Books by Ian Rogers
Books by Ian Rogers
Karma thinking provokes Sharpe response. Lots of kind people have enquired about my son Colin’s welfare whilst he’s doing charity work in India and some have shared their own experiences with me. One conversation coincided with my reading the fictional story “Sharpe’s Trafalgar”.
Richard Sharpe joined the British army in about 1793, fought in India, and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant in this, the third story. On his way home by East India Company ship and later by navy battleship, he falls for and has an adulterous affair with Lady Grace Hale, wife of old, cold and devious Lord Hale. His lordship’s creeping secretary discovers the affair and blackmails the couple, so Sharpe murders him in a brutal and grotesque way.
During the battle of Trafalgar, Lord and Lady Hale are hidden for safety in the deepest hold. Lord Hale taunts his wife about her infidelity before shooting her - only she shoots him. The battle is won, the murder covered up and the story ends with Sharpe and his Lady looking forward to a free and happy future. Apparently any number of wrongs add up to a right!
In contrast, my friend told me that the suffering and needy in India tend to be ignored because people believe in ‘karma’ - the balance of good and bad in your life that leads inexorably to reincarnation in a lower or higher state next time round. The poor, sick and dying are suffering deserved afflictions and to alleviate their suffering is contrary to divine justice. Yet neither of these very different attitudes come close to Christian faith.
Following Jesus’ example, Christians should love and help all people including ‘the undeserving poor’. Jesus, who lived without sin, encouraged his followers to’ go and sin no more’. God’s moral character does not change with the times; Sharpe’s behaviour is unacceptable to a holy God - but equally, because none of us can live up to God’s standards of absolute purity, God has provided an alternative to ‘divine karma’. Through Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross we can receive forgiveness and a new start provided we sincerely turn to God and ask for ongoing help to live his way as best we can. What a relief!
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