The post of senior migrant litterateur respected Tejendra Sharma ji read on Facebook whether religion and religion are the reason for world unrest. This article is analyzed by very deep thought and then made his attitude.
It is a deep and sensitive question whether religion or religion is responsible for the world’s current turbulent state, and whether the world can become a better place. On seeing the superficial, both history and present give us many examples where violence, war and hatred have been spread in the name of religion. The massacres, divisions and disharmony fried under the flags of religion are not hidden from anyone. But, is religion really the root cause, or is it a tool of a deep, more insidious human instinct?
I believe that not the religion or religion responsible for the present condition of the world, but a man’s desire to prove himself superior as a person or a nation. Religion only becomes a powerful medium of expressing this longing and ego, becoming an excuse.
Religion: A power or a mask? Religion originally came into existence to provide human moral values, spiritual peace and a sense of community. Most religion advocates universal principles like love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and service. Whether it is the ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ of Hinduism, ‘love the neighbor’ of Christianity, the ‘brotherhood’ of Islam, or the ‘non -violence’ of Buddhism, all basically talk about peace and harmony.
Then where is the problem? The problem begins when religion becomes an identity. When people consider their religious beliefs as their most important identity and begin to believe that their religion is the only truth, or superior to others. This gives rise to the spirit of ‘we’ vs ‘they’, where ‘our’ is pure and ‘their’ corrupt.
This exaggerated spirit of religious identity nourishes the longing and ego:
Location of superiority: Every person or group has a desire to be naturally superior. When this desire is connected to religion, it turns into the notion of ‘my religion the best’. This perception can give rise to desire to degrade the religions of others and change or destroy them.
Ego of identity: Religion often provides a strong collective identity. When this identity turns into ego, the group begins to keep its interests above the interests of others, and presents its religious symbols, customs and sacred texts as a proof of superiority. Due to this ego, the dialogue stops and disagreement turns into enmity.
Nationalism and personal ego: due to religion
This argument is not limited to religion only. This trend is equally visible in the case of nationalism. When the national love, more than the spirit of national identity, turns into chauvinism, it gives rise to thinking like ‘my nation is the greatest’ and ‘should suppress other nations’. History is a witness that religious reasons behind two world wars and countless regional conflicts were less and the longing to control national ego and resources was more.
Even at the individual level, it is the ego that gives rise to conflicts. When a person considers his opinion, his beliefs or his lifestyle to be superior to others, he tries to degrade others, control them or suppress their ideas. It is present everywhere from family quarrels to large corporate rivalry.
In short:
The problem is not in religion, but in its misuse.
The problem is in the original tendency of man that provokes him or his group to prove his own better than others.
Is the lack of religion a solution? If we eliminate religion completely, will the world become living worth living? This is an idealistic but unrealistic perception. If there is no religion, then the desire and ego to prove the superiority of man will adopt any other identity. That identity can be ethnicity, breed, political ideology, economic conditions, or even a sports team support.
Examples of history like Soviet Union and Nazi Germany show us how in the absence of religion, how was a terrible war and genocide in the name of ideologies. There, the ideology was considered as ‘supreme truth’ instead of God and crores of people were shed in his name. Therefore, the elimination of religion is not a solution. This will just have to change one identity with another identity, while the basic source of the problem- the longing and ego of superiority will remain intact.
Real solution: Self-awareness and tolerance: To make the world fit, we do not need to destroy religions, but we need to control the ego and longing inherent within humans that give rise to struggles. Its real solution lies in the following:
Self-awareness: Everyone has to look within themselves and understand that the feeling and ego of his superiority causes struggles.
Tolerance and acceptance: We have to learn to accept that various thoughts, various lifestyle and different belief systems can exist, and they can all be right in their place. ‘My’ is the only truth, this notion has to be abandoned.
Dialogue and understanding: Open and respectable dialogues between different groups have to be promoted, so that they can understand each other and remove prejudices.
Love and compassion: The basic principles of religion, such as love, compassion and service, have to be adopted in real life, not only to consider them theoretically.
Education: A education system must develop that students should teach critical thinking, universal human values and respect for various cultures.
Ultimately, the current unrest of the world is not the cause of religion or religion, but those are human weaknesses that turn any identity (whether it is religious, national or personal) into a sense of ego and domination. Religion is just a mirror that shows this trend of man. If we conquer the longing for our inner ego and superiority, then religion can become a powerful means of co-existence and peace, as lies in its basic principles.
To make the world worthy, we need to erase religions, but to erase hatred and ego from our hearts. Only then can we create a society where various beliefs, cultures and thoughts can live together in a harmonious manner.
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