One of the most controversial parts of the human civilization, religion has dug it’s roots into the soil of the Earth. The phrase “Either you love it or hate it” could not be more true to religion.
We live in a world where religion has become either the cause or solution to our problems, penetrating our lives in every way possible. We are all affected by religion in some way or another. Either we go to church every Sunday, fall to our knees or bow our heads to a Godly statue. Some live under religious authority, while others have friends who politely say no when the pork chops come their way, and then there are those with the purity rings.
It is not surprising, however, that religion has got a flawed image. It seems that religion has, to many, become a pure, unprocessed core of evil and violence, preaching hatred and racism. Religion to many is a teacher of fear, disillusionment and fiction, giving humans a reason to never explain their actions.
And this is not recent.
Opposers of religion point towards the past where religion has been responsible for blood being spilled. From the Crusaders to 9/11 and beyond, it is no mystery that religion has become the bully of the class.
And like any bully, the class tries to either throw it out or silence it.
The tragedy of religion is that the entire meaning of it has been lost, not because of flaws in it’s ideology, but because of those who preach it.
Humans are the sole criminals when it comes to the question of religion.
Religion is dangerous. Yes, there, I said it. It is dangerous simply because it can be manipulated and abused for personal benefit, and personal brain wash. But it is not dangerous in itself, it is dangerous because it is read, interpreted, practiced and followed by the ever so complex creation- The Human. Humans will do anything to prove their belief, because it lies within the human nature to be power-hungry and ego-boosting. And in this process, the people of religion will forget everything their religion stands for, and to prove themselves correct, they will pick out parts of their religion, tear it out of context and then wrongfully use it to support their clearly out of line thoughts.
Let me give you an example.
You are a parent, and you have an important meeting to get to. You leave a note on the fridge, saying;
“You can eat candy, after you have eaten your dinner”
Your child comes home, and sees the note. He is happy and eats the candy.
You come home, only to find the dinner you left for your child untouched and all of the candy gone. Angry, you confront your child and demand an explanation. The child says,;
“Well, you did tell me that I can eat candy”.
Only problem? The kid didn’t store the next half of the sentence. He read and stored what he thought was best.
That same problem can be applied to religion. People read the Holy Scriptures, but at the same time, don’t. They read what they want to read and base their preaching on the parts that appeal to them, without putting that specific verse in context with the whole message of the religion.
One example can be from the Quran. There is a verse that goes something in the line of, “Oh ye who believe! Befriend not my enemies”. Now, some Imams use this as a “proof” that Muslims are not allowed to befriend any who do not believe in God, Jews, Christians… basically all non- Muslims. And this is the part where the Muslim population go crazy, because hey! WE CANT MAKE FRIENDS WITH NON-MUSLIMS ANYMORE!
But what Muslims don’t read are the very next verses, where it’s stated that it only applies to those who throw you out of your homes and chase you out of the lands, and a Muslims should not be short on kindness, because God loves those who show kindness.
As if I would befriend the guy who throws me out of my own house because of my religion.
But you see the point don’t you? The same can be applied to the concept of polygamy. Every man knows the polygamy verse and are quick to defend it. But no man, at least not many, know that it the next few verses and in additional writings, it is advised that you do not marry more than one woman as God knows you can’t treat all equal, which is a law, a rule and a right. A woman can get divorced simply on the basis of unequal love from a husband (then again, a woman in Islam should, in theory, be allowed to divorce a man if she states that her sexual needs are not being satisfied by her husband) Now, of course, one can argue “why allow something and then not-allow it in the same verse?”. That is a heated and deep discussion which might just pop up here on my blog someday…
The problem with religion is that the advocates of it rarely have a clue about what they are talking about. No seriously, no joke.
I’ve been interested in many anti-Islam books. Not necessarily because I particularly like being called an ignorant fool with no sense of right and wrong., but because it enables me to see the same issue from both sides. Often culture and tradition plays a role in religious people, and unfortunately for the observer, there seems no difference. You have girls not being allowed to go to school, honor killings, forced marriages all in the name of Islam when all of those things have strictly been forbidden and deemed as haram. Tragic, isn’t it?
The media is also guilty to much of an extant. A racist, fire-blazing priest is far, far more interesting (apparently) than a small town imam talking about women rights. This is due to the fundamental structure of journalism- As a journalist once wrote, “Dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is”.
The news broadcasters make sure that we hear of all the gay-hating priests, terrorism loving imams and women oppressing religious governments. But rarely do you hear of religious advocates who speak the truth in the most beautiful manner. Not saying that there aren’t any, but saying that there are plenty, they are just shoved under the rug, which is why it makes matters more dull.
Another important thing to point out is that disillusion, which means to be a synonym of religion for many, usually comes after passionate. Disillusion comes when you fear that your right to be a religious person is being taken away from you, so you do everything in your power to prevent it. It seems that a lot of religious people have, with good reason, gone into a self defence mode.
Parents tighten the family rules and governments impose unnecessary laws in the fear that the “others” are trying to change their religion and their lifestyle. Taking the Islamic world as an example, no surprise that this is happening. The West seems to impose their values, their traditions, their laws and regulations upon the Islamic nations (while not wanting anything un-Western impose upon themselves), and thus, the entire Muslim population has put up shields to protect itself, doing things that are un-Islamic.
And this doesn’t stop here, terrorists use Islam and the “stand up for Islam” message in the Quran as an excuse to blow themselves up. But it is not only for Islam they do this, they do it for all the Muslim countries that have been torn apart by the hands of the West and the countries on the hit list. It is human nature to defend one self, and when you have religion as a back-up support it makes everything much easier.
The real tragedy is that while protecting itself, the Muslim world has forgotten that religion cannot and must not, as stated in the Quran, be enforced. It is important that while standing up and defending your religion, you should not break the laws of your religion.
What religion needs now, in what seems a world where religion is becoming useless, is to find and bring forth advocates whom bring out the essential message of religion.
There is a story of Muhammad (s.a.w) who had garbage thrown on him by the same woman, while he passed underneath her window. He didn’t change his route, and everyday, when she saw him walking by, she would empty her garbage upon him. Then one day, Muhammad noticed that there was no garbage thrown on him. Days went by and he asked about the woman. Someone told him that she had fallen ill. Muhammed did something that I would never think of doing. He went to her. She got afraid of what he might do to her, but instead of laughing at her, he started to take care of her. He would make sure she was fed, made sure she was feeling alright and helped her around the house. She eventually converted (or as the story goes) but thats not the point. The point is where are such advocates?
Heck, I know, I would have gone to the woman and probably given her a whole lecture about how she deserved it. Seriously, and this story, to some which may or may not be true, is my inspiration and it is my ideal goal. That is the kind of person I want to be. Ok, maybe I’ll swear at the bitch who tries to throw shit at me, but to bring yourself above that level and prove that you are a decent and amazing human being. To love someone thought they might hate you, to be calm and to be a better human than those who store hate is the true essence of religion.
So where does religion stand today? Teacher or bully? Or both, or something entirely different?
That my friend, I will leave for you to decide.
Until next time,
Mamashaal (( desi diva ))
