'Defending One's Religion': The New Evil

There is spiritual belief... and there is religion... And shall the twain ever meet?

In the recent past, it was only the extremists and the fundamentalists who would take up the cudgels to 'defend' the honour of their religion. They would kill, burn, pillage, loot, rape, murder - all in the name of their 'God'. Considering that - as every person knows - that all of the cosmos has only one God, one wonders which is that God, whose name are they defending? How different is that God from the One under whose perview those come, who are being defended from? And, how is it that the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Supreme Being needs protection from mere pitiful words and / or images from us mere no-consequence mortals?

Coming back to the pertinent point, we now see a needless uprising of people of all religions, sects, sub-sects, creeds, etc making a beeline to protest heavily against some or the other slight perceived to be against them. From making a bloody nuisance of themselves to reducing others to bloody, mutilated bodies, they stop at nothing till their bloodlust is satiated. And to what end? When each religion, at its heart, instructs one to be tolerant, understanding, broadminded and never to hurt beyond self-defence, how will destroying others' lives and properties make you more dearer in God's Eye?

Now, forget the extremists and all, even the ordinary people are dividing themselves, and seeking to do outdo each other in creating a ruckus in the name of religion. It has become a race, in which each person is trying to outdo the other in terms of how outspoken and how 'defensive' one is about one's religion. Each has taken to wearing one's religion on one's sleeve, and banishing its teachings from their heart.

This has only negative repurcussions, one internal, one external:

The Internal: Religion is meant to be a personal thing, an act of faith, a path to spitituality, a path to inner peace. It is meant to foster understanding, calm the self and be one with one's own mind. Every step we take towards such needless, competitive violence will take us away further from the path to good, the path to peace, the path to oneness. Of the seven deadly sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride - the defensive acts in the name of religion, actually and wholly encompass wrath and pride, and at times, one or more of the rest. Pray, tell me, does that not take us away from what the purpose of religion is supposed to be? And, since two or more of the sins are definitely a part of such 'defence', are such 'defensive' displays not a display of Evil? After all, each religion shows that it only takes one sin, which is an act of disobeying God's law, to separate man from a perfect God, placing him in need of redemption and salvation.

The External: Moving on to the external consequences, such competitive displays of religious 'affection' hurt all of us directly and indirectly. Lives are lost, livelyhoods are lost, homes are broken, we lose the people we love, we lose the life we love. The fabric of the society is destroyed. The fabric of the nation is destroyed. The work of many is undone. Opportunities are created for internal and external enemies to rip our society and nation apart, and feast on the spoils. In short, our Future is lost.

Please note that this is not a call to condone all those wretched individuals who create scenarios hurting the sanctity of religions and who transgress all decency in vandalizing religious symbols.

Rather, it is a call to all the rest of the people to react appropriately and in a civilized manner, to such purposeful provocative acts - because, if we behave like the provocators, how different or better are we from them? While the essence of true religion will not condone their acts, nor will it ever condone ours, if we behave like them.

It is a call for all of us to remember that the faith, in which we believe, has borne the brunt of ages and still remained strong - and a mere few words or images of indiscretion will not harm it even a bit.

It is a call to all of us to remember what our religion truely stands for - tolerance, peace, unity, faith - and act accordingly.

It is a call for all of us to wake up now or be doomed in the eyes of God forever.