Devotee can have opposing opinions on current political issues. But they should be in line with indisputable Vedic Truths.
We should always be aware of the nature of existence. Material activities are motivated by nothing other than the jivas desire to control and enjoy. However, because the jiva is a servant by nature, the occupations we perform are a service to society.
For example, if the majority of people were not willing to get up each morning and go to work, there couldn’t be any semblance of a civilized society. We also need business leaders, politicians, and teachers. Members of society should fulfill their obligations to other members- who they recieve service from. This is piety; however, it is just another part of the effort to enjoy and control. In other words, even pious politicians are simply self motivated. Beyond that, most politicians today are devoid of piety.
If we are going to form opinions on politics, I feel the article found in Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.3 ” The Godless Demons” is a must read. Srila Prabhupada describes impious modern leaders.They are driven by insatiable desires for wealth and power, yet they are so arrogant they think the plans they make to achieve it are benificial for society. They are master manipulators. They convince the electorate their plans are sacrosanct. Even after their big plans fail they continue to fool the electorate.
Srila Prabhupada wants to save us from being fooled by such people. He advices us to calmly consider the facts. We should never place too much faith in the plans of politicians. We should avoid jumping to a conclusion when a scheme appears to contain elements consistent with Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
For example, in order to prohibit intersex people from participating in female sports, Trump signed an executive order asserting that only two sexes exist. Srila Prabhupada emphatically condemned attempts of modern societies to blur the distinction between male and female. Therefore one might conclude that Trumps declaration is a conservative measure bringing society closer to Srila Prabhupada’s positition. But that is not the case.
Devotees are free to form their own opinion on fairness in sports. But the assertion that only two sexes exist is against objective medical facts and also repudiated by Srila Prabhupada. Below is part of a transcipt of a recording from 4/15/1967. Srila Prabhupada is creating a skit on the appearence of Lord Caitanya:
Prabhupāda: Fifth scene, Lord Caitanya’s mother, Śacīdevī, is sitting underneath a tree, a nīm tree. It is called nīm tree. And the little child on her lap, and the visitors, so many visitors are coming, and they are offering some presentation. Somebody is offering gold necklace, somebody offering some bangles, some cloth, some money, and His father, he…, what is called?
Jagannātha Miśra. Jagannātha Miśra is there? Yes. Jagannātha Miśra, His father. He was, whatever money and clothes and gold and silver they were coming, he was also distributing to poor men, some dancers. In India there is a system… What do you call? The eunuchs? Those who are neither male or female. What do you call? What is their name?
Hayagrīva: A combination of both, male and female?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Hayagrīva: A hermaphrodite. A hermaphrodite.
Prabhupāda: Eunuchs, what is that eunuch?
Hayagrīva: A eunuch is…
Prabhupāda: Feminine.
Hayagrīva: Impotent, an impotent… Someone who’s been castrated.
Prabhupāda: Oh, that is called eunuch. By nature, neither man, neither woman.
Hayagrīva: Oh, this is also called asexual, that is to say no sex.
Prabhupāda: No sex.
Hayagrīva: Hermaphroditic means they have the physical features of both man and woman.
Prabhupāda: Oh. At the same time?
Hayagrīva: At the same time.
Prabhupāda: I do not exactly… But such people, they have their own society, and their means of living is that whenever there is some good occasion, a marriage or childbirth, like that, so they go there and pray to God that “This child may be very long living.” In this way they make some prayer and get some…
Hayagrīva: These people… Now I don’t understand… This takes place at…, the sixth scene…?
Prabhupāda: At Jagannātha Miśra’s house.
Hayagrīva: Jagannātha Miśra’s house. And his wife is who?
Prabhupāda: This scene should be mentioned as Jagannātha Miśra’s courtyard.
Hayagrīva: And who is his wife, again?
Prabhupāda: Śacīdevī.
Hayagrīva: Śacīdevī, yes.
Prabhupāda: Śacīdevī is the mother of Lord Caitanya. She is sitting with the child, and everyone is visiting, visiting, presenting, or all…, everyone’s saying, “Oh, how nice child He is.”
Hayagrīva: And these asexual people…
Prabhupāda: They are dancing.
Hayagrīva: They are dancing.
Prabhupāda: Yes. They are dancing, “Hare Kṛṣṇa.” Yes, like that. So Hare Kṛṣṇa dancing is going there.
Hayagrīva: Yes.
Prabhupāda: And visitors coming and presenting. That is a very nice scene. Yes. (End Citation).
https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/670405lc-san-francisco/#bb519837
The communities Srila Prabhupada is describing are called hirja. They make a living by appearing at weddings and birth ceremonies, where they recieve gifts in exchange for blessings. They also beg and perform other sevices. I am not saying there are no controversy in India regarding some of their practices, or that they live utopian lives. But denying they exist is countefactual. (Interestingly, the British previously tried to make them disappear with the ” Criminal Tribes Act of 1871″).
Regardless of what one thinks is good and fair in women sports, President Trump fits Srila Prabhupada’s description in RTW 1.3. We should evaluate him in that light. He posseses billions of dollars, yet as president he is trying to push the power of the executive branch to the maximum. And he feels he can deny objective facts by signing an executive order. That is reaching for an extraordinary level of imaginary power.
In general, because it is a foundational truth of Vaisnava ontology that the activities of all mundane politicians are are motivated only by selfish desires, we should also be careful to avoid the trap of having too much faith in agenda of politicians who are opposed to Trump(if that is where our sentiments try to pull us).
In conclusion: we can think what we want about fairness in sports, but we should avoid slipping into the trap of over appreciating plans made by those who are motivated by inordinately high levels of material desires.
Paramadayala Nityananda Dasa