The More You Abstain, The More You Gain

On february 8, President Bill Clinton put his signature on the amended Exon Bill so that the resulting Communication Decency Act (CDA) may squelch online pornography and help to make the Net safe for the children. But the US legal experts were afraid that the new Act would not be able to withstand of the scrutiny of even a misdemeanour court as it is not possible to draw a sharp line of demarcation between decency and indecency. The apprehention came true when in June, a panel of three federal judges unanimously ruled that CDA violaes the First Amendment of the US Constitution that protects freedom of speech.

No Other Option

Undoubtedly, the Philadelphia judges, bound by the federal constitution, had no other option but to uphold freedom of speech; but the proponents of CDA like Mr. J. James Exon and Mr. Mike Russel, the spokesman of the Christian Coalition, expressed their resentment over the decision by saying that the court might have given less attention to those portions of the online content posing a serious threat for permanently altering the lives of the kids, which would ultimately lead to the degradation of social and ethical values. In fact, indulging in individual freedom may cause a severe damage to society and such an action is equivalent to axing one’s own legs. In this cntext, one may recall the Second Amendment of the US Constitution regarding the possession of firearms. This raises the pivotal question – Should we indulge in individual freedom even if such a freedom causes an injury to the society, which is beyond repair?

            According to the Western notion, an individual and his freedom is of supreme concern, while the interest of the society is of secondary importance. The Indian view, which is diametrically opposite, contends that society is abiogenetic and hence cannot be created and re-created            by man and furthermore, the interest of the society is of supreme concern, not the sweet will of an individual. The aggregate of innate social laws and virtues that aims to sustain the integrity of the society, to maintain its cohesiveness and to bring forth prosperity and well-being to each and every member of the society, is called dharma and this dharma is of supreme importance. According to Indian tradition, even a king cannot surpass dharma, not to speak of an ordinary individual.

            The ancient Indian law-giver Manu dictates a three-fold indebtedness of an individual to society- (1) indebtedness to he gods for providing air, water and other natural resources, (2) indebtedness to ancestors for providing the human body and (3) indebtedness to teachers for imparting knowledge. So it is the duty of every individual to repay his social debts by serving the gods, the elders, by properly bringing up the posterity and by serving the society at large. On the contrary, an individual who devotes his time and energy for the sake of his personal pleasure and well-being and denies his social responsibilities, violates dharma.

            Kautilya, in his Arthasastra, says that an individual who, in spite of being financially capable, does not look after his aged elders and other dependents or extends a helping hand to the poor, violates dharma and is therefore punishable by confiscation of his entire belongings. He also prescribes criminal prosecution against married male individuals who accept asceticism and thus leads his family members and other dependents to starvation. So Indian tradition sacrifices individual freedom for the sake of the society, or for the sake of dharma.

            In his article “Fifteen Cheers for Abstinence”, Mr. Lance Morrow has suggested a future life style for the West – that abstinence is the only remedial measure against teenage pregnancy, disintegration of families, AIDS and so on. He further says, “Teach them this: the more you indulge in anything, good or bad, especially bad – in drugs, casual sex, violence, idiot music, driving too fast, bad manners, rage – more you lose. The more you abstain, the more you gain”.

Indian Life Style

What Mr. Morrow has propagated in his article is nothing but 100 per cent Indian life style. “Desire, anger and greed: this is the triple gate of hell. Therefore avoid these three”, says the Bhagavadgita. In fact, Vedic law-givers prescribed complete abstinence (brahmacharya), till the completion of studies. After that the grown-up was permitted to marry, have controlled sex only with his wife (garhastya) and revert again to abstinence after attaining the age of 50  through vanaprastha and sannyasa.

            So, it can be said that, not indulgence to wild desires but abstinence and self-restraint is the path open before the humanity and like Mr. Morrow, we can hope that in near future man could be able to adopt himself to such a life style. Observing the fact that most of the smokers are now-a-days are giving up the bad habit, an optimistic Mr. Morrow says, “Change the myth, and values follow”. And we say, animality is the past and divinity is the future of humankind.