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| From the Washington Post |
Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth, is not
celebrating Christmas this time, says the Washington Post. The only
scene related to Christmas is Jesus entering the world amid a pile of Gazan
rubble.
Christmas is a festival of joy,
peace, magnanimity – goodness, in general. It is a terrible irony that the very
place of Jesus’ birth is marked by the opposite of all what Christmas stands
for. What meaning will a Christmas carol like Joy to the World have
in Bethlehem today?
What would Jesus say about the kind
of religions that we have today? Isn’t religion the cause of all the strife in
Bethlehem and many other places in the world? The Hamas who attacked Israel
were motivated by religion. Israel is a nation founded on the bricks of a
particular religion. It is another irony that Jesus was born in that religion.
Did Jesus found a new religion? I
would hesitate to say ‘Yes’ to that question. His intention was to reform
Judaism, his religion, not establish a new one. The problem is not with
religions but with the believers, Jesus knew. That is why he said, “The Sabbath
is made for man, not man for the Sabbath” [Mark 2:27]. The Jews were very
particular about obeying the laws and rubrics of their religion. The Muslims
are no less particular in that regard. Nowadays, this sort of vehement adherence
to the rubrics at the cost of human love and relationships is contaminating
Hinduism in India too.
Jesus would have questioned all these
religions. If your religion makes you a blind follower of certain rules and
rituals instead of making you a better human being, then your religion is
useless, Jesus would affirm without any hesitation. Love was Jesus’ religion,
not Christianity. Christianity as a religion is an invention of Saint Paul who
came after Jesus. Jesus wanted people to love one another. And where there is
love, there is no need for rules and rituals. That is why Saint Augustine said,
“Love, and do as you will.”
Too many of our religions today
(yesterday, as well) do the opposite of what they should be doing. Instead of
promoting love, they generate hate. Jesus wasted his life!
My elder sister rang me this morning
to greet me on Christmas. During the course of our conversation, she said, “Kerala
(our state) has so many churches, religious programmes like retreats and Bible
conventions… yet why is evil flourishing more than ever?” Jesus wasted his
life!
The last sentence of the only novel I
ever wrote, Black Hole, ends
with these lines: “The cross smiled at Jesus. Jesus smiled back. They were
in love with each other.” Those were the last words of the gospel being
written by the protagonist of my novel, Ishan Salman Panicker. Ishan was of the
view that Jesus wasted his life.
Jesus must have realised towards the
end of his life that humankind was rather irredeemable. Will he choose to return
to earth once more if his father, God, demands that?
Can there be another real
Christmas, I mean?
Well.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteAs ever, you hit the mark with your words... Love is it, with the capital 'ell', universal and untarnished. Turning ourselves to the Love is what builds and binds us. Blessings and Love to you this day, dear blogpal! YAM xx
Thanks, Yamini... You do mean a lot to me in this environment...
DeleteReligion was created by man to serve man's needs. This is why I don't have one.
ReplyDeleteYou're better off without a religion.
DeleteNailed it!
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteReligion is a powerful tool to fight with the surreptitious intention of imperialism and to get united sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is when religion becomes a political tool it is more dangerous than bombs.
DeleteThank you for this thoughtful discussion. If you look into the historical record and the archeology of the region, the Jews are the indigenous people of Judea and Israel which were ancient kingdoms. People deserve to live in peace. Best wishes to you friend
ReplyDeleteThe Jews had a painful and conquered history. But that doesn't justify what Israel is doing now in Palestine.
Delete