Don’t undermine our respective faiths for selfish ends

Throughout the world, some temples, churches, shrines, mosques, synagogues and other houses of worship have been turned into places of division and diversion.

They have embroiled religion in conflict, confusion, contradiction and controversy – in contempt of the highest ideals of peace, harmony and oneness.

Claims about the depths or greatness of faith, as propagated and promoted by the well-known or famous, will fall short if the evidence of faith is not seen in one’s life.

For me personally, the Islamic or Muslim faith is lived out most beautifully by most ordinary folk. They are the most effective living testament and messengers of their faith. This is true of other faiths as well.

In contrast, many among the political or social elite have nothing that inspires or illuminates.

Consider this: even when one has received a direct message from a prophet or revered figure, there was and still is dissent and non-acceptance. There have been too many cruel wars fought on religious battlegrounds over differences of dogma or over the narrow theology that one religion is better than the other.

There may be faiths that are dominant at the moment, but we must humbly acknowledge that some of their adherents triumphed on the meaningless wounds of wars, forced conversions, crusades over greater gods versus lesser gods, and conquests of greed.

Others indulged in intimidation, threats, thuggery, economic exploitation, oppression, repression, torture, torment and tyranny.

In the name of their religious beliefs, some even carried out genocides that obliterated colourful cultures, ethnic communities and their ancient faiths.

Are some holy grounds really holy when the soil is red with the blood of slaughter, and when there is the carnage of the twisted wreckage of human bones meshed with the metallic remains of weapons of war?

What is the claim to a city or place to holiness? Are they deemed holy enough to warrant combating over their sacredness, resulting in the killing of countless innocents?

Are ‘holy’ men and women really holy when they advocate racism and religious bigotry? Are they conveying God’s will or religious desire when they advocate clearly defined walls that divide humanity, when they express explicitly that certain groups are lesser human beings because of their religious beliefs while they are greater? Is it not a perversion to view another as unworthy and of less value?

Are all preachers, priests, monks, mullahs, imams or lay person with scriptural knowledge and chants of professed piety to be accepted as exclusive, elite messengers of God? Some of them are atrocious and foul individuals.

Yet, we will excuse the inexcusable and not conscientiously object to the objectionable. We obscure our conscience and cripple it by accepting the shenanigans and the frauds of faith. Are the culprits conferred with immunity when they act impulsively and insidiously?

Unfortunately, such infringements are not rare. Yet, the culprits seem to have an aura of untouchability and invincibility based on their impeccable ‘knowledge’ of their faith. 

When egoistic human beings conceive themselves as being more than the total of their design, it is not the fault of God or faith. It is their own deceit and conceit that treacherously betrays the values and intentions of their faith.

There will be human subversives who will undermine faith. It is arrogant to overestimate my faith to the detriment of my neighbour’s and underestimate another’s faith. Each has a message of existence in the jigsaw puzzle of life.

In our homelessness, hopelessness or helplessness, we need to be rooted in our respective faiths – not in exclusivity but hopefully with an inclusive vision to share our possessions with others of different faiths.

Each of our faiths may share a common denominator or have a unique yet universally acceptable trait that ought to be shared and mutually exchanged as spiritual gifts and treasures.

Some salient points:

• If faith is filled with retributive punishments for offences without offering remedial justice through the mercies of rehabilitation, resuscitation, restoration or renewal, it will die out over the centuries
• If faith finds no equilibrium of equality and equity, whether among adherents or non-adherents, it could turn into a tool of deception and division
• If faith has no humility through atonement, repentance, contrition or forgiveness, it will remain insignificant or irrelevant or fade away
• If adherents were to treat other faiths with the same sensitive, reverential sacredness as they would their own, there would be no demarcation, defilement, desecration or defamation
• If one faith community offers another faith community that lacks physical comforts, solace or shelter … if it shares its space or house of worship with those who do not have a place of worship, in true sister and brotherhood … such gestures may touch the divine
• If faith is reduced to a numbers game over conversions – where one community applauds and thumps its collective chest when certain religious celebrities or influencers convert others, it reveals a preference for quantity over quality
• If faith has an ulterior motive of giving aid or benefits as inducements to win conversions and score brownie points, it is far-removed from the intention of genuinely spiritual people who give purely to mould lives and share love
• If faith adherents compete and attack each other, making all kinds of claims that other faiths are false and theirs is more real, it displays their own weakness under the guise of comparative religion
• If adherents of a faith are offended by provocations of perceptions or are unable to endure physical defilements – whether to their scriptures, ornaments or artefacts – and respond with rage, perhaps their own faith is not as strong as they would like to claim
• If a religious community uses force, either by law or physical means, to restrict or oppress adherents of their faith to remain in their fold even though they may have become estranged, it shows up the bondage of slavery. It is sad when many good folk have to go through a long legal process to change their spiritual beliefs. Some mothers even have to go through a long legal battle to undo an illegal conversion of their own children

Let us not trap ourselves in a narrow, rigid adherence to what we hold dear by depriving others of their liberty and freedom to be fully human and fully alive.

No matter how righteous, valiant, or noble our respective faith philosophies or teachings are, if in their name, our actions wound the lives of innocent ones, then we do injustice to these philosophies and undermine our own religious teachings.

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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