One of my friends had sent out a mass mail over the last weekend......some stuff which I did not agree to fully & hence wrote back with my comments. Later, I felt, I should put up the whole mail exchange here for everyone to view & comment :
Hi,
Christianity ….One Christ, One Bible Religion…
But the Latin Catholic will not enter Syrian Catholic Church. These two will not enter Marthoma Church. These three will not enter Pentecost Church. These four will not enter Salvation Army Church. These five will no enter Seventh Day Adventist Church. These six will not enter Orthodox Church. These seven will not enter Jacobite church. Like this there are 146 castes in Kerala alone for Christianity, each will never share their churches for fellow Christians! Not very nice..! One Christ, One Bible, One Jehova???
Now Muslims..! One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....! Great unity?
Among Muslims, Shia and Sunni kill each other in all the Muslim countries. The religious riots in most Muslim countries is always between these two sects. The Shia will not go to Sunni Mosque. These two will not go to Ahamadiya Mosque.These three will not go to Sufi Mosque. These four will not go to Mujahiddin mosque. Like this it appears there are 13 castes in Muslims. Killing / bombing/conquering/ massacring/. .. each other !The American attack on Iraq was fully supported by all the Muslim countries surrounding Iraq !
One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....????
Hindus -
They have 1,280 Religious Books, 10,000 Commentaries, more than one lakh sub-commentaries for these foundation books, innumerable presentations of one God, variety of Aacharyas, thousands of Rishies, hundreds of languages. Still they all go to All other TEMPLES and they are peaceful and tolerant and seek unity with others by inviting them to worship with them whatever God they wish to pray for!
Hindus never quarreled one another for the last ten thousand years in the name of religion.
My reply :
Hi Mani,
Very well drafted, but not totally correct.
While I am a devout Hindu & take enormous pride at being one, I cannot over look the fact that we Hindus have also fought amongst ourselves in the name of religion.
The Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the Supreme God; Shaivites worship Shiva as the supreme God; Shaktas worship Shakti or Mother Goddess & Smartas believe in the oneness of five deities, Panchadeva. There have been many clashes between the Vaishnavas & the Shaivites for supremacy.
Another bad impression has been categorising the society into four classes.
Brahmans - teachers, priests etc
Kshatriyas - warriors, kings & nobles etc
Vaishyas - merchants, businessmen, farmers etc
Shudras - labourers, servants, etc.
This classification has been so badly misunderstood & implemented that, the basic fabric of the society has been disrupted over generations & continues to do so, especially in the rural remotes of the country.
We then have the Arya Samaj, which does not believe in Idol worship. Sati Pratha - bride burning, has been another black spot in our culture.
We then have a Hindu calender, which has at least 5-6 deviations across regions.
Incidentally, even the word Hindu, in origin is a Persian word in use from the time of Moghul Empire, referring to any tradition that is native to India as opposed to Islam. The word actually is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu ( Indus River).
So while, we emerge from the Sanatan Dharma & follow the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, we need to put the right practices in place & correct ourselves as well.
I would like to believe that each religion, whether Christianity or Islam, has good fundamental teachings, but, its the followers who mould it to their selfish motives & make it look so unacceptable. The Bible or the Quran in their original form do not preach these differences.
I would remain a devout Hindu & pride myself for the same till my last breath, but I would also respect the base of each religion.
I just thought of putting down my personal thoughts in this as a response to your mail. Do give me your opinions !!!!
Loads of Luv,
Biprashish
Shadow
2 months ago
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1 comments:
Although I accept your stand that Bible and Kuran in their original form do not teach these differences, there are certain differences they do advocate. The most important of them is non-acceptance of other religious practices. Both these religions divide the world into believers and nonbelievers and severe punishments have been suggested for the nonbelievers in both the scriptures.
The two most problematic issues I feel about both these religions are 1. Non-acceptance of any commentary on these books and 2. Non-acceptance of idol worship. The first poses problem in reinterpreting the texts in current contexts. This makes these societies stick to medieval values at times. Second is a more serious trouble. According to Hindus, 'Nirgun Sadhana' is only for those who have attained a higher state spiritually. Making it compulsory to all leaves the masses nowhere on this front. Although I believe this is not what the prophets intended, these two religions must find answer to these questions.
(PS: I have read only parts of Bible and not read Kuran. These views are partly based on the books in Marathi about these religions.)
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