Monday, 26 October 2015

What’s in a name, right? : Blog # 244

What’s in a name, right?

            My religion is often talked about in a farcical manner. There are newspaper articles which go on to analyze the origin, evolution and future of my religion and its relevance. My Gods are caricatured and painted at will.

            On media, politicians twist and turn my religious texts to their advantage. This is taken up by certain self-anointed experts and given their own flavor and perspectives which frankly, very less people are interested in. On Social media, this leads to mindless chatter which is quite interesting. One side of the debate finds humor in my defending my religious texts. The other side finds humor in the religious texts themselves, not theirs but mine.
                                   
            Now, the issue of my holy/unholy animals. People call me all sorts of names depending on whether or not they eat/pray/love those animals. If I eat, I am unholy. If I don’t I am religious; not a good person – just religious.

            I talk about my religion. I am looked up on with suspicion. I am asked as to why I talk about it. I am called an extremist. I wear my religious symbols. This time, they call me a fanatic.

            I build places of worship. They stare. They say I am wasting money. If I worship idols, I am ridiculed. If I don’t worship idols, I am ridiculed. The other gender in my religion matters. The other gender in my religion is sinned. The other gender in my religion doesn’t exist.     

            I let my Gods to have a sense of humor when they are portrayed in films. I don’t let my Gods enter the movie hall at all. I can laugh at the sense of humor that a God has if the God is someone else’s that is.

In the haste of defending our religions,many of us seems to have forgotten God.It's like glorifying a road and forgetting about the destination itself.

Read this article as Manu, Mohammed and Martin. Read this as Maya, Malala and Mary too. Are your reactions different? What’s in a name, right?

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