What is Your religion?
A friend of mine is a strong devout Christian- goes to church every Sunday but suffers from jealousy and hatred.
Is her religion Christianity?
Another friend's friend does the 20 day Ramadan fast- but wakes up before sunrise to eat and comes home after sunset to have a feast.
Is his religion Islam?
A close friend does the 1 day fast every year- but can't define what the fast is for.
Is his religion Jainism?
Another close one, does havans on diwali and holi but doesn't know what the sanskrit words mean.
Is his religion Arya-Samaji?
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People usually fill out their religion on a form- the religion that their parents say they are of. The religion that they proudly and haughtily say they are of. Some of them will fight for this. Some extremists are willing to die for it.
But are we really the religion we say we are?
Is a Christian really a Christian if she is Jealous of others and hates her friend? What ever happened to 'love thy neighbor'?
Is a Jain really a Jain if he has replaced a stone idol with the picture of a Maharishi? Isn't the point of being a Jain to attain self realization by meditation and NOT do idol worship?
Isn't the point behind Ramadan to understand the grief suffered by the poor? How does a feast justify that?
Shouldn't an Arya-Samaji understand the scriptures that he follows rather than just read words he doesn't understand?
All religions are the same- they teach the same things, they ask you to do the same things. The path that leads to 'coming close to god' is a little different for each one. Then why do we go against our own religions and get arrogant about the name? Why do we believe that our god is the only one and better one?
Why is it that we are so blind to not even understand the teachings that our gods imparted thousands of years ago? Why do we still hate, get jealous, get angry, feel vanity and STILL have the audacity to call ourselves, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains or Jews?
[Don't look at me- I think that its our ignorance and insecurities that lead us to think that there exists an omnipotent being called god who will save us all. I do believe in the teachings of most religions though]
posted by EntrepreneurNI at 3:37 PM
6 Comments:
Excellent, thought-provoking post.
I think the problem percolates from the fact that we're taught that morality stems from laws driven down by confused, intolerant, divisive philosophies - whose misguided efforts to salvage 'souls' have caused more grief than the Earth was prepared for. As Bill Maher aptly sums it - religion is 'insanity by consensus'.
Why is it that we are so blind to not even understand the teachings that our gods imparted thousands of years ago?
I'll go a bit further here (and forgive me if I end up eating more of your blog space than you would care). I do not believe that the human race requires a special 'god' to tell us what's right and what's wrong.
As much as we're taught to believe in a superior being, who sole purpose it is to guide us morally (from outer-space or from 'within our heart'), it makes little sense to engage in such hocus-pocus.
Accepting a 'god' breaks everyday life - would you complain that your piece of code isn't compiling because god didn't want it to? If you believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-enigmatic god, I demand that that should be one of the ways to resolve these damned bugs :)
'God' weakens the belief that you are responsible to decide the way you live and the actions you choose. It encourages the delusion that there's this one crutch that you can hold onto; that you can always fall back on - to explain your failings and your misgivings; and to explain people dying of AIDS and the tsunami.
Propagating the notion that you are a worthless pawn in a giant, warped game is not just demeaning, but also something that excludes you from on one of the only things we all want to believe in - free will.
I do not believe that the human race requires a special 'god' to tell us what's right and what's wrong.
We do.
You and I dont have sad lives. We don't wake up wondering whether we'll be fed or not. We haven't been blown up by a bomb or buried our kid.
People who have seen this, need an explanation - they need something to blame. They need the reassurance that if they DO something ( pray), it will not happen again. That this is not a random occurance.
Untill we have evolved enough or become civilized enough, we, the masses, will have the need of a god.
Good luck with your bugs though- if your belief that god doesn't exist, doesnt help, then I suggest you buy some pooja samagri and pray to your computer. Once before sunrise and once during mid-day should be enough to please the PC-god. ;-)
People who have seen this, need an explanation - they need something to blame.
Hmmn. You could use the same argument for hallucinogenic drugs or alcohol or violence - that the pain that they're going through can only be overcome by irrational acts.
That's what terrifies me most - that we're never going to rid the crutch; that people will believe in an adult version Santa Claus as long as we don't actively try to get rid of this dangerous fantasy.
They need the reassurance that if they DO something ( pray), it will not happen again.
This is an interesting read: Why god won't heal amputees. I refuse to believe that 'we' are the enlightened ones (who can handle grief rationally), and that there are some other poor people in the world, who need to be fed magic to cope with life.
True information is what will set humanity free. Lies will not.
You could use the same argument for hallucinogenic drugs or alcohol or violence
And they do- religion is an addiction.
Didn't Marx deem religion as opium of the masses?
Too many things break down for too many people if religion is taken away (including but not limited to the purpose of morality by whatever definition you understand). We'd have a catastrophic law and order problem if religion were tkaen away.
For those who can do without it, good for you
you are completely right.
But, why be passive? apathetic?
Do you really want people around you to follow a law which could even ask to kill? Say that stealing is bad but 'holy war' (murder) is fine?
Wouldn't you rather that they be enlightened? Wouldn't you want them to follow the normal law?
Who knows, it might even lead us to look at current laws in a different light and make us more responsible, smarter and tolerant.
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