RELIGION

In the days of my childhood, I used to be very outgoing. Friends were many and each day was great fun! We were a group of about 10 guys. We would spend all evening playing cricket till our respective mothers would come at twilight and grab us by our hands, collar or throat to take us home. The most regular members of our little “evening gully cricket club” were Vinayak, Vivek, Ali, Mufaddal, Yousuf, Sukhdev, Maninder, Chris, Jignesh and I – Sumit Agrawal. As we grew older, all of us slowly drifted away… Not broken apart, but drifted away from each other – primarily due to educational reasons. Our (then vacant) evening slots were completely exhausted and the hands which once had cricket bats and balls were now handed the (very) torturous Physics and Chemistry books… Though seldom, but even today, we meet like good ol’ pals – “for old times’ sake” – as Chris calls it!

We were always an almost perfect blend of “unity in diversity”… There was no feeling of rich and poor families nor was there EVER any feeling that each one of us had come from the parts of the society which were completely different from that of the others… There were old men and women in each society who discouraged this “inter-religion friendship”; but we never cared! Each one of us nodded at their lame and trivial explanations, justifications and (sometimes) lectures – on “why we shouldn’t be friends with and avoid people who are not a part of our society…” Each one of us would return to the same apartments the next evening and the same pandemonium would be created on a daily basis! And most of all, we never failed to make fun of our previous days’ ordeals that we had faced! We would even join hands against a gentleman (name withheld with intentions of keeping his privacy intact and preventing a potential lawsuit from being filed against me, in case he happens to read this blog) an inhabitant of the apartment and a die hard orthodox extremist and HATED Muslims. Not that the Muslim neighbours were very fond of him – the hatred was mutual! But quite frankly, in my personal opinion, it was irrational, illogical, unjustifiable, prejudiced and impractical approach and thinking that is the root to all this hatred…

In the 18 years of my life, I have constantly been tried to be converted into a “true Hindu” (at times a “true Marwari”) by the various elements of the society, specially that uncle… But what I fail to understand is WHY I can’t be RELIGIOUS and SECULAR at the same time! If I am from a Hindu or a Sikh background, do I *HAVE* to hate not only Muslims, but the entire religion of Islam on the whole? The scenario is similar the other way round, too! But isn’t it illogical that HUMANS born in a Muslim’s house are pretty much the SAME (I said “SAME”, not even “SIMILAR”) as those HUMANS born in a Hindu’s? I am not talking about Hindu-Muslim unity. That is a thing of the past, given today’s circumstances… What I am demanding, expecting, hoping and BEGGING for is religious TOLERANCE! There is NO feeling of fraternity and unity whatsoever! The HUMANITY is dying in the so-called “humans”…

The term “Jihad” is undisputedly the most abused and misused term in any language! Literally meaning “striving in the way of Allah”, it is that state of egolessness and selflessness where there will be NO difference in the divine and you! It will only be the divine – pretty much the same as the “Moksha” in Hinduism, the Judgement Day in Christianity and the “Nirvana” in Buddhism. What the other religions’ people don’t understand is that “Jihad” is a situation where your personal existence will be nothing. And what the extremists don’t understand that you can NOT FORCE the world into Jihad! If God exists, I don't think he would want anyone to kill someone in "God's name"! Jihad is a situation, an era, and in a way – a DESTINY! So, I guess that is NOT something you can fight and bring into the world! You can NOT force an era or a destiny! If something HAS to happen, it will! NO pyromaniac can do it by burning himself, bombing 10 INNOCENT people or by crashing planes into skyscrapers… Great men can bring Jihad… Slowly and steadily! Not the mediocre terrorists…

Coming to terrorism, I am sick and tired of opposing the “All-Muslims-are-terrorists” theory – started by America and continued by our people! Come on, friends! We need to grow up! So what if most are Muslims? Just blaming the entire sect because of few rabid, incomprehensive, delinquent and narrow-minded fanatics is BIAS! Such people are a disgrace to their folks. And not only that, they are a disgrace to the human race itself! Forming opinions purely based on media, vicinity’s opinions and America’s attitude is PREJUDICE! And that is a DISGRACE in the name of humanity!

Anyways… I am not here to defend Islam or Hinduism or any other religion! I am here to defend the term “religion” in the first place… It is really sad that there are SO many people have racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic etc opinions! Though it is NOT the only vehicle, religion can be an excellent medium for teaching morality, values and ethics… But then, it has created several barriers, too! Then what is the need to follow a religion in the first place? Well! It’s subjective!

I am religious! I often talk to God and he answers my prayers! I would love to have met God! As proven recently, science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive… It is tough to say whether God created man or Man created God! But I’m sure of one thing – If there is a God, I would think God would prefer a moral atheist to an immoral believer… There is no room for religious fundamentalism in this world! Everybody has the right to follow a religion of their CHOICE and NOT the one forced upon them by descent or an influential or misleading body (Bhakti, Shuudhi, Tabliq, Christian Missionary, etc.)… In fact everybody has the right to follow one or not in the first place!

Yes! I mean it! There is nothing wrong with atheism. Being agnostic is NOT a crime or a social ill! In most cases, profanity in itself is not offensive to me! Though most people might think that agnostics or atheists lack morality or values, but I feel that there is NO direct correlation between the strength/type of one's faith/religion and his/her moral compass. If it is not for the sole reason for being “cool”, I guess it’s okay to be atheist… if and ONLY if you have a strong reason to back it up! Some “religious” people bash atheists/agnostics while their religion cannot be touched. What do we term this as? “Sanctimony”, maybe! Spirituality does not necessarily have to be theistic… People need to stop saying believers in God are stupid or non believers are stupid! And religion does NOT always have to do with god! It has a lot more meaning! You can say "I am Jewish/Christian/Muslim/etc" while still being an atheist/agnostic…

There are several institutions and people in the world who even go to the extent of converting people of other religions to theirs…In India, it all started in the 18^th Century with the advent of the Portuguese, the French and the British when their Christian Missionaries converted several Indian inhabitants to Christianity (mostly by force or misleading tactics) with the sole intention to keep a grip on the Indian people and to corrupt their unity and religious purity along with culture… I LOVE hearing about other religions as long as they don’t try to proselytize me or convince me that theirs is superior!

I have always had an objection on the “Muslims-are-not-a part-of-our-society” theory. If they are living in the same locality as we are living, eating the same food that we are eating, wearing the same clothes that we are wearing, even hating us the way WE are hating THEM, then in what way are they not a part of our society? On what grounds are we saying that we are a more superior religion to theirs? There are many similarities between Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Islam!

Personally, I am not against the “Purdah” system or the “Sati Pratha”… I am against FORCED Purdah and FORCED Sati Pratha… There is nothing wrong with a woman veiling herself or wearing Hijab and covering themselves, as long as it is a CHOICE! And there is not A THING wrong with “voluntary dowry”… I hate saying religion in general but Judaism in general is actually body/physicality positive, not repressive!

People shouldn't say "Hinduism/Judaism/Christianity/Islam religion says" because a religion is not a monolithic entity! Some people tend to be too “authoritative” towards their religion… Unless there are “personal adjustment” issues, there is nothing wrong in inter-religion couples! Just because someone is not a part of our religious background or their religion does not have its roots in India (as in the case Islam and Christianity), it does NOT mean that the people are aliens or outsiders!

True that there is a wall between us; but all we need to see beyond the wall. Because there stands a monument – of Love, Peace, Harmony, Brotherhood and most of all, HUMANITY! If we all join hands, we can bring Jihad to the earth – that Jihad which God himself will be resurrecting himself for bringing back! If we all live like brothers, we can become the prophets of the religion called HUMANITY! If we all become one, we can do what God will do! THAT is going to take us MUCH closer to divinity and the Messianic Age (The Ramrajya) will come back to us!

A last word before I sign off: When you were fanatic as a kid, you had no brain. But if you are still intolerant today, then you have no HEART!