The previous piece on this topic didn't address the question that the title asked. What's my religion actually? Is it just something that identifies me or it is a reflection of my character, behaviour & conduct? If I do not follow what my religion propagates, do I still have the right to call myself a part of it? Is my faith in my religion actually reflected by the number of pilgrimages I make to holy shrines and the donations I make in the various places of worships, even as my conduct otherwise is full of malice, hatred, manipulation and deceit? And if, it is so, Is my God so naive that he is getting carried away by the superficial charade of mine?
Honestly speaking, I find these questions a little baffling. Not because of lack of faith but because I see a lot of people around me carrying on with impunity, this charade. Can religion be a matter of convenience to us, so that we pick and choose what suits us and overlook what we don't find convenient? When our religion teaches us to be compassionate, we want to even advertise that compassion by putting inscriptions to announce our donations in the form of plaques adorning the various places of worship. Most of us turn a blind eye to that poor child in cold winter night sleeping on the footpath, not realising that the real struggle to survive is taking place there and not in our lives where we are getting stressed just because some of us are not amongst the favourite of the boss. When our religion teaches tolerance, we use the same religion as a tool to exhibit our intolerance and fanaticism. It's meaning seems to have drifted far away from what it was meant to propagate. We flash our religion in such a way that it starts looking loud and gaudy even when our faith should teach us that religion needs no advertisement.
I think, in today's age and time, religion is a pastime of only a certain section of society. Rest of us are just too busy juggling the different responsibilities that our life has thrown up in the air for us to catch. And that's why, I really don't know what is my religion.
I think, in today's age and time, religion is a pastime of only a certain section of society. Rest of us are just too busy juggling the different responsibilities that our life has thrown up in the air for us to catch. And that's why, I really don't know what is my religion.
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