Three Christians were killed, at least 15 to 20 churches were attacked and three churches burnt down by Hindu fundamentalists in India’s Orissa state on Christmas eve. Protesters are backed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council).
I don’t want to enter in to the details of these attacks and its reasons. Let us have look on the dignity and role of religious tolerance in a multi religious country like India. Of course, the issue of religious tolerance isn’t simply a question of religion’s relationship with the state. It can also be a matter of different religious communities competing for the same souls in the same space. That creates a different set of problems. At their best, religious believers will understand that they have an obligation to treat people of other faiths, or no faith, with justice and charity. The same God created both the faithful and unbelievers, and the same God guarantees the rights and dignity of both. But at their worst, believers have seen unbelievers or different believers as enemies who need to be punished.
India has more than 1 billion people of which about 80% are Hindu, 12% are Muslim, 2.3% are Christian, and 5.7% followers of other religions. A number of world religions originated in India, and others that started elsewhere found fertile ground for growth here.
The Indian constitution’s preamble states that India is a secular state. Freedom of religion is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religions peacefully.
For me religious faith is always personal, but it’s never private. It always has social consequences, or it isn’t real. The mentality of suspicion toward religion is becoming its own form of intolerance. I have seen a kind of secular intolerance develop in our own country over the past two decades.
I think religious intolerance is a kind of blasphemy because it shows contempt for a person’s deepest search for meaning. And sooner or later, for most people, that search leads to God. The right to worship God, and the right to practice, preach, and teach what we believe without harassment are fundamental to the human person. They’re part of the foundation of human dignity.
I don’t want to enter in to the details of these attacks and its reasons. Let us have look on the dignity and role of religious tolerance in a multi religious country like India. Of course, the issue of religious tolerance isn’t simply a question of religion’s relationship with the state. It can also be a matter of different religious communities competing for the same souls in the same space. That creates a different set of problems. At their best, religious believers will understand that they have an obligation to treat people of other faiths, or no faith, with justice and charity. The same God created both the faithful and unbelievers, and the same God guarantees the rights and dignity of both. But at their worst, believers have seen unbelievers or different believers as enemies who need to be punished.
India has more than 1 billion people of which about 80% are Hindu, 12% are Muslim, 2.3% are Christian, and 5.7% followers of other religions. A number of world religions originated in India, and others that started elsewhere found fertile ground for growth here.
The Indian constitution’s preamble states that India is a secular state. Freedom of religion is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religions peacefully.
For me religious faith is always personal, but it’s never private. It always has social consequences, or it isn’t real. The mentality of suspicion toward religion is becoming its own form of intolerance. I have seen a kind of secular intolerance develop in our own country over the past two decades.
I think religious intolerance is a kind of blasphemy because it shows contempt for a person’s deepest search for meaning. And sooner or later, for most people, that search leads to God. The right to worship God, and the right to practice, preach, and teach what we believe without harassment are fundamental to the human person. They’re part of the foundation of human dignity.
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