Scott James, columnist for The Bay Citizen, a newspaper in San Francisco, has for some time acted as publicity agent for one Raj Patel, author of "The Value of Nothing" and other books detailing the pathologies of our consumer-led economy. It all started when Patel was pointed out as the World Teacher for the Age of Aquarius. Who did the pointing? No one has ever said. Is Patel the World Teacher? He denies that he is, and Benjamin Crà ¨me, the primary source of information about the World Teacher for over 30 years, agrees. One would have thought that this peculiar and sensationalized distortion, of what has been a beautiful and sacred project supported by hundreds of Share International volunteers all over the world, would have been laid to rest. But when it comes to this story of the return of the Christ to the everyday world of men and women struggling with hard facts and facing a hard future, there seems to be no means by which opportunists can resist piling up distortion upon lie and prejudice upon secular elitist distaste for this hopeful message. It is truly amazing, if not without historical precedent in Palestine 2000 years ago.
So, when Raj Patel and Benjamin Crà ¨me sat down for a chat in Berkeley in August, one hoped that a heart-to-heart would ensue and the matter would finally be put to rest. Perhaps it was, between Patel and Crà ¨me themselves. But Mr. James felt the need to to slander the Reappearance story one last time, and in the process, advertise a forthcoming book to be written by Mr. Patel based upon his having been mistaken for Maitreya. What hope, then, do we consumers of "news" have of learning the facts, much less the truth, of events in our world when reporters like James publish their innermost prejudices in The New York Times.
The volunteers of Share International, as Crà ¨me has stated, had no part in the ruse. Those who know Crà ¨me's information know that Patel, although a humanitarian, is not in the same category as the Christ. How could he be? Can he appear and disappear at will?Can he be in two places at once? Can he know what is really in your heart? Can he? Yet James retells the lie one more time. It would be laughable were it not so malicious.
In describing Crà ¨me's August lecture in San Francisco, James is careful to belittle the event and its supporters, and to note the race of and the makes of cars driven by the audience. He doesn't seem to understand that throughout history it is the educated classes that have produced the leaders of movements toward world betterment. Maitreya's message, which is based upon the notion of Justice and Trust to be enabled by mankind's sharing resources so that all may have the basic necessities of life, is particularly resonant to those people precisely because they care enough to consider the message, and have the wherewithal to implement such a vision of the future. Mr. James, can you have missed this critical assessment in your desire to make snarky?
James then proceeds to call Share International "small and harmless". I suppose that makes SI easy to use for his, and Patel's, more mundane ends..selling articles and books. That Maitreya does not measure up to his standard of tolerance for putting children into gay marriages, is James' final judgement, but not before describing Patel's dismissal of Crà ¨me, and plugging that forthcoming book. Crà ¨me described Patel as "charming". But Crà ¨me knows the importance of harmlessness.
