THE HYPOCRISY OF THE INTER-FAITH MOVEMENT ... 1
Inter-faith harmony is best possible through mutual acceptance of each other's ideology as equally true instead of merely tolerating them from a secure distance. Mere verbal affirmation of religious tolerance is not enough so long as one holds on internally to dogmatic stance or observance of theological dictates that make one exclusive.
Surface courtesies are good but it is only when depth-feeling issues for adherents of other faiths that religious harmony in sooth results. After all it is the human being that makes all the difference and not the faith he abides by formally. But the faith, when it dictates terms to its adherents, also bears down heavily on the sanity of the social discourse possible for such adherents to engage in.
Liberalism does not exist in a vacuum but is the fruit of the considered rejection of everything exclusive that separates man from man. If the Hindu worships the image of his God with his heart's highest ardour and the Muslim or the Christian merely tolerates it while rejecting the efficacy of the method or the truth of the grander philosophy behind, it is scarce possible for true human harmony to ever be. Thus, tokenism may be expedient for many in the realm of the inter-faith movement but genuineness of acceptance of all human divergence of faith and belief is a far cry for these.
And herein lies the futility of the whole chase for religious harmony where Abrahamic religions emphatically continue to deny the truth behind non-Abrahamic ones, even the completeness of truth represented by each of their own sibling faiths as opposed to their very own. Here, Christianity and Islam are ever at each other's throats ideologically in their bid for global conversion and dominance thereof. Judaism, being non-proselytising in nature and, hence, having the least number of adherents worldwide, is the least harmful among the three faiths of Abrahamic origin.
Thus, all this tall talk of all religions in essence preaching the same thing, that of love, compassion, forgiveness, understanding et al is so much humbug and is a cloak for covering their deeper designs of dominance over each other. Let these intolerant faith traditions learn harmony from the universal Sanatan Dharma or what is popularly known as Hinduism.
Written by Sugata Bose
Inter-faith harmony is best possible through mutual acceptance of each other's ideology as equally true instead of merely tolerating them from a secure distance. Mere verbal affirmation of religious tolerance is not enough so long as one holds on internally to dogmatic stance or observance of theological dictates that make one exclusive.
Surface courtesies are good but it is only when depth-feeling issues for adherents of other faiths that religious harmony in sooth results. After all it is the human being that makes all the difference and not the faith he abides by formally. But the faith, when it dictates terms to its adherents, also bears down heavily on the sanity of the social discourse possible for such adherents to engage in.
Liberalism does not exist in a vacuum but is the fruit of the considered rejection of everything exclusive that separates man from man. If the Hindu worships the image of his God with his heart's highest ardour and the Muslim or the Christian merely tolerates it while rejecting the efficacy of the method or the truth of the grander philosophy behind, it is scarce possible for true human harmony to ever be. Thus, tokenism may be expedient for many in the realm of the inter-faith movement but genuineness of acceptance of all human divergence of faith and belief is a far cry for these.
And herein lies the futility of the whole chase for religious harmony where Abrahamic religions emphatically continue to deny the truth behind non-Abrahamic ones, even the completeness of truth represented by each of their own sibling faiths as opposed to their very own. Here, Christianity and Islam are ever at each other's throats ideologically in their bid for global conversion and dominance thereof. Judaism, being non-proselytising in nature and, hence, having the least number of adherents worldwide, is the least harmful among the three faiths of Abrahamic origin.
Thus, all this tall talk of all religions in essence preaching the same thing, that of love, compassion, forgiveness, understanding et al is so much humbug and is a cloak for covering their deeper designs of dominance over each other. Let these intolerant faith traditions learn harmony from the universal Sanatan Dharma or what is popularly known as Hinduism.
Written by Sugata Bose
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