VJ, podcaster, misheard lyrics creator, stand-up comedian and overall great human being, José Covaco has penned an open letter in the wake of the controversy surrounding the AIB roast. The letter has been written after AIB apologised to the members of the Archdiocese of Mumbai and José has written about how he wishes we (as in the Christian community) had turned the other cheek. Here’s the entire letter, originally posted on Scroll.in:
His Lordship,
In wake of the AIB fiasco, I would sincerely like to communicate a few points as a Christian and as an Indian.
I do not know if the apology from the AIB comedians was asked for, or if they apologised voluntarily. That is not pertinent. I really wish we had rejected their apology and said it was irrelevant. It was such a great opportunity to show the world that our faith is about love, tolerance and forgiveness. We could have led the way and dismissed it as a non-issue. Their jokes, no matter how disturbing or offensive to some people, are of no consequence to us. No consequence at all.
Human nature is such that asking people not to make fun of or ridicule something makes them do it even more. Young people (and old alike ) everywhere will now have to deal with the stereotype that will build from this.
I wish we had turned the other cheek. I wish that instead of accepting an apology, we in turn told them that no apology was needed and that we are not interested in such trivial matters. Make no mistake, I am in no way saying that people offended should not voice our displeasure. But surely there are better things we could do with our time. The parties that were offended could have simply made their displeasure known. A couple of jokes, no matter how offensive, do nothing to diminish our faith and really should not affect us in any way. Even a million jokes can’t do that.
We could have gone out of our way to tell them we take no offence and that we forgive them, maybe they didn’t know what they were doing.
I think it is wonderful that everyone sat together and discussed the matter peacefully but there are much more pressing matters at hand like the churches that are being vandalised in Delhi and we really shouldn’t waste our time with such matters now, or in the future.
I do not know how many other people feel this way. These are my personal thoughts on the subject. I do hope you consider these thoughts, they come from a place of immense love and respect for people’s beliefs, our country and the people of this country.
Sincerely,
Jose Covaco
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