Religious Leaders Can Make This Earth Peaceful
It
is a historically known fact that more killings and violence have occurred in
the name of religion than all other causes put together. From time immemorial,
so called religious leaders have exploited the religious sensibilities of
people, resulting in wars that have killed the weak and the innocent.
The
war of
Karbala
, crucification of Jesus Christ and
the sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus serve as examples of religious fanaticism which
has only given birth to more hatred, violence, revenge, intolerance and in more
recent times, terrorism. Human beings have forgotten about the commonalities
that bind them, and have instead built walls that are so tight and that define
them into groups known as Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, and not as one
creation of the supreme Lord. The demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in
Ayodhya and the violence that followed, is a ghastly example
of the deeds of misguided fanatics showing religious fervor in the most
irreligious ways. They have degraded the lofty ideals for which Lord Rama is
worshipped. It is a shame that religious leaders could not arrive at such a
moment to present a amicable solution to the crisis.
In
our scriptures, there is a story of war between a Goddess and Raktsabeej demon.
It has been said that as long as she beheaded him and his blood fell on the
earth, another Raktsbeej was born instantly. After beheading him she drank all
his blood, which meant that she ingested the poison of hatred to end the hate
monger. So it is the duty of all heads of religions to devor the poison of hate
themselves and to teach love and tolerance to all people. If you open any
religious text, there is no mention anywhere of the word hatred. All the holy
books preach love, forgiveness, peace and tranquility.
Let us put our hearts and minds
together and bring all people under the one umbrella of their own humanity, and
show youths such as suicide bombers who are read to give their lives to kill
people, the right way to live. I am absolutely convinced that no missile, bomb
or bullet can end terrorism. Only correct religious teachings of mutual
tolerance and love can end the ugly face of terrorism and bring peace and
harmony on this earthrp