As I sit at my desk pondering the mysteries of life, I see the bust of a Hindu goddess sitting on my laptop, eyes closed, brows arched, and head adorned with sacred golden chains. This image strangely impresses upon me two very different feelings; a certain sort of peace, as well as disgust at how commercial and degraded religion has become. Whoever bought this mass-produced joke of a sacrament knew nothing of its purpose or meaning within the culture that spawned it. I personally have no idea what the significance of her head adornment or drooping ear lobes is, and so I feel almost embarrassed that it is within my house, let alone in a room that is used primarily for storing things that can’t be put somewhere meaningful. Should I feel guilty for having something that is meaningless to me, yet assumedly very important to many others sitting here, on a computer desk, with nobody to take care of it properly?
This dilemma leads to a more general problem which I mentioned earlier; the degradation of religion. So many people around the world take religions that are not their own for granted. We see it all the time, especially in the Western world, where phrases like “zen” and “karma” have practically nothing to do with their true meaning and where you can be “jokingly” called a Jew or Muslim for maybe doing something that has been stereotyped as being done by those who practice Judaism or Islam. This sort of behavior is downright disrespectful, and I will not deny that I have probably said a few things in the past that were terrible, so if I have insulted anyone that is reading this, I truly apologize.
It seems to me that humans have a natural tendency to think that whatever they believe in is the best thing to believe in (obviously, or why would they choose to believe in it?) and that anything that differs from their belief is stupid or wrong. How arrogant do you have to be to completely dismiss thousands or millions or billions of people just because they have a different opinion? You wouldn’t dismiss your best friend simply because they liked a different sports team than you, and I am in no way saying religion holds the same importance as sports, but the situation really isn’t that dissimilar. In most religions, humility is a virtue. If you don’t have enough humility to open your mind to the idea that your way isn’t the only way, then what does that say about your faithfulness?
Now this might just be the American in me talking, but I truly believe that each and everyone of us has the right to peacefully practice and believe in whatever we want to believe in. I’ve never understood how or why religious groups could combat with other religious groups. As gooey and heart-warming as this sounds, we’re all in this together! We all want to find happiness and peace, and so we should go about it whichever way we want and respect everyone for having the courage to try, even if they aren’t trying exactly the way we’re trying.
Imagine how much happier this world would be if all religiously-based hate was gone…
So next time you want to make a joke about “that Islamic guy’s head towel” or those “crazy bible-thumpers that exorcise the demons,” remember that what seems like a harmless joke to you could actually be spreading negativity and hate. And if you aren’t the one making the joke, remember that laughing at the joke has the same effect as making it. I’m not trying to be a downer here, but some things really do deserve serious contemplation and effort.
None of us are perfect, and sometimes we do things that are very destructive, but I expect all of us to try our very best to be better in order to make the world we live in better, brighter, and happier. After all, what have we got to lose?
