This post is specifically for all those who firmly believe my religion is better than yours. Unfortunately, they are the very people who wouldn’t read it with an open mind & naturally it’s not possible to grasp the meaning. But here it goes:
“History has blessed mankind with the wisest of teachers, profoundly enlightened souls whose understanding of the spiritual & mental mysteries exceeded all understanding. The precious words of the Adepts – Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster, & countless others – had been transmitted through history in the oldest & most precious of vessels.
Books.
Every culture on earth had its own sacred book – its own Word – each one different & yet each one the same. For Christians, the Word was Bible, for Muslims the Koran, for Jews the Torah, for Hindus the Vedas, & on & on it went.”
Dan Brown
(The Lost Symbol)
As far as I’ve been able to understand, I think we are supposed to respect every religion. It’s clearly written in the Quran that there is no compulsion in Islam. However, I think interpretation of any sacred book is a difficult matter. You could take the meaning literally or you could look at it with an open mind. It’s your choice. In fact when you go into depth, you realize that it has layers of meanings. You can’t even blame those who are committing hate crimes owing to their religious beliefs. But nevertheless what is unacceptable is how these devilish creatures incite hatred in the name of religion.
I don’t think God would ever want humans to persecute & torture other beings in any way. And by ‘beings,’ I mean both humans & animals. It’s the myopic understanding of closed minds that they have the right to kill & torture others. Moreover, how some people protest against extremists these days by taking off their clothes is laughable. But then again people even discriminate amongst themselves on the basis of castes & sects. It’s all very grim.
However, spreading the message of peace is never out of reach. If you truly respect yourself, you will also respect others without saying ‘respect has to be earned.’ If you think you are the only one who loves & respects his religion, you must bear in mind that the other person may also feel the same way about his religion. And you don’t have the right to prove him wrong, because he could apply the same logic on what you believe & prove you wrong.
And we don’t need to prove anything now. We need a better world.
“History has blessed mankind with the wisest of teachers, profoundly enlightened souls whose understanding of the spiritual & mental mysteries exceeded all understanding. The precious words of the Adepts – Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster, & countless others – had been transmitted through history in the oldest & most precious of vessels.
Books.
Every culture on earth had its own sacred book – its own Word – each one different & yet each one the same. For Christians, the Word was Bible, for Muslims the Koran, for Jews the Torah, for Hindus the Vedas, & on & on it went.”
Dan Brown
(The Lost Symbol)
As far as I’ve been able to understand, I think we are supposed to respect every religion. It’s clearly written in the Quran that there is no compulsion in Islam. However, I think interpretation of any sacred book is a difficult matter. You could take the meaning literally or you could look at it with an open mind. It’s your choice. In fact when you go into depth, you realize that it has layers of meanings. You can’t even blame those who are committing hate crimes owing to their religious beliefs. But nevertheless what is unacceptable is how these devilish creatures incite hatred in the name of religion.
I don’t think God would ever want humans to persecute & torture other beings in any way. And by ‘beings,’ I mean both humans & animals. It’s the myopic understanding of closed minds that they have the right to kill & torture others. Moreover, how some people protest against extremists these days by taking off their clothes is laughable. But then again people even discriminate amongst themselves on the basis of castes & sects. It’s all very grim.
However, spreading the message of peace is never out of reach. If you truly respect yourself, you will also respect others without saying ‘respect has to be earned.’ If you think you are the only one who loves & respects his religion, you must bear in mind that the other person may also feel the same way about his religion. And you don’t have the right to prove him wrong, because he could apply the same logic on what you believe & prove you wrong.
And we don’t need to prove anything now. We need a better world.
