“It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others’ religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world’s religions is a sacred duty.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
It’s hard for me to believe that the Lord’s name can be used to kill someone. We usually use the name of the Lord to love, nothing more.
I have heard about murders taking place in Hare Krishna temples, sex scandals committed by orange-clad Swamis and Catholic priests, and as the Paris shootings indicate, the blessing of God taken to kill those who make a mockery of the Lord himself.
I have nothing against any religion. We should all have the liberty to practice whatever faith we want , whether we are born into it or not. We have the right to worship anything that represents the Divine such as a book, idol or light. It doesn’t matter what perspective you look at the world from – all angles of religion are valid. This is the way religion is designed.
The fine line between using the name of the Lord to spread a faith or convert people to a particular form of ideology is however something that begs the question of a just act. Does the doctrine of religion allow us to use force to convert others to our way of thinking? Furthermore, is Himsa (violence) a means to justify others non-conformity to our way of thinking?
The larger question is – what is a “just act” when it comes to spreading religion? Now, I am not an expert in religion or even theological history, but the premise of my position is to question whether an action to spread a particular religion using the act to kill others carries any weight whatsoever.
My personal observation about religion, is that there are two core aspects:
- Doctrine: these are specific scriptures written to lay out the premise of the religion such as the Koran, Bible, Bhagavad Gita, Torah, etc.
- Rituals: these are practices and specific actions that define us belonging to a religion such as non-cutting of hair for certain Sikhs, burning of incense, reciting of prayer and hymns, kirtan, chanting, etc.
Tied to religion may be Philosophy, which is realized from the underlying tenet of Being or self-reflection. In the simple definition this is “spirituality” and is about contemplation, mindfulness, and ultimately thoughtlessness that is intended to drive us towards inner Joy.
The issue we are having today is that relative interpretation can be used over one or both aspects of religion. It’s the misinterpretations of doctrine and rituals that are creating a world of confusion.
Today, we can twist and turn anything written or accepted in the past and make it our own “way of life”. If we want to take existing doctrine we can interpret the words any way that we want and create a following.
As I look at what has been misinterpreted over time there is only one thing that comes into play – where does the truth reside? Many will say that to create good, non-violence is necessary. However there are thousands out there that say that the achievement of good can only be accomplished through violence.
I personally don’t even want to argue with this point. I am sure given people’s ability to reason that they would think killing others to spread good is a just act. I say that killing another human is one of the worst things a human being can do to impede their process of self-betterment. In the end, no good can be achieved by killing others.
This is not about being a better Muslim, better Hindu, better Jew, or better Christian. This is about being a better Human Being and in many cases this has no nothing to do with religious association.
Make one of your goals to understand another’s religion better then yours so you can help those that are using the misinterpretations of doctrine and rituals to harm others in their religion realize the good that their religion is intended to achieve.
Learning about another religion will not convert you but give you the necessary tools to make others be better practitioners of their religion where there may be limited or misdirected interpretation.
The only way to win the war against those using the misinterpretations of a religion to kill others is to deeply understand the good and righteous tenets of the religion to show that you know the greater good that the religion teaches – and to use this knowledge for not only your betterment as a human but to make better religious followers of those creating violence.