Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...

Claiming the Right to Say No
We cannot deny the fact that on account of tourism, there is a great influx
of foreign nationals in our state and along with this influx various merits
and demerits has also entered into our state, thus, creating a severe
impact on our lives. And this becomes the reason for us to not to wear an
attitude of indifference towards the issue of tourism.
Theology has its roots in a divine-human encounter, a face to face meeting
of God and people, taking place at the inmost centre of our being and in
the very heart of the world. God also encounters us with challenges in
and through the people we meet, the events and situations in which we
live. In the field of tourism industry, God’s challenge resounds in the dark
side of tourism, which contradicts divine goodness and humanness, to
which every faithful is called to respond with genuine interest. Jesus’
teachings on the streets of Palestine, was actually the outcome of his
response to the signs of His times. We see that Jesus also responded to
the concrete historical situation of His time. In fact, the whole of the historical
context came to Him as God’s challenge. This can be safely concluded
from the text, Lk. 4:17-18, where He reads the scroll of Prophet Isaiah in
the Synagogue. As such Jesus’ reflection on and responses to the divine
challenges make up His theology.
By taking human faith, God neither degraded His divine nature nor human
being, but on the contrary raised human kind to its dignity.
In this paper, we are trying to respond to the evils of tourism in the light of
christian faith. In doing so, we are not destroying or degrading tourism
but attempting to upgrade it, and elevate its standard.
1. The Goan Context
A meaningful response to the reality of tourism demands an understanding
of the situation and hence the context of the people becomes a nonnegotiable
methodological requirement. The Indian context portrayed by
George M. Soares Prabhu S. J. for theologizing process can be of great
importance in understanding the Goan context in relation to tourism. The
“cry for life” summarizes his depiction of the Indian context and such a cry
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