If becoming “religious” has turned you into a more judgemental, arrogant, rude and harsh being, you need to introspect if you are worshipping God or your ego.

We all must have come across this axiom circulating on social media sometime or the other, but have we ever pondered over it? Let’s begin from the beginning. When we talk of religion what is the first thought that comes with it? Well, my stance on the issue of religion is, “despite all its holiness, there is nothing holy left in it anymore.” The intension is not to get you caught in some sort of philosophical trap, if you look closely at my statement about religion, you sure will get a head start on religion. I have always been sceptical about writing on the subject of religion due to my own unknown fears until Mr. von Hellfeld convinced me into writing on this burning topic which has suddenly gained momentum like never before.  In the current times, unfortunately, religion has become a perpetual threat to the free society, more due to its misuse than use. God alone knows, what alchemy is being employed these days to turn such pious aspects of religion into diabolical elements of controversy, political agenda, barbarism, massacres, material gain, greed, and so forth.

I am no atheist, I am no agnostic, I believe in religion and my religion believes in peace. Religion is not something I have plainly inherited nor is it something I show off by wearing charms, amulets or talisman. I do not adorn the walls of my house by gaudy religious symbols. Religion is something very deep and very personal, something to be felt not flaunted. I choose to follow my religion with eyes wide open rather than closed, that’s because I have read, questioned and understood it. I firmly believe that if you truly respect your religion, open and read its holy scripture, and try the best you can to implement its teachings in your day today life. See for yourself what is written in it. Sacred books are not just meant to be cleaned off dust, kissed and kept on the highest shelf of your closet, that’s the worst disrespect one could show to them. I am no saint and I am no authority to preach. But the present wave of global anarchy caused in the name of religion has compelled me to discuss the pit falls of practicing religion blindly. It is the ignorance of true religion that lets vested interests abuse religion; as is manifest in the present scenario.

It does not matter what your religion is, so long as your conscience guides your actions and words. A friend of mine in a humoured tone once said, ‘I was born a human until religion divided me.’ For once I won’t hesitate in confessing that it could be a plausible conjecture, even if it is not wholly true. For me, God, despite religious diversity in the world, is the ultimate truth, and through our inner voice termed as ‘conscience’ do we connect with our creator. If one rightly follows his/her conscience one could never go astray. After all, the language of God can only be decoded by our conscience. The tyranny, the oppression, the homicide which we are witnessing in the world today, all these collective inhumane acts are a result of the death and decay of our conscience which differentiates between right and wrong.

We may agree or disagree with one another but that does not mean we become intolerant or spiteful towards each other. I grew up in an Indian Muslim family, completed my schooling from a convent school run by catholic nuns, my circle of friends includes people of Hindu, Christian and Sikh faiths. Religion is the last thing that comes to my mind when I interact with people. I don’t judge people on the basis of their sexual orientation or their background, if you are my friend, you are my friend and that’s what counts in the end. Gay or straight, religion or no religion, atheist or agnostic, alles ist egal!! These blatant rampages against innocent people in the name of religion is far beyond my understanding. I am fully aware it’s not religion that is involved it is a much deeper menace that is breeding at an uncontrollable rate. Whatever be the foul play, all I know is bombing and killing innocent lives can never ever be justified, under no circumstances. No dictionary can ever provide words strong enough to describe an untimely loss of innocent life, there were never any words nor are there any words. It’s the sickening, gory and appallingly disturbed mind-set that aims to harm those who are not even in the least at fault. It feels even more wretched to read every single time it happens. The year 2016 has been exceptionally dark till now, wish I had a magical wand to give it a fresh start. The worst of all forms of helplessness is the spectacle of loss of innocent lives, to see these Goddamned lunatics, who in reality have not even a single iota of religion in them, drag faith into some misconstrued justification for their madness. In reality, their actions are in every way and every aspect contrary to the ways of religion. That’s primarily one reason why I never judge any religion by its followers, because followers could be misguided and brain washed any time. Religion is always pure, and no religion on earth preaches hatred. The essence of every religion is to promote peace, love and forgiveness. Violence is not related to any religion and in no form should it be condoned; else the blood shed will never stop.

If we talk about Germany, it is essentially a pluralistic society, progressive and independent of religious diktats. Freedom of religion in Germany is guaranteed by Article 4 of the Basic Law or Grundgesetz. Article 4 talks about freedom of faith and of conscience, and freedom of creed religious or ideological, are inviolable. It guarantees undisturbed practice of religion. Together the Roman Catholic church and Protestant church, account for slightly more than 60% of the total population in Germany. Roughly 33 % of the Germans are nonreligious, claiming membership in no church or religion at all. The Muslim population is somewhere around 5%. Other religious groups in smaller percentages include Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Jehovah’s witnesses etc. The General Act on Equal treatment prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnic origin, race, religion, disability, age and sexual identity. The criminal code prohibits inciting or instigating disturbances of the public order by insulting faiths, religious societies, and ideological groups. Violation of criminal code is punishable by up to three years in prison plus fine. However, in my study on different religions residing in Germany I came to know that Germany is quite restrictive when it comes to Scientology.  In fact, there is an Anti-scientology sentiment apparent in the society. The reason I found most convincing is due to its bad experience with Nazism in the past, Germany is very cautious not to let extremism of any sort dwell on its soil. Germans feel a strong sense of responsibility to uproot any practice that could any day turn catastrophic. Majority of Germans feel that scientology is nothing short of a cult with authoritarian designs which jeopardize democracy. Both the Catholic and Protestant Churches have voiced unanimously against Scientology, and characterized it as a prototypical new age cult. The church of scientology in Germany has no claim over the church tax money, and is officially despised as a mere conspiracy that drives its followers to both spiritual and financial bankruptcy.

What amazes me the most about Germany is the rational and unbiased manner in which it handles crime. They don’t jump to conclusions without thorough checks and investigation. In the wake of latest untoward incidents in Munich, had it been some other country it would have out rightly labelled the perpetrator as a ‘terrorist’ but Germany conducted proper investigation and based upon enquiry ruled out any connection of the criminal with any terrorist organization, and called him a man with violent inclination instead. Ironically, if a person from any other religious background commits any heinous crime, he is labelled as psychologically impaired or a psychopath, whereas, if the same crime is committed by a Muslim, he becomes a terrorist, by default. That’s nothing but hypocrisy. At least, this country relies on a system of fair trial. I won’t say that the system is completely honest without lacunae, but I can say with full assurance, it is far better than many other nations.

Another thing that I much appreciate about Germany is, it does not mix religion with governance. For the secular status of any progressive society it is absolutely essential that it remains free of religious domination, else, the society disintegrates which is conspicuous in so many of the democratic countries of the world today. They are secular only in name but their minorities are manhandled, suppressed and live in constant fear. Religion should be given its due importance, but it should not be turned into a weapon for attacking people who belong to different faiths.  Religion came to unite people against all odds, don’t misinterpret and misuse it to divide people. I grew up adhering firmly to the teachings of my religion that emphasise greatly on mercy, random acts of kindness, respect to mankind irrespective of the social, religious or ethnic backgrounds. My religion has taught me that to kill an innocent life is as though you have killed the entire humanity, and to save even a single life is like saving the entire humanity. No matter what madness in unleashed in the world today in the name of religion, and no matter what religion these murders claim to associate themselves with. No religion associates itself with murderers of humanity. They are a lost cause not even worth being called as humans. The underlying principle of each religion is service to humanity and not slaying humanity. I don’t believe in partial humanity, I empathise with the sufferings of people in totality, no matter who they are or where they live. If I can change my profile picture on Facebook to show solidarity with France in the wake of recent shootings, I will not shy away from doing the same in support of the millions who are being ruthlessly killed and bombed in middle east. Every life is precious, no life is superior and no life is subservient to the other.

I would like to finish this blog with a sincere prayer that may unity, peace and most importantly, common sense prevail in the world. Let the beauty of a multicultural society grow and not erode it by religious intolerance.