For Starters, Abhrahmic religions are primary monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam practised in the West. They are more based on faith and blind submission than free will. Eastern religions have Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,Shinto, Taoism and Confucianism.
Let us start over with an analogy. Eskimos have nine names for snow because they know different kinds of snow. Now no other language can have nine names for snow; Same is true for Eastern religions. That's because they have deep understanding due to analysis on the human consciousness and religion. Now the West has all the words for science. In the East we have to coin words for scientific terminology; East don’t have it. Since a lot of metaphysical scrutiny has been done on human consciousness and nature, eastern religions have evolved more than their Western counterparts.
As far as religion is concerned the whole world will have to follow the East, because East has worked deep down into the interior most being. The 2nd evolved phase of scrutiny will start then after. There is nothing like Blasphemy in Eastern religions. If blasphemy was considered as a crime, then Buddha would be hanged in the first place. West regards any attack on religion as a sign of sin. That's why eminent atheist like Richard Dawkins, Sama Harris, Bill Maher and Christopher Hitchens attacks on Abhrahmic religion with logic and rational reasoning. Since human nature has not been studied by theirs religious priest, they look completely out of place in defending institutions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
I don’t have anything against any specific Muslim, Hindu or christian individual.I hold my defiance against Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. A society where one lives as an individual and not as a community is the answer to several of our social ills. Its the struggle between Individual Vs Institutions. Eastern religions are individual oriented while Western religions defend Institutions. An individual is a basic unit that can be changed with love, tolerance and compassion. The institutions have to be made, demolished and recreated with the time. People defend their faith without analyzing it completely and gives no place to doubt. Doubt is the important part of human nature through which trust is developed by testing the nature of person or religion. West waits for Judgement day at the end of linear time and East goes on the cyclic nature of time. The circular nature of time makes Eastern religion dynamic and rigidity in the interpretation is lost.
Any religion must be tolerant enough not sticking to a yardstick principle. You can criticise your own kind, but not foreigners, because they are unbridgeable different to you. The argument that outsiders should not be allowed to criticise any religion is being used more and more to thwart campaigns for reform. Hence, abolition of blasphemy laws and human rights should be included in interpretation of any faith based teachings. People everywhere, it turned out, want the same basic rights – and in every culture, there remain thugs who will try to take those rights away.
*Orthodoxy does not protect truth — it protects lies, for only lies need protection. Truth can stand on its own.*
Blasphemy is indeed very important. It provides a tool where we can challenge established ideas and institutions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think that the western countries have a lesser understanding of the mind than we do. Several of the greatest thinkers like Sartre, Albert Camus, Voltaire, Nietzche etc have made profound contributions to how man views himself in the universe.
Psychology and subconscious motives were also largely unearthed in the west, and we in India use these techniques now for treating our own patients.
However, one thing I can agree on - and that is India and China (I don't know about the others) have been considerably less materialistic. I'm not making a judgment here - just an observation. The Chinese Tao Teh Ching for example is a perfect example of how thinking is different in the East and the West. One isn't better than the other. Both extremes are not healthy.
But coming back to blasphemy, I really do think it's important. The 'Everybody draw Mohammed Campaign' was essential because it served to show that you can't threaten people into keeping quiet. Doing so will only make it worse.
Bhagwad, thanks for comment here. Blasphemy is a form of free speech that is contrary to people's belief. And we try to avoid it for the sake of few superstitious persons. I agree with you that western countries have also worked hard in psychology and philosophy to understand human nature. But, treating patient or academic discussion is only aspect of their research. In contrary to it, meditation is not a treatment and all healthy people can use it for their own benefit.
ReplyDeleteAnd extremism erodes any middle path of dialouge. But, we have to bring both end together for them to understand each other.
And your example of Prophet Mohammad was proper one, as it shows the prohibition make things worse. It gives rise to Streisand effect. The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted.