Sometimes I wonder who the right Muslim is. Is it the extremist suicide bomber or is it the moderate peace-lover? Who is the true Christian? Is it the traditional Roman Catholic or is it the radical Pentecostal? Which god is truly out there? Is he the Christian, Muslim or Hindu God? Have modernity and science helped us to discover true religion in Scientology or have they diverted us from true religion? Does all this matter if there is no God anyway? How do atheists manage to live without a conviction of any sort? Is faith tangible? Does science really explain everything? Why are the vicious and irrational religions identified as cults and yet they merely exercise their faith, just like the diplomatic religions? Are all religions accurate but basically different channels to the same destination? Or is there a solitary faith that people continue ignoring yet it’s the only true religion? Is it fair to pass religious laws on a free society like some states do? Should someone’s actions be judged according to the religion they follow or must it be leveled justice for everyone? Now, I can assure you that Even if you gathered all religious leaders, scientists and politicians for a debate on the above questions, you may never get a straight answer. Let me make this a little personal. What do you believe? Do you take it seriously? Why do you believe what you believe? Why don’t you believe the other? Has what you believe changed you significantly or have you changed it significantly to suit your lifestyle? According to my private research, I have noted that officially accepted religions in contemporary society are those that advocate for peace, love, togetherness and charity. I’ll ask again, are you doing any of those? Are you in for humanity just as your religion preaches?Personally, I may be prejudiced towards anyone trying to preach to me a religion that is different from mine. People naturally resent, some are even aggressive towards other religions. Even as we exalt our different beliefs however, I believe much can be accomplished from learning how to tolerate each other. In uncomplicated terms, we can live peacefully if Christians keep believing that hell is meant for the sinners and unbelievers, but don’t overlook their duties of unprejudiced giving, love and peacefulness. This would doubtlessly reduce the resentment they get from other religions that accuse them of being too judgmental. On the other hand, Muslims can keep believing that all non-Muslims are kafir but instead of hostility and disgust, practice co-existence with the other religions. This is certainly one bite bigger than the throat but isn’t it worth the try? From the young times to our modern dotcom, religion has been viewed as a unify factor. It has been endorsed by leaders assuming that it will help to bring stability and peacefulness to the population. Regrettably though, as early as the 17th Century, Muslims were being persecuted in the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great while Christianity is considered historically as the most persecuted religion of all time. They were being persecuted as early as the 1st century during the era of Emperor Nemo (64-68 A.D) of the Roman Empire. To make things worse now, some religions have forsaken their call for peacefulness and have employed horrible arts of warfare like suicide bombing and terrorism. As the world gets more insecure, religion instead of offering a serene solution has become yet crueler. The so-called socially accepted civilized religions have led to the death of more people than all cults combined. Apparently, this can be credited to the believers’ lack of knowledge about what they believe. Most ignorant followers are attracted by violent assemblies which hurriedly believe in an altered or wrongly misinterpreted doggerel of a holy book. The leaders of such mobs frequently alter the messages deliberately just to have their political purposes aided by badly informed followers. In the end we discover that, religion in itself is not violent, but the followers are. That however doesn’t make sense. How can religion be peaceful and the follower violent? It’s either that the follower is intentionally failing to pursue the peaceful philosophy of his religion or that he is plainly naïve of what it preaches. For that reason, I can conclude that a true follower is a peaceful one. As an individual therefore, do you know what you believe? Do you personally study what you believe or do you merely pay allegiance to what others tell you? mugishaivan@yahoo.com
