Let me begin by citing you a story, a true story. Ted Haggard was a well known Christian pastor of a Mega Church and also the President of the National Evangelical Association, TIME magazine voted him as one of the influential religious leaders of America. He was also known to have preached plenty of anti-gay rhetoric. Long story short, but he fell from the grace when he found entwined in a sex scandal involving a male prostitute. Soon enough, after lots of pressure, he stepped down from the post of the preacher of the church he founded and also resigned from the National Evangelical Association. Then on, he started a new church, but there too, he faced allegations of inappropriate sexual misconduct on young men. After which he started a new church again, this time literally in his own house. Crazy life!
There are numerous stories around the globe about Christian priests, pastors, evangelists and apologists who found themselves exposed to the sexual scandals they had committed. But, this year’s news of a Naga pastor shocked the state. If our records are right then this is the first time in our state where a person working in a church ministry was involved. He was quickly labelled as ‘P3DO’, not by the law makers though. On a side note, pedophilia means primarily or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, whereas, ephebophilia is for sexual interest in later adolescents, typically ages 15-18. It’s a legal thing that the names and details of the victims were not made public.
After this news broke out, the public reaction was apparent, people stormed out on social media, some wrote about what has to be done citing POCSO ACT, some wrote about the evils prevailing in our society, some were more concerned about, ‘why Naga celebrities were not vocal about it?’, some intellectuals wrote about the power dynamics associated with such crimes, some wrongly blamed the church he was working in and some illogical people questioned in general, the morality of people who serves in the church ministry.
Anyway, what matters is not the reaction but the response. The response results in the execution of the culprit, based on concrete evidence, by the jury, judge and executioner. The last news I have of this incident was from one of the Nagamese YouTube news channels, which stated that the concerned individual is absconding. He is not Osama Bin Laden, hence, I do not know, how rigorous the manhunt will be. But, I hope, sooner or later, he will be brought to Nagaland and he will be tried for the offences he has committed. The sensation which this news once created in our small state seems to have cooled off after news of various financial scams were brought to light. Indeed, we live in a fast paced world.
