I agree hundred percent with the author's sentiments. It is so sad and so extremely ironic. Every religion proclaims to teach it's followers love, affection, goodness and other noble virtues but what do we see in practice? People hating each other, killing each other? It means that our religious leaders have completely failed in their proclaimed duties. They are themselves in the news for all the wrong reasons like murder, swindling, rape etc.

I feel we have been very callous with our religions. We care two hoots for our religions. Angry? Well look at it this way. We care for our homes and family. If we are going out of station and we have to entrust the safety of home and family to a stranger, we will do everything possible to go into the persons background, we may even inform the local police station of the arrangement. Then while we are away we will ring home every now and then to ensure everyone is safe.

Coming to religion, which we proclaim is closest to our hearts, we have entrusted it to people with no decent education, no background of selfless service, often we do not care about their background too. We see an unknown man dressed like a sadhu, priest or mullah and we think he is our bridge to God. For heavens sake!!! He may be a criminal!!! Do we invest any time and energy to find out his background? No.

We have seen so many natural calamities recently. How many sadhus, priests or mullahs were on the fore front lifting decomposing bodies, distributing food, caring for the homeless? Hardly any. Personally I saw none. But come an opportunity to slaughter people in the name of religion many sadhus, priests and mullahs can be seen instigating people and leading frenzied mobs. Your religion is under threat!!! Your God is under threat!!! No one stops to ask them "Where were you when my life was under threat facing an earthquake, tsunami, cyclone or a tornado?"

If we care for our religion we must have religious leaders like Mother Teresa leading us. Mother Teresa lifted lepers with her own hands, she worked with slum dwellers. In fact a system must be developed through which educated people who have done outstanding social service work for decades and have an impeccable record are elevated to the positions of religious leaders. If we do not care, can we say we are even remotely religious? If we are not even remotely religious, what do we keep fighting and killing for?

As a civilized society, either we take care of our religions or ban them. In the present form, they do far more visible harm than good. Many may debate that the goodness we have in us has been installed by our religion. I do not agree. It is our conscience. People who listen to their conscience are good and those who do not are bad. People who do not listen to their conscience, which is the voice of God Himself, will never listen even if most modern day religious gurus said anything good. He may listen if the religious guru himself was a person like Mother Teresa. In fact, if you ask me, religion is not required. God has given each of us a conscience and that compass is enough for the voyage called life. - Raj - Feb. 9, 2006

Mr. Ravi, you have said a 'lakh takey ki baat'. I had advised you to tone down Bihar vikas because some postings alluded that you were personally dishonest and out to rip people off. I do not like anyone to be dragged in mud like this - even myself. However, I got in the mud pit with you because of a five word phrase that I used in a harmless children's story. It was pointed out that I did not know history. I have greyed my hair studying the history of the Indo-Aryan people. I have studied the simple philosophies that predate both Hinduism and Islam - a time when the people speaking the Proto Indo European Language (PIE) spread out all over the world. In Iran archeology keeps popping out of the ground reminding people that their ancestors had a way of life that was very unique and culturally rich.

I encourage all to read a little bit of anthropology / linguistics . A good site may be : http://colfa.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/pie.html Maybe it will whet your curiosity and you will carry my torch further in understanding that we as a people have a shared past and a common destiny.

Present events in the world pain me. Mr. Ravi, you are absolutely right when you say, no one will make an effort to revise their views. That is true especially if people are brought up 'believing' a certain way.

I am not interested in stirring up a controversy. If I draw flak for giving out tidbits of information to enrich the knowledge of our community (example, the names - Kharag Singh, Zulfikar, Shamsher and Saif are synonyms of the word 'sword') then I will have to get in the mud pit to clarify that my interests are academic, not political.

At least from my earlier piece some of you got to learn who King Yazdegerd was. - Aarcee - Feb. 9, 2006

How misleading could one’s thought process be when he terms religion as exclusive gangs. It is a pity that people try to blotch the virtues of religion by citing examples that have nothing to do with religion. If the priests have earned a bad name for child molestation it is not due to the religion they follow. Bible does not teach child molestation. Many centuries ago the Catholics proselytized the Jews even though Catholic teaching that is based off free will, denounces such activities.

Religion be it of any sect or faith has always taught a way of life where violence, hatred, overzealousness have been reprimanded. Quran does not teach its followers to indulge in bloodshed in the name of religion. Neither does it ask its followers to hate people of other religion. It strives for equality among all men. Quoting historic facts to cite barbarism and heresies in the name of religion is superfluous and misleading. Teachings of religion have been twisted by men who proclaim to be its guarders. They are the radicals, extremists and politicians who add their own communal touch for personal gains. The rise of anti-clericalism among the laity during the twelfth century was questioned by the secular for the Church’s “revealed truth”. Ecclesiastical practices then did not have any bearing with the scriptures and a religion was being harmed.

A person who incites hatred for other religion can never justify his own good intentions for his own religion. The heresies that have been performed over centuries in Hinduism are not what Bhagwad Gita advocates; those actions are more attributed to the myths and blind beliefs certain cults chose to follow. Hinduism through Gita has always taught the path of cosmic enrichment, the road to esotericism where you attain different levels of consciousness through initiation. It adheres to Incluvism which preaches tolerance towards other religions. Lord Krishna quotes in Gita – “In whatever way men identify with Me, in the same way do I carry out their desires”. We need to be wary of the individuals who promote their religion as the very best; they are the organized cults that practice Excluvism.

Out of a shade over 6 billion people in this world, 2.1 billion are Christians, 1.3 billion follow Islam and close to a billion follow Hinduism. There are 18 other religions besides the above three. But just like in everything there is an “aberration” to the above with a billion or so atheists, agnostics and the irreligious. All religions operate on common ground that postulate established realism between the natural and the supernatural and advocates the need to elevate our awareness to a higher metaphysical plane that brings us closer to the Almighty. It will be only apposite to chime the post Holocaust bells where its survivors were the most religious of the lot and their strong religious beliefs helped them cope the brutality of war crimes. - Siddharth Verma - Feb. 10, 2006

Mr. Verma contends that religions teach all good things. He objects to my calling them 'exclusive'. He says a lot more. But let me just take him up on these two contentions.

What is in the book is merely ink. It really does not matter as it is in the book. It matters where the rubber meets the road. It matters where and how man uses religion. Man has not used religion the way it is intended to be used. He has used it as a weapon. You have to look at the end result - not what the book says. Take all the wars. Most happened because one group of people did not like another because they worshipped their deity in a different fashion. Why did our pyara India break up into fragments when the British left ? That's where the rubber meets the road. A little more tazurba of life watching innocent women and children slain and maybe it will dawn upon those who still are holding hopes for religion.

Religion may be a delicious fruit, maybe it can reverse ageing, but unfortunately our digestive system is not powerful enough to handle it. We use it to kill each other. You have to look at what is happening at the point of implementation. Go back all over recorded history... you will find the same thing !

Now lets talk about the 'exclusive' part. I would like some one to explain the First commandment to me -"I am God, the only God. You shall not put any other God beside me".

I would also like some one to explain what "La Ilahi il Allah" means. La (Like in Lajawab) means 'No'. Ilahi, of course means God, Il (as in Ilawa) means 'except for'

Regarding the Bhagwad Gita that you quote, pick it up and flick through it. Apart from the 'saar' (summary) all it talks of is castes and social divisions. That's worse than the rest. It is being exclusive within one philosophy itself!

Before responding imagine yourself as a Muslim in Gujarat when the riots raged or a Hindu in Tikrit today. That's where the rubber meets the road... and it smells awful... like people being burnt alive.

With this I close this topic unilaterally. - Aarcee - Feb. 10, 2006

Discussion on this topic is now closed.