Religion as a way of God

[Guest guest]

Posted November 23, 2005

By Sudhakar Raje

November 27, 2005

Organiser

 

It is curious, but it is a fact that people can be right for the wrong reason. A classic case in point is the exclusively Indian delusion touted as Sarva-dharma-sama-bhaava. It is generally understood to mean all religions are equal. The secular brigade has extended this meaning to imply that all religions command equal respect as they are just different ways to God. Apparently you cannot be a secular Indian unless you level down the Hindu ‘religion’ and level up the religions of the Muslims, Christians, et al, so that they are all on par, no matter what they preach. Conversely, this means what they all preach is equally noble, and hence worthy of equal reverence.

 

The high priests of secularism, virtually the official religion of the Indian dispensation, have laboured for more than half a century to convince the masses on this point. The purpose behind these labours is to obliterate the basic fact of India being a Hindu nation and to project a pious pluralism that would look voter-friendly.

 

In plain words, Indian secularism is a political ploy of secular Indians, and so a sham. Then what is the truth about the Sarva-dharma-sama-bhaava that springs from such a sham? A revealing answer to this question is provided by a sample reality check of the Old Testament of the Bible, the scripture of Judaism, the New Testament of the Bible, the scripture of Christianity, and the Quran, the scripture of Islam. And it is revealing in more senses than one, because it reveals an astonishing Sama-bhaava in what they preach.

 

For starters, they do not preach that religion is the way to God. They preach that they are the way to their God. They not only insist that their God is the only true God, as against all other gods, who are false, but warn that their God jealously guards his status as the only true God. Thus, in the Judaic Exodus, 34: 14, says, “Thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “In the Christian Bible Mark, 16/16, says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.” And in the Quran exactly the same thing is repeated again and again. For example, The Spoils, VIII, 57, says, “Surely the worst of beasts in God’s sight are the unbelievers.” Victory XL VIII, 35, says, “It is He (Allah) who has sent his messenger (Mohammed) with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion.” And The House of Imran, III, 15, says, “The true religion with God is Islam.” Thus these religions are all absolutely equal in saying the same thing—my God is the only true God, so you must believe in him.

 

But is that all? By no means. It is compulsory that a true believer must not only believe in his one and only true God, he must at the same time disbelieve in the gods of all other people. So the Judaic Old Testament says in Exodus, 23.24, “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works…” The Christian Bible says in Matthew, 28/19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and of the Holy Sprit”. And in Mark, 8.35, it adds, “For whosoever will save his life, will lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s the same shall save it. “As for the Quran, it says in The House of Imran, III, 75,: “Whoso desires another religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him. In the next world, he shall be among the losers”. Thus, being a ‘true believer’ is a sine qua non.

 

But apparently true belief, to be truly true, cannot stop at just being a belief. It must translate into action—the action of punishing the unbelievers and destroying their false gods. So the Judaic Bible says in Exodus, 23.24, “….thou shalt utterly overthrow them (the un-believers) and quite break down their images. “ It repeats in 34.13, “Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves.” But then what happens to peace on earth and goodwill among men? The Christian Bible has an unambiguous answer. It says in Luke, 12.51: “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division.” And this division must be virulent enough to spread hatred not only among the people but even among the family. So the Gospel of Thomas, 16, says, Jesus said: “Perhaps men think that I came to cast peace on the world, and they do not know that I came to cast division upon earth, fire, sword, war,… there will be the father against the son, and the son against the father.” Luke, 12.52, says exactly the same thing and adds, “….the mother (shall be divided) against the daughter, and the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Again, Matthew, 10.35, says exactly the same thing, and sums up the situation in 10.36 thus: “And a man’s foe shall be they of his own household.” And why so much hatred even within the family? Because, according to Gospel of St.Thomas, 56, “Jesus said: He who will not hate his father and his mother cannot be my disciple; and he who will not hate his brothers and sisters… will not become worthy of me.” And here the Quran follows the Bible almost verbatim. For in Repentence, IX.20, it warns : “Oh believers, do not treat your fathers and your mothers as your friends, if they prefer unbelief to belief; whomsoever of you takes them for friends, they are evil-doers.” And how are these ‘evil-doers’ to be treated? The answer is given by “Sura Sma-Nisa, Ayat 56: “Lo ! Those who disbelieve our revelations, we shall expose them to fire. As often as their skins are consumed, we shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is mighty, wise.”

 

Now, have the pious protagonists of sarva-dharma-sama-bhaava taken the trouble to check if incredible identity in the preaching of all these religions extends to the Hindu religion as well? It seems not. For had they done so, they would have found that the Hindu God is the only God who does not claim the exclusive right to truth. On the contrary He says in the Gita (4:11,9:29): “Whoever, by whatsoever path approaches me, I accept him for this salvation. All creatures, great and small, I am equal to all. I hate none, nor have I any favourites. Those who worship other gods with devotion, worship me.”

 

In short an ‘unbeliever’ is by no means an enemy. And even when there is an enemy to be fought, what is the Hindu precept about how to do so? In answer, the much-maligned Manu Smriti says in 7: 90, “When a king fights with his foe in battle, he should not strike with weapons which are concealed, barbed, poisoned, or the points of which are blazing with fire.” In the next three verses it expands the same injunction thus: 7/91—“Let the king not strike on who in flight and fear has climbed around, not an eunuch, nor one who joins the palms of his hands in supplication, nor one who flees with flying hair, nor one who sits down, nor one who says, I am thine,” 7/92—“Nor one who sleeps, nor one who has lost his armour, nor one who is naked, nor one who is disarmed, nor one who looks on without taking part in the fight, nor one who is fighting with another foe”, 7/93—“Nor one whose weapons are broken, who is afflicted with sorrow, who has been grievously wounded, who is terrified, nor one who is running away. He should remember the rule of conduct of an honourable warrior.”

 

The moral of the whole story (—actually there are two, one flowing from the other): No. 1: So far as sama-bhaava in preaching goes, the Hindu religion deserves to be disqualified as an ‘aberration’. No. 2: So far as this highsounding hoax trotted out as sarva-dharma-sama-bhaava goes, it needs to be amended to read sarva-semitic-dharma-sama-bhaava.