Yesterday i was watching NDTV and the ongoing debate on We The people was about whether Vande Mataram should be made mandatory. One gentleman put forth the view that nationalism should not be forced, and children should be made to sing it only if the feeling of patriotism comes from within. Very well, but the thought that came to me was what about forced religion?
If we can support the ideology that nationalism should not be forced, what kind of discretion are we given to choose our religion? Why a child is necessarily labeled as a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Christian as soon as he or she is born? Why can't we let them be 18 and then decide which religion they wish to follow, if at all? Did Ram or Allah or Christ decree that every child inherit the religion of their parents? May be so, but may we ask, why? I am a Hindu because my parents are Hindu, they are Hindu, because their parents were Hindu, and so it has been for no one knows how many generations. Was everyone in the hierarchy an ardent Hindu? Am i a true Hindu? What do i do in my capacity as a Hindu?
When we have the freedom of thought, of choosing the kind of education and profession we want, the kind of people we wish to meet, why do we have to follow the religion that our forefathers chose? Do we listen to the same music that they listened to? Are our daily routines the same as theirs? Often, when a child asks his parents why a particular thing is being done the way it is being done, he gets the answer, 'shaastron mein aisa likha hai' or 'Humara mazhab ye kehta hai'. Well, were those texts written in today’s context? And have we decided on our own to follow that text? Sure enough, these texts are very rich and have wonderful teachings, lessons, examples and beliefs. And I believe a religion is never about any god, but about the set of beliefs it preaches, the gods merely symbolize and exemplify a set of values, and all these originate in certain texts. But today, majority of the people who are said to belong to a particular religion have not even read these texts. Had it not been for Ramanand Sagar and others who recreated the magic of holy epics vividly on screen, our knowledge about them would have been even more limited. That we still call ourselves belonging to that religion is not just a misnomer, but a blasphemy to the religion itself.
Sure enough one can argue that one has the freedom to convert if they are inclined towards another religion, but few take that path. Doesn't it still mean belittling the religion you were born in? And what if a person wants to be just religion less? Why is it necessary to have a religion at all? The way we are asked, 'do you read newspapers?' before being asked, 'which newspaper do you read?' may be we should ask a person, 'do you follow any religion?' before asking them 'which religion do you belong to?'
My main point remains that if it is a matter of choice to love the land where we were born, whose culture we adopt, whose institutions we study in; a matter of choice to respect the country from which we give and take so much, why is it not a matter of choice to belong to a particular religion, when people are fighting over it day in and day out, and the greatest contribution we have seen it make to our country is communal tension?
Does anyone remember a very old Hindi movie song... 'Na Hindu banega na musalmaan banega, insaan ki aulaad hai insaan banega'... I wish we imbibe this feeling in the young minds of India.
17 comments:
Yes, Allah did decree which religion everyone, including you have to follow. There is only one true Religion - Islam.
If a Muslim child at becoming 18 decides not to follow Islam, he is apostate to be killed by Muslims.
Gawd! This anonymous comment'or is d craziest brain I would ever think of...This is d problem with Islam, of being so hardcore
Gawd! This anonymous comment'or is d craziest brain I would ever think of...This is d problem with Islam, of being so hardcore
Shweta I have little to say about ur post. If u go to a western country u might find many people who are christians and the only time they have ever visited a church was when they were baptised to the extent that they didnt even know the mass timings on Sunday. Dear, its all a matter of choice I am a Hindu but the only time I visit any temple is on festivals that too they have to push me, my parents or friends.
The whole concept of patriotism and country is over rated.
I really wish it were as simple as reading a newspaper or not reading it.
You dont get stabbed 17 times for reading a newspaper or an entire city is not set to fire by fanatic newspaper supporters for not believing in thier daily dose of BULL ****.
Religion though is a diffrent, apparently serious ball game ...You must be killed if you are a believer in god but not in "MY GOD".
So, is the case of nationalism is it not stupid to kill a guy because he lives on the other side of some imaginary line that divides land??
Nationalism seems noble coz it is the most self less form of being most selfish.You are supposed to love your country and sing songs for it where as I believe half the population shud not sing at all if they like their country or country men.
Confused Contribution from
Unnamed feeling
“Why a child is necessarily labeled as a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Christian as soon as he or she is born?” That is a very good question.
If the whole world is ready to follow what you wrote, this world will be heaven on earth. But you know that it will not happen. World history is filled with wars in the name of personal God and personal religion.
Precious human blood is spilled all over world histroy in the name of a “loving, compassionate God.” Hinduism is a culture with many religions in it.
Unlike all other cultures and religions, Hinduism does not convert people from other religions. A Hindu is born and not converted.
At the same time, literally speaking, anyone who search after truth is automatically a Hindu, since Hinduism is the relentless search after truth. As such A Jew, a Christian, a Moslem, a Jain or a Sikh who search after truth is automatically a Hindu. Even an atheist who searches after truth is a Hindu.
"FREEDOM OF THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS." That what interests me most in Hinduism. Freedom to say or do anything we want. Voltaire in Essay on Tolerance wrote: “I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it.” To me, Hinduism is the symbolic representation of what Voltaire wrote.
hey i liked that topic of debate and the way u have percieved it.ur scenario !
its wrth pondering over
fantastic article....echoes my own thoughts...we all need to take this religion affair a bit less seriously n more rationally...after all religion is nothin more than an inbuilt necessity of humans to believe in somethin that is invisible or supposedly more powerful than themselves...gr8 article once again
one last thing...
let it be known, so there is no devious devilish lies here...
when guru nanak dev ji went to mecca he had to do so in disguise, because he knew of the evil bigotory of islam, that still exists today, saying non mohammedins can not go there..
but anyway once he got there, he laydown to pray but pointed his feet towards kabbah. The gaurds were infuriated, and told him to move his feet or else feel the wrath of mohammed.
so he said to them, move my feet to where god is not?
they moved his feet, and to their amazement the kabbah moved too...the gaurds were shocked, in fear and realised the error of their ways, and converted to Sikhism...
even now muslims no when they do bad, but they would rather follow mohammed than allah.
we know that islam is not sent by god as science disproves it. Adam & eve is against science (and therefore god). Science has also proved the unholy acts of having intercourse with your first cousin to be dangerous and very bad for your children. This is a selfish act, that i refuse to believe god would approve of, as selfishness is not a good trait in sikhi. sadly mohammed phuh also commited this act
Also you must look at the character of the individual. mohammed Pbuh was a known womaniser this according to islams own hadiths. We also know through the same sources that he had intercourse with a 9 year old girl. This to me is not the act of a true prophet, but perhaps my standards are too high. if indeed the hadiths are wrong then none of it can be trusted as truth. Which only leaves the quran, which many agree is pretty much n o good without hadiths as hadiths give it chronological context
Also islams own people (jews & christian) reject it. sikhi was not a simple add on to other existing religions as islam is. guru nanak ji was very clear on this when he said there is no hindu, there is no muslim, only man. mohammed pbuh appears to have taken advantage of existing religions for his own gains (at least thats what the jewish & christian people believe).
we also see a lot of inequality in islam. women can not make religious rulings, and for centuries it has only been interpreted by chauvanistic men. therefore even if the quran was true (which it is not ) there is only half a religion as the female perspective is not taken. in sikhi there is NOT ONE rule that differentiates between man and woman. Sikhi as a religion is totally absorbed in god, islam seems to half religion, and half social ideology. whereby women have such rules as being banished to their houses until they die, should they exhibit lewd behaviur (this is in their religious textas).
there are countless difference between sikhi and islam, sadly the differences are the bad things in islam. but we must all remember that a massive percentage of islam is also good, infact exactly the same as christianity & jewdism. i would like to know what i can gain by converting to islam. i dont mean something like, you will go to heaven. (as a sikh my only incentive is to be with god, i do not want or desire virgins, or markets where i can have intercourse with women like mohammed pbuh stated in his scriptures)
what i mean is sikhi teaches me all good things to do, and to worship only god. how can i then go from god and say actually no i must atest to mohammed to , (a man) in order to get to 'heaven'. who is this mortal man that wants to have equal rights to god in order for someone to get to 'heaven'. It is not right. so what extras can islam give me?
fasting - ? this is not good for your health, doctors will tell you this and is forbidden in sikhi
forced circumcision of children? - this is a violent act and i believe that god is perfect creator of man. i do not want to re-do his work as though i or abraham (pbuh) know better than god.
to have the ability to have more than wife or to have my first cousin - these are not positive things.
to worship a rock/kabbah ? sikhi teaches to stay away from pilgrimages and false idolisation yet this is one of 5 most important things in islam.
To have more control over my woman (such as she can not travel without male company over so many hours)
to kill animals so that they are fully concious, that is rule of halal but i do not want to deliberately make animal distress.
so you see i have nothing positive to gain from islam compared to sikhi, i have only bad.
tell me one other religion that is so entrenched in violence murder and rape than islam is.
This is not a new western media problem, as the strategic operatives of islam now try to claim. Anyone who speaks to us from the east, will tell you that rape murder and torture were the primary tool to spread islam for almost 1400 years now. the west has not needed to open its eyes to islam. but now as the dark forces of mohammed hit the western countries, you are confused as you welcomed the muslims in with open arms. we in the east know that they are not to be trusted, and in the past only the sword has kept them in their place.
If you allow islam to be free in a non muslim country it will only cause murder and mayhem...that is what history shows as Fact
woaahhh...one hellaa of an article and equally xplosive comments....i muss say...
i would like to add coupleaa things..
1)If the person who has posted the first comment ever happens to see this blog again..pllz...contact me at catcharief@gmail.com. I think if i can take care of one guy like u...my mission on this planet wud be half done... :)
2)PPl who react to the statements..of such an xtremist...also play an equal role in polarizing the society.
The article speaks volumes about the intellectuality of the author...but wat matters is whether they r mere opinions of an intellectual mind r beliefs...of some one who can stand by her ideas.
Achilles,
I agree with both ur points, hence the reason i never replied to any comment on this post. I had already said what i wanted to.
But since you have raised a valid question, i have to agree that even though i have no ambiguious feelings about anything i wrote in here, when it comes to sensitive actions in the society we live in, i am not sure how i'll react.
I might be the coward mouse that most people are, or might be a born-in-a-moment braveheart. Just can't be sure.
In this respect, i love the climax of the book 'Train to Pakistan'. Do read it if you haven't. That also has an additional advantage... you get to know WHY Khushwant Singh EVER became famous in the first place.
i soooo agree with the person below me
Yes, Allah did decree which religion everyone, including you have to follow.
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