TwIsTeD Reflections

Religion is a strange subject. Rarely does even mentioning the subject evoke such an emotional response. What more a careless statement? This post could very well land me in jail should even 1 phrase, no 1 word, be misinterpreted. Misinterpreted u ask? Yes, because while I do not belong to any religion, I carry no specific discrimination to any specific religion. So any perception that I am so is misinterpretation.

I'll let you in onto my very first argument with my girlfriend. I had this theory which i told her, and started to regret doing so almost immediately. I said that I believe that free-thinkers, people without a religion, have a more objective view on religion, as opposed to people within the religion. My thinking was that people within the religion will be, in small part or large, will be affected by bias when it comes to viewing other people's religion, let alone their own religion. Boy did she fly off the handle. Let me inform you, my girlfriend is not a very staunch catholic, and is rather tolerant of criticism, yet we had a very quiet evening tt day.

Did what i say make any sense? I think it did. The reason why religions clash with each other so often, is partially because of this 'rose-tainted glasses' perspective. Each religion tends to view that their religion is the 'best'. Yes, that is generalising. I agree that there are members within the religion that do not have such a perception, but such people are rare. Most have the feeling that his/her religion is the 'right' one, the 'true' one. Which is why the radical view of other religion's members to be infidels are actually present in the moderates. Maybe not to such an extent where you will be bombing buildings, but more like soft whisperings at the back of the head.

So, is there a way to change this perspective? Yes, there is. But it involves in a change of perception of the individual's own religion, in order to be more tolerant of others. This is no easy task, since religion is bonded with one's core, lik a central pillar. To see religion in a different way is to demolish that pillar, and rebuild it in a different way. Difficult for some, near impossible for others, depending on how staunch they are.

This allows little room for error, in a world with religious diversity. This is especially so when countries rule from a religious standpoint. This allows lesser chance of cooperation from the get-go, the rose-tinted glasses preventing any objective decision to be made. Countries such as Israel, Palestine and even the United States have had confrontations with countries, because they feel that it is their divine right to do so, though they may claim otherwise. For example, the war on Terrorism by the U.S. may not be motivated by purely benign reasons.

This, ironically, supports the realist paradigm in international relations, which has been the predominant paradigm for thousands of years. Religion, of course, provides many positives aspects on the individual level, such as motivation to live, faith, hope, kindness. HOwever, collectively in a larger scale, such as communities and countries, religion simply cannot co-exist together. Why? Because of people's perception of their own religion. Is it flawed? To me, yes, and I will discuss this further next time.