Conflict Between Religions
Religion is an inward step. It is unfortunate when religion becomes only about belonging to this group or that group. Such groupism has only brought hatred, conflict and separation among people. The same people who are together today, the moment they identify with their religions, suddenly they separate. Tomorrow they are burning each other's homes. The moment they get identified to some religious group, they are willing to fight. If they did not belong to these groups, at least they would have no reason to fight. Maybe individuals would fight; but the whole group of people, they would have no reason to fight. Some individuals will fight for some personal reasons, that is different. But this kind of mass stimulation of animal energy wouldn't happen.
Right now, religion is mostly about belonging to groups; that's all it is doing to people. Religion should have made them Divine, but it is not even making them human. They are becoming like animals, because the moment you belong to a group, you want to protect your group. That is a natural reaction in you. It is a very basic human instinct. Once you are identified with a particular group, you are always a threat to another group. The moment you identify yourself with any one particular group, you become an enemy to the others. Maybe you'll talk to each other, you will be okay with each other, but the moment the lines are crossed, it is war.
Definitely every individual truly wants peace, nobody wants conflict. But the moment he joins a group, he fights, isn't it? Individually, if you talk to them, nobody wants this nonsense. But the moment they are with a group, they lose their individual intelligence and are fired up with a different kind of emotion.
So why can't we talk about peace? It is time we talk about it. It is the new millennium, isn't it? Only if we start talking about it today, at least by the next millennium, some transformation in this situation may happen. If you don't dare talk about it, you will just push the world in this direction forever. The only reason why they crucified Jesus is because he dared to talk about it.
Once again the same things are happening with people. So this is not as if once you correct it, it will always remain corrected. No. It needs constant correction all the time. Just one Jesus will not do; one Buddha will not do. Many are needed. Only then there is a possibility of keeping the world in some state of sanity. Otherwise, people will continue to go to the extremes.
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