Skip to main content

The Other Side of Compassion

 


One of the mysteries that has baffled me again and again, like a cancerous pain, is the cosy coexistence of religions and cruelty. All kinds of cruelties were imposed on fellow human beings in the name of gods ever since religions were born. We did it in ancient India. They did it in all ancient civilisations.

Compassion is the very root of Christianity’s theology. Yet no religion was as ruthlessly cruel as that for centuries in the medieval period. Islam has continued that ruthlessness, which Christianity gave up a few centuries ago, up to this day. Hinduism, under Mr Modi’s charismatic leadership, seems to be all set to take up the same tradition now – with a slight difference: Mr Modi’s acolytes have changing tastes. Young girls seem to be the favoured targets these days. Lynching in the name of cows was in vogue till the other day. Perhaps, the fad may change again soon since fads don’t have much longevity even with divine sanctions.

Why are our gods such dismal failures? There are numerous possible answers. I would like to focus on one, however. Our religions have got certain fundamental aspects wrong. Compassion for fellow creatures is one such aspect.

Religions teach compassion for all possibly wrong reasons. They teach us things like all creatures are divine sparks and hence the other is no less divine as I am. I am taught to respect the divinity in the other person. Just imagine the nine-year-old girl being asked to see the spark of divinity in her eleven rapists! Imagine a Karel Hasler or Otto Wallburg being told to appreciate the divine spark in Hitler. I wonder how many victims of the Gujarat riots of 2002 would be able to stand in reverence before the Modi idol in that Rajkot temple dedicated to him.

Nah, it is rather cruel if not pernicious to teach that sort of compassion to people just because we live in a world where the wicked flourish and the innocent perish. Gods are good moral tales but bad life skills. That’s why they fail inevitably. Show me one god who has succeeded in making the human affairs an iota better.

Religions should change their teachings. Instead of teaching divine sparks and all that stuff, teach rational compassion. Teach people why compassion is a better choice than anything else. Teach people to choose goodness because that is the only reasonable choice they really have. Everything else creates hells and hells aren’t quite comfortable places to live in. We deserve better. We can get a better world. That better world is our choice, our creation, our own heaven.

Our dream, rather.

PS. This blog is participating in the #MyFriendAlexa campaign of Blogchatter.

 

 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 24, 2020 at 1:39 PM

    Well said Sir, No religion, no preach, no worship, no admiration matter if we fail to understand humanity, if we fail to behave compassionate.

    Archana Srivastava
    archusblog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 24, 2020 at 1:54 PM

      Precisely. As long as our religions fail to make us better creatures, they are no better than resounding drums.

      Delete
  2. Cindy D'SilvaOctober 24, 2020 at 2:35 PM

    I think compassion should be taught by parents rather than people outside the home. But yes if school and religion contribute, it would make this world a wonderful place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 24, 2020 at 4:22 PM

      Emotional education begins at home, no doubt. The society plays a major role afterwards. One can't expect to meet compassionate people in a society that teaches hatred as a sacred duty.

      Delete
  3. Radhika AcharyaOctober 24, 2020 at 4:49 PM

    As the world 'progresses' we the people are going back. We have become selfish and self-centred, and compassion for fellow creatures, be it animals or humans is the casualty. Religion is just an excuse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 24, 2020 at 5:03 PM

      Selfishness is another vice which religions try to cure with its opposite of altruism. In the end bigger evils are perpetrated in the name of altruism. Lynching, for example.

      Delete
  4. PuspanjaleeOctober 24, 2020 at 10:22 PM

    Loved reading it. In my opinion, compassion can only be learned with family than any external force

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 25, 2020 at 6:20 AM

      Family is the first school. But greatness has come from ignoble families and vice-versa.

      Delete
  5. Shail ThosaniOctober 24, 2020 at 11:05 PM

    Compassion and humanity should be the religion but nowadays people seem to have become religious and forgotten these two qualities completely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JayanthiOctober 25, 2020 at 12:44 AM

    Man is an animal just summarizes it all...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 25, 2020 at 6:21 AM

      Animals would be offended if they could read 😅

      Delete
  7. Surbhi prapannaOctober 25, 2020 at 5:39 AM

    I agree compassion is one of the most important quality that makes a person a better human being but unfortunately it is getting missed in today's society. Glad you had spoke about this in this post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. जितेन्द्र माथुरOctober 25, 2020 at 10:03 AM

    You said it. Rational compassion is required. And speaking be plain and straight, religions are not required and gods (as they are depicted in mythological stories) were no better than the error-prone human-beings. Hence let's take the task of bettering our lot on our own shoulders, not the divine entities.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Neha TambeOctober 25, 2020 at 2:35 PM

    I remember reading it somewhere that God is the biggest scam man ever pulled. I kind of agree with that. It is better to believe in tangible like nature, compassion towards others rather than doing something for a better afterlife.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 25, 2020 at 3:35 PM

      The whole concept of immortality and afterlife is absurd. If that life is real and better, why don't people put an early end to this wretched affair here and go?

      Delete
  10. Ira MishraOctober 25, 2020 at 10:20 PM

    Somehow it makes me think that the whole concept of religion and God itself should not have been there or taught... World could have been then a far better place to tolerate and live in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 26, 2020 at 7:38 AM

      I share that thought. I think the world would have been a much better place without the notion of God(s). People should be taught to make use of their brains better.

      Delete
  11. Sonia DograOctober 29, 2020 at 11:15 PM

    What do you think about the philosophy of Karma? Does it even exist?
    To me religion is inessential.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Chinmayee Gayatree SahuOctober 31, 2020 at 8:39 PM

    We are regressing as a society and there is no doubt in that . Wicked flourish and the innocent perish... absolutely agree sir!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
37 comments
Read more

Sanjay and other loyalists

AI-generated illustration Some people, especially those in politics, behave as if they are too great to have any contact with the ordinary folk. And they can get on with whoever comes to power on top irrespective of their ideologies and principles. Sanjay was one such person. He occupied some high places in Sawan school [see previous posts, especially P and Q ] merely because he knew how to play his cards more dexterously than ordinary politicians. Whoever came as principal, Sanjay would be there in the elite circle. He seemed to hold most people in contempt. His respect was reserved for the gentry. I belonged to the margins of Sawan society, in Sanjay’s assessment. So we hardly talked to each other. Looking back, I find it quite ludicrous to realise that Sanjay and I lived on the same campus 24x7 for a decade and a half without ever talking to each other except for official purposes.      Towards the end of our coexistence, Sawan had become a veritable hell. Power supply to the
12 comments
Read more

Thomas the Saint

AI-generated image His full name was Thomas Augustine. He was a Catholic priest. I knew him for a rather short period of my life. When I lived one whole year in the same institution with him, I was just 15 years old. I was a trainee for priesthood and he was many years my senior. We both lived in Don Bosco school and seminary at a place called Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu. He was in charge of a group of boys like me. Thomas had little to do with me directly as I was under the care of another in-charge. But his self-effacing ways and angelic smile drew me to him. He was a living saint all the years I knew him later. When he became a priest and was in charge of a section of a Don Bosco institution in Kochi, I met him again and his ways hadn’t changed an iota. You’d think he was a reincarnation of Jesus if you met him personally. You won’t be able to meet him anymore. He passed away a few years ago. One of the persons whom I won’t ever forget, can’t forget as long as the neurons continu
16 comments
Read more

William and the autumn of life

William and I were together only for one year, but our friendship has grown stronger year after year. The duration of that friendship is going to hit half a century. In the meanwhile both he and I changed many places. William was in Kerala when I was in Shillong. He was in Ireland when I was in Delhi. Now I am in Kerala where William is planning to migrate back. We were both novices of a religious congregation for one year at Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu. He was older than me by a few years and far more mature too. But we shared a cordial rapport which kept us in touch though we went in unexpected directions later. William’s conversations had the same pattern back then and now too. I’d call it Socratic. He questions a lot of things that you say with the intention of getting to the depth of the matter. The last conversation I had with him was when I decided to stop teaching. I mention this as an example of my conversations with William. “You are a good teacher. Why do you want to stop
12 comments
Read more

Uriel the gargoyle-maker

Uriel was a multifaceted personality. He could stab with words, sting like Mike Tyson, and distort reality charmingly with the precision of a gifted cartoonist. He was sedate now and passionate the next moment. He could don the mantle of a carpenter, a plumber, or a mechanic, as situation demanded. He ran a school in Shillong in those days when I was there. That’s how I landed in the magic circle of his friendship. He made me a gargoyle. Gradually. When the refined side of human civilisation shaped magnificent castles and cathedrals, the darker side of the same homo sapiens gave birth to gargoyles. These grotesque shapes were erected on those beautiful works of architecture as if to prove that there is no human genius without a dash of perversion. In many parts of India, some such repulsive shape is placed in a prominent place of great edifices with the intention of warding off evil or, more commonly, the evil eye. I was Uriel’s gargoyle for warding off the evil eye from his sc
11 comments
Read more