12.12.06

What if Religions were required to be kind?

A kind religious world - now there lies a radical idea. Can we imagine a world where Jews and Muslims are not fighting over a Holy Land that supposedly was left exclusively to each by a confused God who is the God of both?
Can we imagine a world where Hindus and Muslims are not killing each other in India and Pakistan and Kashmir? A world where Jerry Falwell and company are not calling hell and damnation down onto homosexuals and others made in the image of God? And where inquisitions and crusades are outlawed and apologies are made by Popes for anti-Semitism, witch burnings, crusades, and inquisitions of the past? And where the gold stolen from the indigenous peoples of the Americas that still adorns the churches in Rome might be returned to its poverty-stricken rightful owners? Yes, a kind religion would be a revolution. The word kindness, after all, comes from the word for kin. It is about how we treat those who are nearest to us. It is a family word. If religion were required to be kind it would have to find kinship with other religions, or better still, other spiritual traditions. A reconstruction of religion on the basis of fierce kindness and real kinship would require a deconstruction as well. Are we capable of deconstructing our religious attitudes to make room for this reconstructed kindness to emerge? I would hope so, and I suspect that Jesus and Isaiah, Buddha and Muhammad, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Dalai Lama would concur. In fact, is it so strange a suggestion to propose that this is what they taught in their lifetimes?

1 comment:

Deepak Menon said...

dear Diana - I told you once I think that the philosophy of my mother was simply stated and this is what she taught us when we were small -"Always be kind, gentle, and loving" - and that was all!! No trace of any reference to race or religion or nationality or caste or creed or social standing and status or even God. As such it trancended all the narrow domestic walls (read my post with Tagores Prayer on my blog) - so there is nothing that prohibits any person not to practice this in any religion - so don't forget to spread the good word - pristine in its simplicity it is ... and I am so glad that you have posted this - perhaps you can also post the thing on your other yahoo 360 Blog also and please your friends there too ...
Many hugs for you my lovely friend
Deepak