The Changing Face of Values: Fake Degrees - 1
ByMohammad Ashraf Chaudhry
Pittsburg , CA
“We turn man which ever way he wants to turn” 4:88
Sometime ago I read an article, titled: “The New Road to Hell”, in which it was shared how the “Seven Deadly Sins”, namely- Pride; Gluttony; Melancholy; Lust; Greed; Envy and Anger - one by one, have changed their meaning and ugliness in the modern times. The wise West in the 17 th century dropped Melancholy from the list of the sins, and replaced it with Sloth, and the French chefs have petitioned to the Vatican to remove gluttony from that detestable list. Good times are in the waiting for all of us. So cheer up!
Originally, all religions and moralists held these seven deadly sins behind every kind of human tragedy, crime and hurt. We read that it stayed so for many, many centuries. Now, as says Pope Benedict XVI, “We are losing the notion of sins”. They are no more ugly, or even sins. At worst they are just social and behavioral aberrations. Our modern culture has now begun to celebrate them. Nobody feels guilty of ordering French fries; nor do we feel guilty when we chose to become snobbish.
Parents encourage the presence of pride in their children, though under a new title of self-esteem. Half a dozen well-dressed young ladies, Rahat being an exception, can be seen on Pakistan TV channels, teaching the lady viewers how to play upon the appetite of their spouses. Certainly in plain language, they are teaching the ‘virtue of gluttony’ in the name of gourmand.
“Lower your gaze”, says Islam. Playing upon lust, and how best to encash it is an integral part of the advertising and marketing business. Is there an advertisement in which young women with their body parts are absent? Not so to my knowledge, not even when I have to buy shaving blades.
Sloth or laziness is now deemed essential under a new title of relaxation. Everybody now claims to have a right to relax on some days. The government gives a certain number of days off every year to relax. God used to be described as highly sensitive to stealing or grabbing without permission, and to blaspheming. Stealing is bad only if one is caught; otherwise it is deemed as a commendable personality trait. Now people pollute; covet for other people’s wives; clone and use drugs to destroy embryos and nothing is thought of as sinful or bad.
Greed under new name has become incentive; accumulation of wealth is tied to philanthropy. We were told that anger is the tool of Shaitan and it leads to violence; pride is bad because it degrades other people; gluttony is a sin because it results in wastefulness. Envy, we were told, burns faith like firewood. Dante in his Divine Comedy, sews the eyes of people suffering from this evil with iron wires. Islam ties Faith with the plight of the poor. One’s faith does not stay in tact if he is surrounded by the weak and the poor, Surah 107. Not any more.
So basically, we are on the motorway to “Hell”, if we look at our life in the modern times.
THE ISSUE OF FAKE DEGREES :
Let us look at this issue, not from a moral or sinful angle, but from a consequential one. When the seven deadly sins are thought of no more as sins, then why should this “little aberration” of our politicians be thought of as an unpardonable crime?
Perhaps the following two stories about Naseruddin Hodja, a 13 th century Turkish humorous and witty character, may help us understand what we are trying to discuss here.
“One day a friend visited Hodja and said, “Hodja, I want to borrow your donkey”. “I am sorry”, replied Hodja, “but I’ve already lent it out to someone else”. As soon as he said this, the donkey brayed. “But Hodja, I can hear the donkey! It’s in the stable”. Shutting the door in his friend’s face, Hodja told him with dignity, “A man who believes the word of a donkey above my own doesn’t deserve to be lent anything”.
Second anecdote: “One day Hodja was heartbroken over the loss of his dear wife. All his neighbors and friends tried to encourage and comfort him by saying, ‘Don’t worry about her, Hodja, we’ll help you to find an even better one.’
A short while later his donkey died as well. Hodja seemed to mourn the donkey even more than he had his wife. Some of his friends noticed this and approached him concerning this matter, and he replied, “When my wife passed away, all my friends promised me that they would find an even better one for me, but so far no one has offered to replace my donkey”.
The problem of Muslim Umma, and especially that of the people of Pakistan, is voiced in these two tit-bits. The donkey of corruption/social-injustice/inequity and terrorism is braying loud and clear in our backyards, and we like Hodja are cursing the world for listening more to the braying of a donkey, and not listening to what we say. And we say, ‘Where is the corruption/terrorism? Provide the proof”. In the second anecdote we learn how we manipulate everything, even the loss of our spouses, and the tears shed therein, just to grind our own axe.
On the question of fake degrees, I am acutely reminded of two Bengali twin girls who used to be in my M. A. (English) class at Gordon College in the 1965-67 session. Then the Punjab University had a funny or rather silly examination system. The students were required to pass in all the seven papers with an aggregate of 40%. These two Bengali sisters passed in all the seven papers, but failed to capture the 40% aggregate, and therefore, were declared “failed”. All the seven papers had to be repeated next year. Why did it not occur to us or them that there was a way out; to by-pass all this. Perhaps then there was no such thing as Internet system.
Now they tell you, “Fake it your way”, “Create your Own Free College Diploma in Less than a Minute”, “Choose one of the finest fake colleges, fake institutes and fake universities. Pick any of the 55 sought after majors. Select your perfect degree from the 20 offered, including Master’s, JD PhD, MD and DDS. Add honors for a special touch. Date your diploma for whenever seems right! All comes with snazzy text, lifelike forged signatures and graphics so convincing that everyone swears they’re real!”. I wish I could wipe out the tears of those two Bengali class-mates by traveling in the past with this news. (To be continued)
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