1. There is a problem in negating (throwing away) some thing in it's entirety. We need to make sure that we do not throw away the baby along with the dirty water in the bath tub. Aristotle was a great believer in slavery. To him men were superior to women. It would be insane to stop reading or banning Aristotle. Here I want to give an extreme example which is Manusanhita. It would be foolish to ban it as because this "holy book" by an ancient Indian sage preached how barbarically women should be treated. It would be foolish to ban it; as by doing this we will simply deprive ourselves of the opportunity of knowing about ancient Indian societies. The Geeta apparently taught killing of close relatives by using Bhagwan Krishna's own mouth. But the background (the entire story of the Mahabharata) and the discourse and the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna inspire many to interpret in a way that goes beyond the psychology of mortal killings. I have never seen a Hindu who has been inspired by the teachings of the Geeta to kill his cousins for reasons whatsoever. Yes, a jingoistic Hindu or Hindu organization may use these teachings as a religious duty. If that happens, we have to acknowledge that the Hindu society is being dominated by fundamentalist and fanatic Hindu zealots. This has to be countered culturally and politically, not by banning or stopping quoting from the Geeta. Although there is always a risk factor is involved, but that's how it should be.
2. I also agree that it is not easy to directly attack a religion or a "holy" book as it is believed to have been revealed from the divine authorities to a godly person, and as such it is most perfect, eternal, and infallible. It is a matter of faith which sometimes cannot be explained with logic and reason. Taken many teachings literally makes it impossible to be time tested. If the society is not ready to discard those teachings, they have to be reinterpreted in the light of the changing circumstances and made universally acceptable. That is the practice of the believers at higher levels. To them religion mostly quenches their spiritual thirst. People courageous enough to challenge the so called divine authorities do not hesitate to vehemently criticize and discard religion. I have read somewhere that Thomas Jefferson rewrote the Bible (?) Those who have watched Deepa Mehta's Water have seen the two quotes on the screen---one from Manusanhita and just below it another one by Gandhi completely defying the one above it, not directly though and avoiding a direct clash with an edict from an ancient sage.
3. I personally welcome those courageous people who will challenge the religious teachings. But if time is not ripe and society is not ready, by showing this courage one will isolate himself from the society. In this way we will lose a brave soldier who could potentially contribute to reforming religion. Taslima is a good example. Salman Rushdie is another.
4. I agree that Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer's viewpoints are one-sided and not balanced. He sees conspiracy theories in the way Islam is talked about in media. But he does not clearly mention (in passing he simply alludes to a tiny fraction not mentioning how powerful this tiny fraction is and on what they depend for justifying those activties) that these so called conspiracy theories thrive on all the heinous activities (take only one example--sectarian killings) being carried out by Islamic zealots.
From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury's column-Fair view
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury's column-Fair view
@QRahman: You said there is violence in all religious scriptures, and I accepted your argument. You have cited an example from Bhagbot-Gita about the premise of the Kurukhetra war, which I accepted also. I can go one step further from you, and that is - the premise of that war is not convincing to me, and I have argued about it with many Hindus. I also know - there are violent statements in Bible also. My argument is why should we quote or praise something that contains violent verses? Mr. Rahman, how many times have you seen quotes from Bible or Bhagbot-Gita in this forum? Perhaps rarely, if ever. Religion is a personal matter, and it should not infringe upon others' religious freedom. You, Mr. S. A. Hannan, Mr. Ashgor Ali, etc., perhaps don't see that way. The bottom line is – this is the Mukto-mona discussion forum, and you have the right to quote from anything you want, and we have the right to criticize them, as I did in my last post. When you post something in this forum, you should anticipate some counter-points. I still think, it is not appropriate to put religious books or verses on trial here. That's why I asked you to stop quoting from Quran. However, I still think you are a good sport, unlike many others. Thanks.
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