the state economy by introducing Glasnost (“openness”), Perestroika (“restructuring”) and Gorbachev was largely hailed in the world for his ‘new thinking’. Here Pope Francis is sure to remind us of Mikhail Gorbachev, the same noble intention to open up a very old, very secret, very bureaucratic, very vertical organization, and make it more transparent and reform it. Much the same way Mikhail Gorbacheve cleansed the Soviet Party structure with Glasnost and perestroika, Pope Francis has launched nothing short of a revolution in the Catholic Church. When Gorbachev touched his organization it disintegrated like a termite-ridden antique chest and everyone, everywhere thought it was wonderful, except the people that lived in it. Everyone, everywhere loves Gorbachev except the many Russians, who hate and despise him. Pope Francis will be fortunate indeed to escape the same fate as Gorby’s. By revitalizing and breathing new life into over 1.5 billion strong institution, like the Catholic Church, the new Pope is actually revitalizing and breathing new life into the whole...

RAPE OF MIND: ROLE OF ORGANIZED RELIGIONS IN THE DEGENERATION OF SPIRITUAL FACULTIES

by John Mutukat (M J John) | May 29, 2014 | Articles

The evolution of man as the “Crown of Creation” or “the Highest Blossom of Nature” and so forth are all about the MAN or the Homo sapiens that walked this planet for millions of years. However the latest human subspecies, namely, modern man, who is largely confined to modern industrial civilization of the last few centuries has only a few features of the original man. How this mortal disintegration has come about, more so in his mental sphere, and the role of organized religions in the sudden drastic change, are all the topics of discussion here. Fear is the proof of a degenerate mind. ~ VIRGIL, the Roman poet of first century BC Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the ‘wall of separation between church and state,’ therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society. ~ THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third president of the United States. When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. ~ ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, the Nobel laureate of South Africa The environmental crisis is an outward manifestation of a crisis of mind and spirit. There could be no greater misconception...