Jesus, I am not a Christian

Jesus, I am not a Christian is a collection of ten articles, five lectures and five essays, by Dr.K.P.Krishnankutty, who was intimately associated with higher education in Kerala as a Professor of English and as Principal. The book discusses issues of contemporary social relevance like religious belief, scientific knowledge, the economics and politics of globalization, education and curriculum, language and neo-colonialism and interdisciplinary research. Apparently the topics are different, but a unifying philosophic stream of thought flows through them, enlivening the ideas with intellectual freshness and clarity. Krishnankutty’s firsthand experience in the field of higher education and his association with the fraternity of social activists in the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath provide a spark of authenticity to the comments and criticisms set out in these articles. Materialistic in outlook, Krishnankutty banks always on dialectical and historical materialism to elucidate and substantiate his views and arguments. Right from the first lecture “Jesus, I am not a Christian”, he is bold and rational. A product of the political milieu of his time, Jesus had to redefine god. Transforming the vengeful god of the Old Testament into a god of love and compassion, Jesus revolutionized the age-old Semitic god-concept. Krishnankutty develops his arguments systematically and highlights the political content of early Christianity. He extricates Jesus, the revolutionary, from the quagmire of institutionalized Christianity of later days. According to him, those who worship Jesus as the Son of God ignore the rebel in him and they forget the political character of his martyrdom. As Edward Arlington Robinson lamented, we still leave Christ hanging on the Cross. A subtle humor runs through the lecture “I am also a Scientist”. Basing his arguments on T.H. Huxley’s observation that “we are all scientists”, Kishnankutty dilates on the rapid progress of science in modern times. Optimistically he looks forward to a time when physicists will provide the Grand Unified Theory and explain the origin and the organization of the Universe. Continuing in the same delicate vein, in “I do not know Mathematics”, Kishnankutty pleads ignorance of mathematics and confines his comments to the difficulty that most students find in it. However, he considers the condition of Indian Mathematics after Ramanujan, a national icon, and finds that it has not made much headway since then. A sense of social commitment is the key note of the articles of Krishnankutty. Mercilessly he voices his criticism of social and economic issues. He dares the aggressive strategies of globalization for exploiting the natural and human resources in the third world. Besides, he is self-critical. He does not hesitate to berate his own colleagues for their “egoistic individuality and gory competitiveness” which prevent them from developing a comprehensive and scientific view of life. Consistent historicity is a special feature of the topics discussed in the book. As he adopts a dialectical and historical approach to all social issues, Krishnankutty could clear himself away from the pitfalls of metaphysical subjectivity in his ideological stances. Maintaining a scientific and historical perspective, he traces the origin of religion and science to a common source in historical antiquity from where they progressed in different directions. All along religion has been proceeding horizontally and its vision has not gone much far. But science has been ascending vertically up to greater heights. Ever since, its horizon of knowledge has expanded progressively and continues to do so even now. Opposed to scientific knowledge is belief, the hinges of which do not require any veracity. Education is discussed in the book as a social subsystem with formal and informal avenues of operation. As the agency for the production and dissemination of social values, the role of education is ideological and cultural. In essays like “Education and Values”, “Prof.Yashpal should have Talked Politics” and “A Paradigm Shift in Education—KSSP Interventions”, Krishnankutty discusses the political function of education. In the context of the Indian Republic, all educational efforts should help realize sovereignty, democracy, socialism and secularism. And it is the duty of every educationist to sustain these principles; the failure to do so is an anti-national crime. As an ideological instrument, education can perform three functions–domination, domestication and liberation. In contemporary India education has to serve the process of political liberation. Here the common man still leads an obscene life as he continues to be a victim of social and economic exploitation. Education should ideologically equip him in his struggle against the ruling class which works in conspiracy with the relics of Indian Feudalism and the agents of neo-capitalism, foreign and indigenous. That Kerala has gone a long way in eliminating the class bias in education is chronicled in “A Paradigm Shift in Education—KSSP Interventions”. “English Language and India—Experiences, Colonial and Neo-Colonial” is marked by insightful observations on the present predicament of Indian languages. The very existence of the regional languages of India, as that of the regional languages of other third world nations, is threatened by Anglo-American English, the language of gate-crashing globalization. Historically examining how Indian languages fared during the classic phase of colonialism, Krishnankutty suggests the present generation should learn from the example of their predecessors who struggled hard against the political, cultural and ideological dominance of the British. On the whole, Jesus, I am not a Christian is a book which edifies and empowers politically and ideologically. Krishnankutty writes with earnestness. His lectures and essays radiate a passion for values and noble ideals. He writes with gusto, selecting the most suitable words and phrases to drive home his ideas. Surely, most of the ideas are not original, but the force of genuineness with which they are imparted deserves attention and admiration, if not downright approval. Only a teacher with mission and a sense of commitment, not only to his immediate students but to the society as a whole, will think deeply and differently. Dr.K.P.Krishnankutty has thought deeply and differently in order to radically reorganize our society, if not tomorrow, at least, the day after tomorrow. And when he says “Jesus, I am not a Christian”, he means and understands much more than most Christians do.