At a very young age there was a dawn of realisation that the one emotion that is exceptionally easy to promote in anyone is hatred.
It takes very little for another person, no matter how ‘well adjusted they may think they are—or seem to be, to feel that antipathy towards a cause or belief well up inside them.
To be honest with you, I feel that Vegans, particularly, have got it all wrong. I don’t hate them; I just feel that they are, somehow, on the wrong track for, potentially, the wrong reasons. Perhaps that is a story for another time.
But hatred would be, if you follow a specific line of reasoning, a reasonable next step. I could write a book saying that Vegans are a threat to the World Order; that they are ‘Undermining the Food and Agrarian Economy’; ‘Vegans plot Genocide in the Third World’.
We could ignore the facts and use evidence from ignorance. We could make up stories; we could fabricate details that would make Vegans appear not just despicable but loathsome.
Stupid?
Yes. Of course it is.
And yet the majority of Earth’s population do this all the time. Not against Vegans, I hasten to say, but in other matters.
Religion.
Never talk about religion. My Gran had a notice up in the dining room—a somewhat grandiose term for the kitchen-dinette in her tiny flat (apartment), that stated:
“The following topics of conversation are forbidden around this meal table:
Sex
Politics
Religion”
Nowadays she might have added ‘football’ (soccer)!
I am not, in this discourse, interested in any one religion. What I am interested in is the idea that the only way to promote your own cause is to denigrate the beliefs of other people.
Most of us are familiar with the Atheists postings on the net. They are full of ‘cut and paste’ arguments and contrived dogma that all boils down to the idea of “prove it”. Atheists require theists to ‘prove’ there is a Deity of some form.
The hole in this idea is that, if there were proof that a God exists, proof would change a ‘belief’ system into a ‘fact’ system.
The whole point of a faith is that there is no definable proof. There is no mathematical equation and yet they press on with their immature and nonsensical arguments.
Similarly, people of different faiths like to try and bring down those who believe otherwise.
Why?
There is a book extant written by one Robert Morey that is, from cover to cover, filled with lies, half-truths, misdirections and points taken out of context that purports to be a ‘well researched document revealing the truth behind a growing religion’.
No. It is not.
The saddening and disquieting part of it is that many people who are not of that belief will believe it. They will not research the truth themselves, they will not check the facts nor will they even view it with some cynicism.
No. They will believe it implicitly because it is what they want to believe. They want to feel superior; they like it that somebody has ‘revealed the truth’ about another faith even if it is a pack of lies.
Perhaps I could tender another idea.
Many of my friends have different faiths. My Hindu friends have three million Gods—this gives them a wide choice to select from, something to suit every taste and occasion. My Buddhist friends enjoy the thought of reincarnation as do my Pagan friends but they have ‘Summerland’ to go to first. My Christian friends are full of rejoicing at their beliefs and my Muslim friends like to pray five times a day every day.
None of them insult the others. None of them mock or denigrate the others.
Why can we not enjoy our own beliefs without recourse to slighting the faiths of others?
The Pilgrim Fathers set sail from Britain in order to worship as they saw best fit. Their beliefs were very different from the spirits of the local residents of Plymouth Rock but they felt strong enough in their own ideas to press on.
Yes, there were almost immediate differences but that is another direction.
Freedom of religion and belief.
America, and now most of ‘Civilisation’, was built on that.
Enjoy yours and let others enjoy theirs. Look at the celebrations of others as we enjoy Deepavalli, Christmas, Aidul-fitr, the Hungry ghost Festival and others in their turn.
Why turn the beliefs of other people into hatred? If this goes on the next thing is that there will be those who stir up aggression because of skin tone.
Heaven forfend!
Shalom, Peace be Upon You, Wassalam
David, I am an athiest and I do not accept your judgement of them. Faith is a measurement scale of hope versus doubt. My doubt is huge, because I see no reason to accept your ways of existance justification. I do not hate religions because they preach peace and goodness, but I despair when it used for exactly the opposite, such as christians to muslims (before and present), or christians to the (now) American Indians (north and south). Many people forget that the church is an industry. Being an athiest I can use no excuse for my actions. If they are bad, then I am bad. I do not rely on a rule book; I have morals.
ReplyDeletePlease do not treat all that call themselves athiests, the same. Or we'll come round and kick your windows in you fat sod.
Thank you for offering to replace my windows.
ReplyDeleteThere are groups (?) of atheists who are giving the rest a bad name. Several of my friends are atheists and with whom I have no argument.
The point being made is that there are, in all strata of society and in all collectives - regardless of belief, cause or commitment, those who will use hatred as a tool.
I would not say that you are amoral because you are an atheist and neither would I suggest that you, personally, are a bad person. Atheism is a belief system like any other.
I thank you for your comments and valid points.
David
PS: Just popping out to put tape on the windows.
PPS: How do you know that I am fat? And a 'sod'?
PPPS: What's a 'sod'?