It has become fashionable to condemn religion nowadays, atleast in the US. I do not know how to classify myself, a spiritual person or a religious one - I do believe in a Supreme governing power, that oversees all of creation, and manifests itself in forms we may not be able to imagine. I believe in "Karma" too - one shall reap only the fruits that one has sowed. All this I believe in, and adhere to some rites that have been doctrinated by my religion. However, I do not believe that one religion can be the one sanctified by the Supreme . The basic tenets of all religions are the same, peace, humanity and love. This has been distorted over the years by people with vested interests, people who want their religion to be adopted by more people than others. Due to these people, religion today has become a double-edged sword, it can be used to propagate peace or violence both.
The question is, how can people be educated to imbibe only the good from these teachings, and sieve out the vindictive parts? It is widely believed that religious terrorism is at its peak. The truth is, killings and other violence has been purported by religious fanatics for centuries now, and it CANNOT be tagged to just one religion - every religion has had vandals guilty of it. Is there any way people can be made to realise, for now and for eternity, that no supreme governing power can encourage or even condone violence of any form to promote itself ? Can education itself help ? Not always, as many terrorists are known to have held college degrees. Are the fanatics so good at brain-washing mobs, or is it the lure of money for their impoverished family that does the trick? Perhaps a bit of both.
Religion itself has been blotted because of these kind of propagandists. Can we revive all our religions, pure and unblemished by hatred, and restore(or build, if it never existed) humanity's unconditional faith in them? Atleast not in the near future, as the damage is deep, and the perpetrators of violence are growing in numbers. Is there an alternative to religion, something that will encompass all of humanity, will be built upon the values of harmony and respect for others? What can it be , a brotherhood, a union ? And what is the guarantee that this will not have factions and won't go the same route as religion has?
Too many questions, no answers. Before I conclude, I do wish to emphasize that religion in itself does not perpetrate violence. It is in fact a very powerful tool to promote peace and harmony amongst all. If only the religious heads would appreciate that...
After-thought: I wanted to kick-off my blog with a non-serious topic, but just went with the flow of thoughts !
3 comments:
hmmm I guess religion is a just a tool being used to gain power through violence. If a child is taught 2 things: i ) not to hurt people and ii) hitting with a hammer can hurt people, then he wont use the hammer to hit people, but only to put in nails.
Same is with religion, People haven't been taught powers of religion and the dangers of misusing it. It can be further elaborated... but i stop here. Thats my reflection on your first blog Nikhil.
I don't agree with the idea of any sort of mass belief system. I think the whole concept of "religion" as a set of beliefs that should be upheld by all the so-called followers is inherently misleading. Such absolute agreement is impossible to achieve.
Religion should be understood as an individual's personal introspection/understanding/research into life's profound who-why-whats and hows.
Everything else - don't kill, don't hurt, don't steal, don't lie - have nothing to do with religion. Even animals don't kill unless they have to for survival; But we never label them with religious tags.
@Priya : What you are suggesting may work in a utopic world, but consider the situation today. The masses tend to look at some beacon to guide them, and this can be used to imbibe the right virtues. I do not think the mankind is matured enough to differentiate the vicious from the rightful; if it were, there wouldn't be so much violence today. Therefore the need for something people can look up to and follow.
@Omkar : I agree partially. There are religious heads who understand very well the power they yield, and misuse it. It is these tendencies which have to be eradicated. But then thirst for power is a basic instinct of man, so how do we put a stop to it? We don't have an answer to that !
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