One of the easiest things
we can do is to masquerade hatred as love.
Most of the present day patriots (or nationalists, as they consider
themselves) are motivated by hatred though they think that it is love of their nation
that guides them. It is the hatred of a
particular section of people that really motivates these patriots. Hence the
violence that underlies the patriotism.
If you genuinely love
your country, you will find ways of promoting its welfare. Love is not destructive. Love does not kill. Cruelty is cruelty even if you bring in gods
and scriptures to justify it. In the
olden days religious people sacrificed animals to appease gods. That was cruelty to animals though not
perceived as such by worshippers. Today’s
religious people sacrifice human beings belonging to other creeds in order to
appease gods.
Whether gods are appeased
or not, one can eliminate enemies with the contentment of a devout worshipper
when religion is invoked to sanction cruelty.
Is that devotion love?
A few years ago,
scientists proved that the line between love and hate is indeed very thin. The nervous circuits in the brain responsible
for hate are the same as those that generate romantic love. Professor Semir
Zeki of University College London showed experimentally that hate and romantic
love could produce similar acts of extreme behaviour.
There is much that is
romantic about patriotism and nationalism in their passionately idealistic
aspirations. If only our contemporary
patriots and nationalists realise this truth and subdue their passion with a
little reason. Maybe India will be a
much greater, much better country then.
What’s required is not so much passion but a bit of reason.
I really liked the way you concluded the post: "What’s required is not so much passion but a bit of reason". It's shameful how people commit injustice and cruelty to animals and people of other religions in the name of God.
ReplyDeleteThough we define ourselves as rational beings, it's very hard to find people who make use of the rational faculty.
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