1. I have mentioned how a religion can be used as opium. Time is changing. But there was a time when a hindu widow would not get married even if she could have been asked to. No force was needed to refrain her from marrying after her husband's death. Opium in the form of religion was enough. The social training that she has received in her childhood is strong enough for her to reamain bachelor for rest of her life. But if some one does it consciously with a noble objective in life, that is a different thing. Restraint and asceticism can also be virtues sometimes.
2. I am not religious at all. But I am happily living among the believers---my wife, close relatives, friends, colleagues, and many others. The problem is: the vested interest groups. They can be politicians or leaders of other groups. He can even be a petty village leader.
3. Religious wars are not rare in history. But these were not purely religious. These were matters of power struggle (between papacy and monarchs) and business interests. During the Crusades a large numbers of Jews were massacred. Their property was looted and many were forcibly baptized. "The Jews, before the Crusades, had almost a monopoly of the trade in Eastern goods throughout Europe; after the Crusades, as a result of the persecution of Jews, this trade was largely in Christian hands." (Russell)
4. Human loss due to non-religious reasons far exceeds that due to religious wars or clashes. WW II is a vivid example.
4. I unhesitatingly agree with you that common people are not communal and they have no religious hatred.
From: qar <qrahman@netscape.net>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, April 1, 2012 5:02 AM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] FW:» Sangareddy-The Anti-Muslim state patronized targeting of Muslims
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, April 1, 2012 5:02 AM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] FW:» Sangareddy-The Anti-Muslim state patronized targeting of Muslims
I know many will now come forward to defend religion by saying that it is not fault of the religion; it is the fault of the people. I will say to them - you have no clue what you are talking about; religions have divided the human-community into different sects, and there will be always fight among them for their turfs.
Jiten Roy
Personally I was fortunate enough to see good side of religions and I am well aware what some fanatics and opportunists are capable of. I have seen very pious Muslims offering help to helpless Hindus in Bangladesh. As I said earlier that there are good people and bad people in every groups.
Blaming religion is a very simplistic approach and often less than accurate.
In Christian tradition religion was abused by the "Establishment" too long and anti-religion (Mostly anti-Christian) feeling is very strong in western culture. It has been my observation that some of us simply follow these anti-religious movements without understanding how it started and which religion it is talking about.
In many occasions my wife had to explain to people that, I never "Forced" her into wearing hijab. In fact she was wearing it BEFORE I met her!!
We are sum total of our life experiences and the world is a much bigger place than the path our individual lives took. So when we listen to each other and entertain different points of views, we enrich ourselves. I have spent many hours discussing religion and other topics with people who are VERY different than me. In the process I was challenged over and over. At the end all of our heated discussions made me a better person. A person who was exposed to different opinions and different world views.
Most Indians are like rest of us. There are good and bad among them. I'll say the same about Pakistanis, Americans and even Israelis. The Qur'an itself said this fact more than once.
Yes religion was ABused to oppress people. No doubt about it. The western slavery system had some creative inspirations from the Bible but blaming the bible for slavery would be wrong. Greedy people abused the Bible to get slaves for themselves. That is the fact of life.
Despite democratic institutions and high level of education, India is not a very old country (Old culture but relatively new country). The concept of modern India was given by it's Muslim rulers. So it will take some time for mainstream Indians to figure out a national value system which will be followed by mainstream. India has some very good laws in the books but you cannot rule hearts with law. It needs leaders like Ghandhi, Muhammad (PBUH), Mandela etc.
Situation in Bangladesh is similar. Most people are not intolerant of Hindus or Christians. However recently shared information proved to us that, leading political parties abuse Hindus and Islam whenever it suits their POLITICAL goals. As per Qur'an it is a great SIN to harm innocent people and we know many Muslims ignore that order of the Qur'an blinded by worldly greed. Greed, jealousy, hate have been part of human history for thousands of years. For most people religion works as a shield against such vices. When we take this positive aspect of religion, we can enjoy religion more. Islam clearly spoke about such people who abuse religion for self-interest.
- Hadith Qudsi 6:
- On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [ The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I fought for you until I died a martyr. He will say: You have lied - you did but fight that it might be said [of you]: He is courageous. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.
- Another] will be a man who has studied [religious] knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to his His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I studied [religious] knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake. He will say: You have lied - you did but study [religious] knowledge that it might be said [of you]: He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said [of you]: He is a reciter. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.
- [Another] will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known to his His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I left no path [untrodden] in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake. He will say: You have lied - you did but do so that it might be said [of you]: He is open-handed. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.
- It was related by Muslim (also by at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i).
-----Original Message----- From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com> To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sun, Apr 1, 2012 3:17 am Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] FW:» Sangareddy-The Anti-Muslim state patronized targeting of Muslims
This is what bloody religions have given us. You need to be a religious minority in any country to understand what I am talking about. I know many will now come forward to defend religion by saying that it is not fault of the religion; it is the fault of the people. I will say to them - you have no clue what you are talking about; religions have divided the human-community into different sects, and there will be always fight among them for their turfs. Jiten Roy
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