Man and Religion.
Conflicts between religions are one of major problems in this world. Religion is the one of the biggest obstacles to obtaining global peace. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings or insult their beliefs. Although I claim to be a Christian, I am far from a true Christian.
Each of us wants to see the things around us become the way we want them, and we want everyone to want same things we want and to follow our dreams. But in reality this does not happen. Anger often follows frustration, and it brings many problems with it.
Who decides which religion each of us belongs to? A baby does not decide which family he is born into, and most of us retain the religion of our heritage. If I were born into a Hindu family, I would be a strong Hindu because I would see my parents and family following that religion and begin believing as a child that it is the only truth in this world and the others are false. My parents would help me to develop this attitude by telling me that all other religions are false and we should stay away from them.
Where does religion come from? I believe that every human senses unseen power around him. He imagines some bigger power at work in nature and in him, to support him in every hard time. He comes to believe that he should follow and worship in traditional ways.
It is in the nature of us to want our surroundings strong and safe. In old times, humans slept in caves, believing they he were safe there. They made fire and believed that demons and animals would stay away from fire. Some of them even worshipped fire. I do not deny that religion comes from God. I am only giving an example of wrong attitudes which develop naturally according to human nature and which create many problems.
Many people say that most of the religions came here from God and have spread throughout the world by his prophets. Unfortunately, we do not really follow the prophet’s instructions. But claim that we do. In this deluded way each of us claims to be a good Muslim, Christian, or other devotee. But when we claim ourselves good Christians, do we ever think that we are really claiming to be following Jesus and imitators of his behaviors when he was here? For example:
1. He never hurt anyone. He went about promoting human welfare by healing them from medical problems.
2. He taught about one almighty God.
3. He talked with normal people, even with those who were hated by others.
4. He never taught us to kill.
5. He forgave people, even those who were killing him on the cross.
Jesus is the best example of tolerance and acceptance. The apostle Paul admonishes Christians to think and act like Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Why do we claim to be good Christians when we do not follow him?
Muhammad also taught us about equal rights, love, care, and respect for others. We can find many examples in the Quran:
1. He was kind with elders, children, and women.
2. He spoke about justice.
3. He forgave others when they treated him badly.
4. He helped others in need.
It is written in the Quran that if you kill one man it means you kill the whole of humanity. Now the question is: Are Muslims are really following him?
Other prophets have similar qualities, and their teachings are almost the same. In Buddhism, they even avoid killing small creeping things because they believe even these have feelings.
If all the prophets teach us about love, peace, caring and tolerance, then why is religion a major obstacle in the process? I believe it is because we have made religion into something it is not. The activities that we call religious and the beliefs that we associate with religion are not, in most cases, true religion. Few of us apply those teachings of our religions which aim at keeping selfish human thoughts in check. Instead, we cling to those teachings that support our selfish interests and discard the rest. In this way we claim that we have the one true religion and that all others are false. We pursue objectives based mostly on greed, and call our actions religious. We consider our prophets as messengers of God but we seldom follow their teachings.
Most of the problems in this world are caused by religion and greed. In the names of Christianity and Islam we have killed millions. Is that what religions are here for? Absolutely not. The leaders of our religions use innocent people for achieving their financial and political objectives. They are not really followers of their own religions.
It is a curious observation that when someone abuses a man, calling his mother a bad name, a fight seldom follows. If his sister or mother is called a bad name, he seldom fights to protect her honor. But when his religion is slandered with bad words he becomes very angry and ready for a fight to the death. Do we hold the ‘honor” of our religion, which teaches peace and forgiveness, above the honor of our loved ones?
Belief is a very sensitive thing. It starts to develop when we are very young. We believe that our parents are doing the only right thing. Soon the notion grows in us that our belief is the only truth and all other beliefs are false. When we become thirty years old and someone abuses our religion, we can’t take it.
Is this is normal? I believe it is not. We can’t change all the minds and behaviors of people in which such abnormal behaviors are already strong. But we can teach our children that they should respect other’s beliefs. They should learn that religion is not a thing to fight for. Rather, it is each person’s personal way to worship. We belong to the same world and have mostly the same feelings.
