The Peshawar school massacre by the Taliban shook many people across the world. It was not the worst massacre by terrorists and it was not the first time schools or children were attacked by terrorists, but even after that, the brutality of this attack is really disturbing. Whenever any such attack happens, we start hearing phrases like "terrorists don't belong to any religion" "terrorists don't have any religion" "these people are not humans," etc. I always wonder how much truth is there in these statements. All these statements are mainly used by people to try to dissociate the religion (especially their own religion) from such barbaric acts but to me, these statements sound too hollow and meaningless. If we look carefully some of these terrorists who kill innocent people and others who spread hatred against certain communities do use religion as a tool to attack and spread fear and hatred. They do claim to represent the true form of some sect or religion. I am not talking about Islam or Hinduism or any other particular religion as most religions have fanatic elements in their teachings which are misused by some people to create fundamentalists some of which manifest themselves in various forms of terrorism. Politicians as well as terrorists use religion as a tool to divide people. One wants to divide and rule while the other wants to spread fear and rule. This has been going on for many years, and no religion has been able to dissociate itself completely either from politics or terrorism, only the intensity and level of involvement differ from time to time.
What is there in religion or some of these ideologies (like communism or Maoism) that people are willing to kill hundreds of innocents in the name of protecting or propagating it? Why these people don't feel the guilt or shame of doing such barbaric acts in the name of religion or their ideology? Why religion is such a powerful force that it makes people go blind and makes them hate others just because others belong to some different religion? Can we really dissociate religion from these barbaric acts? Why there is so much communal violence if all religions teach peace and love? Why scriptures are quoted to justify violence, discrimination, or gender bias? The truth is that terrorists who use religion to kill people do belong to some religion. They all derive their justification from some holy book, they all claim that they are killing to protect the word of their God. Many of these terrorist organizations brainwash young and impressionable minds, misguide them by using some religious teachings, and convert them into lethal terrorists. This has been going on for so long and various religions have not done enough to curb this.
Followers of any religion are not willing to question or object strongly to any content from scriptures that are used to justify violence. Once it is claimed and accepted that that particular book is a word of God very few dare to question it. Most of these books contain something that could be misinterpreted but these things are ignored because it is understood that as these books also teach love and peace so few minor things don't matter. However, some anti-social elements make use of some of these objectionable or outdated messages and propagate hate and violence. As no one dares to condemn these sections of any of the books, these things get taught, and people interpret them to suit their own propaganda. That is why I think now the time has come to ask some serious questions to keepers of all religions. They need to make it clear that there is no place for any violence or hatred under the name of their religion. If there is some outdated or objectionable material in their own holy book they need to make it clear that it is outdated and no more applicable. They need to be very strong about this message and condemn any group that tries to propagate hate in the name of their religion. Religion might be a need for many but communal violence or hatred should not have any place in any civilized society.
Isn't it a time to think about whether there is some inherent flaw in organized religion? The time has come for all of us to unite and stand against such criminals. The time has come to question religion and holy books, whenever they are used to justify any violence and hatred. The time has come for all civilized humans to speak up and ask questions. We can not just wait for our turn to become victims of such violence, it will be too late by that time, so speak up NOW.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
What is there in religion or some of these ideologies (like communism or Maoism) that people are willing to kill hundreds of innocents in the name of protecting or propagating it? Why these people don't feel the guilt or shame of doing such barbaric acts in the name of religion or their ideology? Why religion is such a powerful force that it makes people go blind and makes them hate others just because others belong to some different religion? Can we really dissociate religion from these barbaric acts? Why there is so much communal violence if all religions teach peace and love? Why scriptures are quoted to justify violence, discrimination, or gender bias? The truth is that terrorists who use religion to kill people do belong to some religion. They all derive their justification from some holy book, they all claim that they are killing to protect the word of their God. Many of these terrorist organizations brainwash young and impressionable minds, misguide them by using some religious teachings, and convert them into lethal terrorists. This has been going on for so long and various religions have not done enough to curb this.
Followers of any religion are not willing to question or object strongly to any content from scriptures that are used to justify violence. Once it is claimed and accepted that that particular book is a word of God very few dare to question it. Most of these books contain something that could be misinterpreted but these things are ignored because it is understood that as these books also teach love and peace so few minor things don't matter. However, some anti-social elements make use of some of these objectionable or outdated messages and propagate hate and violence. As no one dares to condemn these sections of any of the books, these things get taught, and people interpret them to suit their own propaganda. That is why I think now the time has come to ask some serious questions to keepers of all religions. They need to make it clear that there is no place for any violence or hatred under the name of their religion. If there is some outdated or objectionable material in their own holy book they need to make it clear that it is outdated and no more applicable. They need to be very strong about this message and condemn any group that tries to propagate hate in the name of their religion. Religion might be a need for many but communal violence or hatred should not have any place in any civilized society.
Isn't it a time to think about whether there is some inherent flaw in organized religion? The time has come for all of us to unite and stand against such criminals. The time has come to question religion and holy books, whenever they are used to justify any violence and hatred. The time has come for all civilized humans to speak up and ask questions. We can not just wait for our turn to become victims of such violence, it will be too late by that time, so speak up NOW.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
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