Why do really religious people fight with each other? Why can people not live peacefully? why do they have egos? why are they so short tempered? Religious people say that we have Common God but still they fight with each other! Why? So does the problem lie in the religions or?
These are things and questions which are quite disturbing for many people. People want to look inside religions but when they observe the theories and actions of the religious people they think it is better to stay away and they feel better by calling themselves 'NOT RELIGIOUS'.
what and where might be the problem(s) by the way? :).
I feel that the main reason behind inter-religious conflicts is lack of understanding and practice of respective religions by the followers. I wonder that most of them really don't even get the basic concepts of the religions e.g. justice, respect, tolerance and care of others. They are familiar with these terms but don't know what it means for them and what it requires from them. It is pity that instead of being the best people on the Earth, religious people currently are not even at the level of being satisfactory. They must be the most caring and tolerant but reality is somehow different.
Many of the religious followers don't have deep and enough knowledge and they just feel proud at belonging to a particular religious group there is nothing beyond that for them. What religious authority says is the final word; they normally don't try to confirm and learn themselves, leaving themselves at the mercy of religious authorities who may intentionally or unintentionally misguide! But from this it should not be concluded that all religious people in any group are not good, such a conclusion will not be true. We should respect all of them especially religious authorities/scholars since we can't judge intention of anyone fully and they are quite important for us too.
Yes, most of religious people know that they have common God and they know that they have common enemy: Devil, but still they are failing miserably at being sincere, caring and open towards each other by forgetting this reality very easily very quickly. How could we be religious when we even can't look beyond our personal egos and destroy the basic religious values of sincerity, justice, love and respect? No religion allows damage of innocent people and injustice but unfortunately it is being made lawful by some. All religions do recognize the right of free existence and respect for other religions but it is being made unlawful by few.
I think in every group of human beings there are three types of people: 1. a small group which is strongly positive, intelligent and fair about life and people, 2. a small group which is strongly negative, clever and corrupt, 3. a majority which is moderate, passive and doesn't like to get involved in complicated issues of life, they like simple and straight forward life. I think the main contest happens between first two groups and they try to win not only over each other but also try to win sympathies of majority i.e. 3rd group. Majority normally has to follow the winner:).
So in religious groups same contest occurs. Unfortunately currently, some negative fellows are dominating in almost every religious group, they keep people unaware about reality and like to keep them divided otherwise how will they sustain:)! But it will not stay like that since other groups of good people are not sleeping, they are not strong enough so far . Changes need time, patience and struggle. Justice and truth can't lose, it might be temporarily pressed though!
I think, it is human nature that he/she feels good at belonging to a group and nation. All of us do need to have friends, family and national attachment otherwise with whom will we share? We feel comfortable with the closest ones and the place we were born at. People are divided into many groups on the basis of religions, families, nations, colors, sects and other philosophies and factors. This diversity makes life interesting but the problem starts when one starts losing fairness and respect for others due to such attachments.
Here i would also like to describe that fight between good and bad does not happen only outside, it also continues inside of every human being. Everyone has some negative germs and sometimes they appear from our thinking and actions too e.g. in the forms of lies, cheating, deceptions, biasing, undue favours, laziness, violence, anger, hate etc. I think these negative germs can not be completely destroyed but could be minimised. It is up to everyone of us which dimension: negative or positive, we want to grow! For those who can win inner fight, outer fight becomes easy!!!
I am quite sure that problem is neither religious diversity nor national diversity; it is something else! It is due to lack of religious understanding and its practice by us. In addition to that it is due to that small negative minority in every group of people which can't look beyond their personal greed and interests, they have to keep people divided, fighting and abusing each other. This way they can win easily and get their interests. They even don't care about using religions as excuses/means to get vested interests. I pray that they could see and act positively, realistically and farsightedly not only for the sake of others but also for the sake of their own selves and next generations. How much they do need and what will they do with it?
Everyone needs to win internal fight(between good and bad inide us) by making positive aspect stronger, i feel that is the real, permanent solution and success. It is not very hard to discriminate between good and bad, between justice and injustice, we have strong inner instinct(conscience) which is quite good at such judgments, we just need to use it properly, fairly and regularly. Why should we crush it for petty things and benefits? Do we not love ourselves and others naturally? WE DO, we do!!!
Best wishes,
