Killing in the Name of God or Religion

Today's newspapers carried a disgusting news. A Major in the American Army killed twelve of his colleagues in a shooting spree. No, the news about killing or shooting was not disgusting. It is happening daily on a routine basis in some or other corner of the world. But the disgusting part was that before shooting innocent unsuspecting fellow men, the killer shouted "Allah Hu Akbar" which means "God is Great".

If we look into statistics, we will find that most of the present day killings are taking place in the name of God or religion. Though, no religion preaches enmity or hate against any fellow human being or even against any living being.

Why do killers invoke God before killing HIS creatures? Is it to obtain strength for doing such a ghastly act or do they ask for HIS forgiveness in advance. One can only remember God before killing someone if one is doing the act in cold blood. If the killing is the result of a heated exchange of blows or gun fire or any other weapon, there is no time for one to remember God.

Here we may argue that even the war cries in the battle fields are also after the names of God. That is true. For example, Indian Army infantry regiments are based on different regions, communities, religions or races as India has many of them. Their war cries are all based on the names of different gods or goddesses. A Dogra soldier will shout "Durga Mata Kee Jai" (hail goddess Durga) while running over an enemy post during final assault or while pushing his bayonet into the intestines of the enemy during close quarter battle. Similarly, the jawans from Sikh regiment will shout a war cry of "Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal" (One who utters it, remains blessed as the truth is immortal). And there are battle cries like "Har Har Maha Dev", "Jai Bajrang Bali" etc., etc. But such war cries are justified in a battle field where the enemy is equally heavily armed and if the soldiers don't kill the attacking enemy then they get killed themselves. Hence, there, the helping hand from God is very much necessary. However, having served in the Indian Army, i personally felt that the Indian soldiers, regardless of their religion or race, should shout "Bharat Mata Kee Jai" as their war cry. But then it is the name of God which provides them the killer instinct.

Gone are the days when the wars were fought for women (Sita and Helen of Troy), for wealth (invasions over India by Gaznavi and Gouri) or for kingdoms (no need for examples). The next major war will be fought in the name of religion or say, God (please mark my words). Personally i don't wish for that but one can't deny the fact that many of such fights are already going on, though on a small scale, in many parts of the world.

Does being religious mean being intolerant of others?
Should we stop being religious if it is creating hate in our minds against our fellow human beings?

The question is open to all.

Big or Small

Yesterday one of my assistants came to me with a complaint that all the staff working under him do not produce the same result in their day-to-day work. I told him that all the fingers in the hand are not equal so he should handle each one according to his/her capabilities. As I was speaking this sentence I had raised my hand to show him the five fingers and after he had gone I was still looking at my raised palm. As I unintentionally folded my hand with all the fingers joined together I noticed that though they were not equal in length yet the fingers promptly came together and made a bowl giving the impression that their length was absolutely as per the requirement. As I further bent the fingers I noticed that all the four fingers made a fist with the edges of the nails and the knuckles aligned in a straight line. I imagined that if our fingers were of equal length we would never have been able to grip any thing properly and also we would have never made a proper fist.

This is also true to the real life. All of us are not endowed with equal talent. There are certainly some qualities in some, which are missing in others. This reminds me of a very interesting story which was doing the rounds on the net a few days back. A merchant used to take some articles from his village to sell in the market. These were filled in two containers loaded on a camel’s back with each container hanging on either side. On his way back he would fill the containers with water which was scarce in his own village. One of the two containers was old and worn out and had a few small holes in its bottom and therefore some amount of water would invariably leak out on the way. After some time people going that way noticed that beautiful plants had come up all along the narrow barren path. They wondered as to how was that possible when there was no one to water and take care of them. They did not know that the merchant who used to bring back the water in his two containers had sown these plants all along the way on the side on which the broken container was loaded on the camel’s back. Since he knew that he could not change the worn out container, he made full use of it by watering the plants on his way back from the market.

We all are cracked containers having some weakness or the other. We are the small pieces who go on to fill the Big Puzzle. The pieces have to adjust to the dimensions of each other to make the puzzle complete. So let us work in harmony and work for the betterment of the mankind without feeling big or small.