Father
Zossimov, a character of Dostoevsky in The
Karamazov Brothers, defines hell as “the suffering of being unable to love.” Zossimov is a monk who thinks that everyone
is everyone’s responsibility. That
responsibility is love. When my fellow
being commits an error, it is my error too.
Such is the responsibility of love.
These
days I come across a lot of people who cite religious texts and scriptures to
stake their claim to truth. Most of
these people who are ready to lay down their very lives for the sake of their
gods and religions are incapable of simple human love. In fact, a good many of them are driven by
hatred. Consequently they create hells
for others.
The
Bible or the Quran or the Gita is the ultimate source of truth for them. People can choose to believe anything. They have every right to believe that “Adam
ate the apple. / Eve ate Adam. / The serpent ate Eve. / This is the dark
intestine.” [Ted Hughes, ‘Theology’] The problem is when they insist on everyone
to accept that dark intestine as the ultimate truth.
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| One of today's WhatsApp messages: that 'very great' is a punch in my underbelly |
I
am a member of many WhatsApp groups more by necessity than choice. Usually I desist from writing anything in
such groups. Once in a while, however, I
respond to something especially if my personal comment is invited. The latest such exercise got me some
chastisement from the ‘religious’ people in that group who thought I was an
evil influence with my ‘truths’ which are usually not in tune with religious ‘truths’. Even if I provide historical or rational
evidences for my claims, ‘religious’ people won’t accept. I have never understood why ‘religious’
people choose to be blatantly blind.
Since
I know that such people won’t open their eyes, I refuse to enter into debates
with them. There is no possibility of
any common ground between them and me.
Instead of arguing with them, I put up my views in my blog. They may or may not read. That’s their choice. Most of them don’t, I know. They read only the Bible or the Quran or the
Gita. Let them. Leave me alone, that’s all what I want.
Father
Zossimov makes an interesting observation about such religious people. He says
that such people are saved only by the death of their god. “Men reject their prophets and slay them, but
they love their martyrs and honour those whom they have slain,” says the
monk. The crucified Jesus is the most ubiquitous
image in Christianity. And Jesus was
slain by the religious leaders of his time.
Religions
kill the spirit of the prophet, twist his teachings to suit the needs of the
founders of the religions, and then set up the prophet as their god. It is a god who dances to the tunes played by
the believers. Such believers want
others also to dance to those tunes.
The
world would be a far better place if such religions didn’t exist.
Once you get to understand religions, all religions are in same taste. All the atrocious activities are done for god and yet they believe they will go to heaven. How can god be heaven when all these barbaric activities point out to him alone.
ReplyDeleteResponsibility is the greatest fear of humankind as from the beginning. Kean ran from his responsibility as a brother by slaughtering his sibling.
Yes, most religions are about power rather than spirituality. It is difficult to believe naively like Browning that "God is in his heaven and all is right with the world."
DeleteJesus Christ claimed to be God and said that He will die and rise up on the third day and fulfilled that promise. No other person who has ever lived on the planet has done this. We have more evidence for this than the things that students study. The real problem is that because of sin people do not want follow the teachings of Jesus. They love darkness.
ReplyDeleteResurrection is a matter of faith and science won't be able to prove it. Not as of now, at least.
DeleteSin is a fact, a religious word for crime.