India has a very long and lengthy history of communal violence but at no point of time have I felt ashamed of belonging to a particular religion, and why should I? Is it not a well known fact that life is sacred and no religion makes it okay for an individual to take another individual's life?
I was never ashamed of belonging to a particular religion, what has however surprised me time and again is that there survives a human being who so completely, so blindly follows one religion, worships one God and still has the time and the energy and the heart to hate another religion, conspire against it and kill others not of his type.
What harm can a building do? You build a temple, a mosque, a church, employ a priest, a man of the God who talks about Him, read from the holy books and interprets them for you - people visit these building and buy religious commodities from other people and the holy man too makes a little amount of money and runs his family. In this scenario, if people get what they want, a place for their peace of mind and others make their livelihood, would I be wrong in suggesting that it's a business and would it be that strange? Would it not be a yet another, well known fact ?
Who are these people then, who are benefited by burning down the houses to rubble, who are these people then, who are so insecure about their religion that they are creating hardships for the others, what incentives, what gifts, what gold, what glory, what have their own religion given them that they are so much against the other person's God?
If Fortitude( dhairya ) , Forgiveness( mahopeksh ) , Restraint( gupti), Purity (pavitrya ) , Control over sense organs ( samyam) , Intelligence ( avgam ) , Knowledge ( abhiyam ) , Truth( satyat), Absence of anger (akrodh) are the ten characteristics of Dharma, how exactly are they, the Dharmvirs, those who follow the principles of Hinduism.
If according to Mahabharta, "..that man is a wretch who is not fulfilled with jealousy at the sight of his enemy's prosperity" are not all these men wretches?
If these people inflict violence on other people, cause harm to them and if they don't follow the principles of their own religion, why should we associate them to Hinduism or any other religion for that matter?
These are the hypocrites who wish to use the religion they are born with as their weapon for their selfish purposes, for money and needless to say for power. These could be the illiterates who have not understood their religion themselves and the lessons of hatred have been passed to them by the rich and the powerful, the jealous and the wretches, these could also be the small children, the young minds who do not yet understand the purpose of religion in their lives, could these also be the pseudo - religious youngsters in their 20s or 30s who have been manipulated, shown a dream, promised land and other resources in return of their 'duty' to the religion, by these wretches?
Sometimes, these are the needy, working for the rich and the powerful, an example of which we saw in Kashmir in 2010 where locals were paid Rs. 400 - 6 US dollars - 5 Euros - per week to pelt stones on the security forces - Why would people choose consciousness over hunger?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-stone-pelter-in-Kashmir-gets-paid-Rs-400-a-week/articleshow/7173104.cms?referral=PM
When Tom Hanks, in the movie Cast Away is stuck on an island, alone and thousands of miles away from his homeland, he rests his faith in a non-living thing, in a football. That non-living thing acts as an embodiment of the belief he had in himself and helps him get through the difficult time. That is what religion is all about, resting our faith in something or somebody, it's about getting one through his rough days, rough times, it isn't meant to be used as a reason for violence. Religion is not about violence, it never was. I know because my grandmother has never uttered a word to me about communal violence.and she has read and understood the principles of Hinduism herself.
In spite of all the efforts of the elderly and the spirituals in my family I don't often offer my prayers to the God, if there is any. I don't go to temple, don't fast and neither do I sing religious songs but I know for a fact that I am a better Hindu than any of those who are and have been behind the communal riots in Ballabgurh, in other parts of this country or abroad and so, if there is anybody who should be ashamed for their religion, it must be them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/05/30/ballabgarh-riots-muslim_n_7475094.html
Religion is the best form of propaganda ever envisioned by humans. And, according to me, it's not merely a business practice, but an ingenious fraud. Am I making it too obvious that I am an atheist?
ReplyDeleteI respect your honest opinion, but I don't think I need to belong to a certain religion to survive. I don't need misplaced faith.
Oh, I understand, I have merely tried to trace the reason why some people follow a religion and believe in God and why for some, nothing is greater than humanity itself.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Tom Hanks, in Cast Away did not have a religion, he had faith. These are two different entities.
Religion is Total man-made policy like. Hindu was never and is never a religion but a way of life, based on Philosophy of Nature. But yes Hindu has been labeled as religion by British rulers in India, they even changed the name of the country for their own convince, from Bharat to Hindustan by Islamic Rulers then to India by British.Most of sacredness and spirituality of Mahabharata was snatched and burned,destroyed,converted by Islamic rulers then came British invaders, they took the knowledge and wealth hidden in Bharat with them and replaced it with convent schools,white Britannia bread and so on. But complete knowledge and ethics could not be removed or burned due to its Oldest history and Knowledge Transfer by speaking .In my personnel experience and believe Religions created to disciple the uncivilized world but became as a big Pain in Ass. more than 5000 years before Aryavrat(later as Bharat) was already civilized ( Mohn-jo-Daro civilization ) was living on Nature protected Philosophy.
DeleteYou guys are speaking about the conflict between the spiritual and religious. Godly and man made. Majority of religious activities, in his name, are carried out for money, few for god.
ReplyDeleteI suppose everyone knows what shraads are, the annual arrangement where we by feeding a pundit and his family, pay our regards to our dead kin, the pundit consumes in lieu of his services that include reading the rosary and praying to God, food and money. In gaya there is a provision for any Hindu to come pay and treat the resident pundits an amount made of cash and kind. My grandfather went to gaya and had completed all these duties, but after his demise, the local pundits poisoned and polluted my elders minds so much that out of fear, we pay, still.
Yes, everything comes down to money, power and fear.
DeleteReligion is Total man-made policy like. Hindu was never and is never a religion but a way of life, based on Philosophy of Nature. But yes Hindu has been labeled as religion by British rulers in India, they even changed the name of the country for their own convince, from Bharat to Hindustan by Islamic Rulers then to India by British.Most of sacredness and spirituality of Mahabharata was snatched and burned,destroyed,converted by Islamic rulers then came British invaders, they took the knowledge and wealth hidden in Bharat with them and replaced it with convent schools,white Britannia bread and so on. But complete knowledge and ethics could not be removed or burned due to its Oldest history and Knowledge Transfer by speaking .In my personnel experience and believe Religions created to disciple the uncivilized world but became as a big Pain in Ass. more than 5000 years before Aryavrat(later as Bharat) was already civilized ( Mohn-jo-Daro civilization ) was living on Nature protected Philosophy.
ReplyDelete