KILLING IN THE NAME OF GOD?
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I am not a Muslim. Neither am I a Christian or Jew.Frankly I do not need a religion to get to God or live a good life. I am educated and follow certain rules of civilised behaviour relevant to our century. Yes, I do not burn witches at the stake , or fly airplanes into skyscrapers.
I have a certain understanding of the laws of physics , energy fields , evolution of life in its infinite beauty and am intrigued with sources of intelligent energy. Meditation has given me insights into the interdependancy ( in life and death) of everything , seen or unseen in the cosmos.
The word of 'religion' comes from latin root 'ligum' which means 'to bind'. The root of religion is therefore political as opposed to spiritual. Spirituality is inward looking , personal and good. Spiritual goals can be achieved anywhere. You do not need a church , synagogue , mosque or temple to do this. Setting the rules and regulations of religion , however, ( revealed or not)is a manmade activity. An organisational and operations manual .
It is a convenient tool for one group of people to organise and have power over other people. Applied and organised religion is therefore far removed from the aims of 'spirituality'. Inbuilt into this 'organisation' of religion are the seeds of confrontation with believers of another alternative 'faith'.
Even if the suprememe energy and intelligence that pervades the universe is neutrally available to all , 'intelligence ' is the last thing on the minds of the people who derive power from organised religion.
Within organised semetic religions which evolved in Asia ,an individual prophet did not have spiritual utterings , which were significantly different from the other prophets.
Jews , Christians and Muslims came from the same place. The prophets had common ancestery and the historical names are common. The rules and regulations (Scriptures) changed marginally over time based on local human traditions, relationships , historical events and simply the passage of time. They evolved out of each other. However each looked after its own football team matched their wits against each other, to control turf.
Animal instincts have surfaced throughout history and violence has been used at every stage; the crucification of Christ and his followers, the Crusades ,the Inquisition,the list is endless . Religion became a territorial issue , an instrument of power and influence. Common human 'subjects' were of course ' unintelligent' flocks of sheep who would suffer irrespective of their actions , innocence or behaviour. The meek were always supposed to inherit the earth.Have they ?

Osama Bin Laden's basic drive comes from his faith and understanding of antiquated rules which states that 'nonbelievers' in his faith should not be located in his territory ( Saudi Arabia ). He ( and not God) has therefore ruled that there should be no Americans on Saudi soil. He has been expelled by his own country. It is his government that invited the American army to protect their territory from raiders who belong to the same religion that he believes in ( to the exclusion of all other religions). He knows this , but uses words apparently uttered by God to negate and interpret things in his own way. This is a case of classic manipulation by humans over other humans .
Most terrorists do that. All of them do it in the name of religion , as only within this framework ,can 'intelligence' and logic' be thrown out and the power of 'faith' evoked in a perverse way.
The fight against the plague of terrorism has to be multipronged. Yes ,diplomacy is required. Yes, financial controls are necessary. Justice is needed and military might may even be justified. What has not been addressed in the public consciousness is also the final frontier and root. Organised religions need to cleanse and reform themselves.They have to question themselves and rewrite their rules for life in this and at least the next 3 centuries. This has to be a multireligious , multicultural and international effort.
We must eschew religion as tools of politics and create a global superstructure which must spearhead this. We can only do this only by looking internally. By being spiritual.
We all have to return to our spiritual roots and turn back from the crusades and Xanadu. Live where the mind is without fear . Live as one consciousness as part of a greater intelligent consciousness. Evolve in the mind.

Bhaskar Majumdar