Amlan Roychowdhury


                                            Religion And Fanaticism

26/11 Mumbai was under siege, some 20 odd young men brandishing AK 47 rifles went on a killing spree at a busy railway station, and five stars hotels killing hundreds. This incident brings back memories of the now infamous 9/11 where a handful of highly motivated, misguided souls took controls of aircrafts and banged into the World Trade Center destroying it completely and killing thousands. These incidents again make us realize how susceptible we are in the face of such terror activities, where a group of highly trained and motivated people inflict so much pain and agony to the innocents. The very fact that the actors who perpetrate these acts are ready to die makes them more dangerous, because the very fear of death, the ultimate fear, itself is absent from their psyche and hence they can go to any extent to inflict terror in the minds of people, or they can go to any extent to get the authorities to bend on their knees. The very pertinent example would be the Hijack of Indian Airlines Flight IC 864 to Afghanistan. Their ( Of the hijackers, who were mainly terrorist from Pakistan owing allegiance to Taliban ) demand from the then Indian Government was to get their 20 operatives released from various jails that they were put in and Indian Government had to give in to their pressures as lives of 265 innocent Indians were at stake. The Pilots of the United Airlines aircrafts very well knew that their lives will be snuffed in seconds when they saw the world trade center getting larger and larger in front of their wind screens. Their psychology was so strong that with the knowledge of their death in seconds they kept flying straight into World Trade Center.

Unfortunately majority of such terrorist activities are perpetrated by the religious fanatics of Islam. Such tendencies are not limited to Islam alone but it is seen mostly in the abhramic religion ie Islam Christianity and Judaism. I urge my readers not to misunderstand me as I revere all religion as no religion in the world tells its followers to go and kill in the name of religion. In its essence and origin, Islam is a religion of mercy and peace, of kindness and tolerance, and of knowledge and enlightenment; it is not a religion of violence, fanaticism and ignorance.

What happens is that because of a miniscule group of misguided souls the entire religion and the followers of it suffers. The pain that a innocent Muslim goes through when their religion becomes the center stage of any terrorist activity is very evident in the following article written by a Muslim devout in Khalij Times. I reproduce that letter verbatim for my readers.

“Khaleej Times: No Time to Hide for Muslims by Aijaz Zaka Syed (View from Dubai )

  Every time innocents are targeted in the name of Islam around the world, one can’t face one’s non-Muslim friends and colleagues.  I feel like burying myself in the ground.  Growing up in a religious family, one never thought one would see the day when being a Muslim could be a source of shame.

A distraught friend who has devoted her life to speaking and fighting on behalf of Arabs and Muslims wrote in yesterday saying “I’ve had it with the Arabs and Muslims and Islamic militancy. Forgive me but I am throwing in the towel.”

I couldn’t write back to her but understood her pain…  She grew up in Mumbai and is understandably upset.

My friend went on to say: “The Muslims and Islam have a problem and only they can solve it.  If they do not, the whole world will turn against them.”

Can you blame the world if it’s turning against Muslims? What do you expect when not a single day passes without the name of our faith being dragged through the mud by fellow believers around the world?

Is this what Islam and the noble Prophet teach and stand for?

It’s all very well for us to say Islam has nothing to do with extremism and terrorism.  We can go on deluding ourselves these psychopaths do not represent us.

However, the world finds it hard to accept this line of argument because it sees the extremists increasingly assert themselves and take the centre-stage while the mainstream Islam remains silent.” 

 Religion seems to offer a particularly fertile matrix, in which fanaticism can grow, is religious belief itself the cause of fanaticism? Or is religion simply one of many catalysts that can transform desperation into extremism? We might find the answers in the teachings of the Founders of the world’s major religious systems. What do they say about fanaticism and religious zeal? Did they espouse it or promote it? And if not, where does it come from?

Some particularly sharp insights may be found in the Bahá’í Writings. Bahá’u'lláh clearly condemned fanaticism of all kinds. In a statement that seems to foreshadow our times, He wrote:

Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.

(Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13

Religion itself breeds fanatics. If the teachings of the Manifestations of God had been followed, fanaticism would never have taken root within the religions they established. We can say this because fanaticism and hatred are so clearly contrary to their explicit teachings. It uses religion as a tool to further aims that have nothing to do with true religion. If we use a hammer to open a jar, we’re going to destroy the jar. Hammers are not meant for opening jars, and they are powerful enough tools to do considerable damage when misused. Religion is one of the most potent forces known to humanity. Misused, it is capable of doing correspondingly great damage.

Why do the fanatics succeed? The answer lies in a short story. A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, Owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. ‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he

said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were

too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the ***** were a

bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen.

Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and

the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up

in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories. The essence of this story is simple. The terrorists are very small in number but they are very cohesive. Their negative attitude is cohesive as well. Therefore they can inflict so much pain. The good and peace loving people are much much larger in number but are not cohesive at all and hence their positivity and goodness does not percolate down the society. The fanatics are so cohesive that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are

gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of **** victims and

homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to

become ******* bombers. Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians , Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, Indians including Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

Each religion brings out its own doctrines and insists upon them as being the only true ones. And not only does it do that, but also it thinks that he who does not believe in them must go to some horrible place. Some will even draw the sword to compel others to believe as they do. This is not through wickedness, but through a particular disease of human brain called fanaticism. They are very sincere, these fanatics, the most sincere of human beings; but they are quite as irresponsible as other lunatics in the world. This disease of fanaticism is one of the most dangerous of all diseases. All the wickedness of human nature is roused by it. Anger is stirred up, nerves are high strung, and human being becomes like tigers.”

Thus faith turns into fanaticism. The communal frenzy erupts and religious wars are fought with ensuing mass destruction and chaos. There is no doubt that more blood is shed on religious wars and persecution than on any other cause. But this is no fault of an individual. It is the evolutionary weakness. It is not a crafty design of one individual, or one particular religion. Our inability to convert faith into the knowledge of direct perception (of the truths as preached by the religious seers) is responsible for this. The mammal in us is still strong; we have as yet failed to evolve as complete human beings.

When a person embodies values like spiritual wisdom, purity of heart, qualities of universal love and altruism, we call him a saint or a sage. Sometimes such a person contributes to the welfare of humanity in such a great measure that he is referred to as God -the founder of a religion. Such examples are Sri Krishna, Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo, and many more. The list is unending; we encounter such great souls in every religion of every continent and in every era.  These great souls have intuitive knowledge of oneness of human race. Their intuition is based on their experience or realization and conforms to rationality and reason. They speak from the experience of realization of Divinity acquired after transcending the limitations of body-mind complex. They have the direct knowledge of Reality. Millions of followers of these saints intellectually and emotionally grasp their message of love and compassion; but cannot claim to have experienced these values as direct knowledge. They believe in what the saints say.

None of the saints or their religion preaches hatred and killing. Every religion preach that humankind is a single family and the earth its common homeland. There is no place for fanaticism or the fanatics.

Hannah Henderson


It seems logical to reason that one can achieve spiritual enlightenment through the acceptance and practice of the good aspects of every religion. However, like any other discipline, religion has a foundation of core teachings that determine if one is even permitted to accept instruction from other belief systems.

It’s interesting to note that the Protestant Bible actually aligns the building of faith in God to the construction of an invisible, but very real, building into which the believer is to move permanently. Scripture even advises one to sit down and think over such a task before undertaking it, to determine if he really wants to construct a sound structure that must not fail him later. Certainly if one cannot even plan a foundation, he can never hope to lay one. If he cannot lay a foundation, he has nothing on which to raise walls, place a ceiling, and add barriers, making his building a fortress.

Jesus asked, “for which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient (will power/desire) to finish it (KJV, Luke 14.28)?

What would cause the believer not to be able to finish his building in Christ? Obviously, the lack of supplies would stop him. What are his supplies? The teachings of the doctrine of Christ, in Christianity, are his supplies, along with his willingness to follow them. This is only one of literally a vast number of scriptures that should cause a person to realize that the materials used to construct knowledge of the sound doctrine, or building of Christ, cannot be grabbed from any source. If this were not the case, all the builder would have to do when he ran out of supplies is take from another source, in other words, from any other doctrine.

One might suggest that a person then lay his foundation from materials not belonging to the restrictive doctrine of Christ. The logic would be that an inter-faith foundation would be a lot more flexible to accept the good building supplies from many sources (doctrines). However, Christ doesn’t allow the taking of his materials to be added to a foundation that he did not supply. This is why he was very descriptive in what kind of content makes up his foundation.

In a nutshell, any foundation that denies and rejects him as the one and only Christ of God is identified in the Bible as being of the spirit of anti-Christ (1 John 2:22-23). Any foundation that denies and rejects his divinity is also identified as being of the spirit of anti-Christ. Where does the Bible say this? The scripture of 1 John 4.1-3 speaks of the significance of Jesus’ coming to Earth “in the flesh”. “In the flesh” refers directly to divinity–God in the flesh. How can one be sure of this? In the very first verse of the New Testament book of St. John, it’s recorded that, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Later, verse 14 of the same chapter (one), says that, “the Word was made flesh.” Having previously called the Word “God”, the reader is being plainly told that God came “in the flesh”.

People continue to mix and mingle the beliefs, teachings, and doctrines of various religions. However, when they attempt to include bits and pieces from the doctrine of Christ which will not be broken into pieces, they end up with neither a foundation, nor a building that is acceptable to Christ.

Jesus spoke plainly and authoritatively when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (St. John 14:6).

Christ is the foundation for every believer in his word. These various believers cooperate with him in the building on to that foundation. However, the foundation, completed structure, and adornment that they work with, are all encompassed in the one and same doctrine.

Again, the Bible teaches that, “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

The Bible teaches why the sum of all religions can’t amount to the knowledge of God.

© 2008 Heavenly Manna and Hannah Henderson

James Sherard asked:


Religion in Japan more than a specific set of beliefs or doctrines practiced on a daily basis, is a blend of traditions that stem from the early teachings of Shintoism and Buddhism, and which most Japanese have incorporated into rituals and customs that are applied on special occasions, such as visiting a Shinto shrine to mark the birth of a new baby, or attending wedding ceremonies performed by Shinto priests. Buddhism also plays a large role in this religious heritage, in that most funerals in Japan are overseen by Buddhist priests, who in addition to their specific duties at the ceremony perform an ongoing series of rites on death day anniversaries of deceased family members. Many of the festivals in Japan known as Matsuri are also chiefly of Shinto origin, and are often symbolic ceremonies representing the cultivation of rice and the spiritual well being of the community. Matsuri are popular events that are usually associated with Shinto Shrines, and are held annually over the course of several days. One of the key features are processions in which the local  Kami (Shinto Deity) is carried through the streets on a portable shrine called a Mikoshi, often accompanied by drum and flute music. Every local festival has it’s own unique characteristics, but most tend to be noisy, energetic occasions that offers the community an opportunity to come together in joyful celebration. Although most holidays in Japan are secular in nature, News Year’s Day is marked by family traditions that are based in Shintoism, such as the consumption of special food, and visiting various Shrines throughout the day with family members to pray for blessing in the upcoming year. Bon Festival (Obon) in mid August is another well known event for Buddhists which marks the annual visit of ancestors to the earthly plane, and involves frequent visits to Buddhist Temples. Family altars are decorated with special spirit emblems, and ancestral graves are cleaned in anticipation of the return of the souls of family members since departed. Many people also return to their home towns to visit relatives, and to participate in celebrations such as folk dancing and prayers at local Buddhist temples.

 

The origin of the Shinto religion is for the most part uncertain, but some scholars ascertain it emerged thousands of years ago as a cultural extension of immigrants from China, who upon arriving introduced agricultural rites and shamanic ceremonies which invariably took on Japanese characteristics in the new environment. The word Shinto means “the way of the gods”, and proclaims no specific founder or sacred scriptures. The basic premise of the religion is that sacred spirits known as Kami take the form of objects and concepts significant to life, such as mountains, trees, wind, rain, rivers, and fertility. Human beings are capable of becoming Kami after they die, and the Kami of extraordinary people are sometimes enshrined as a show of respect. In contrast to many of the worlds monotheist religions, Shintoism does not profess to a set form of beliefs. The world is seen as being composed of various shades of gray, with no absolute forms of right and wrong. Humans are regarded as being fundamentally good, and immoral behavior is believed to be caused by evil spirits which must be kept at bay by Shinto rituals, prayers, and offerings to the Kami. The arrival of Buddhism in the sixth century exerted profound influence on Japan’s social, intellectual, artistic, and political life, and as a result Shinto temporarily fell out of favor. Fortunately the two religions were soon able to co-exist harmoniously, with many Buddhists viewing the Kami as manifestations of Buddhas.

In addition to Shinto and Buddhism, Japan was introduced to Christianity in the 16th and 17th centuries with the arrival of European traders and Jesuit missionaries, resulting in the conversion of thousands of Japanese to Roman Catholicism. In 1549 a Jesuit priest by the name of John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima from Spain with hopes of bringing Christianity to Japan. Thinking they would reduce the influence of the powerful Buddhist monks, the Shogunate initially supported the Christian movement, but as sentiment changed in the years to follow Christianity was banned by the government, and those who refused to abandon their new faith were killed. Christianity is currently practiced by

approximately 1.3 million people in Japan. Although it represents only a small fraction of the population, Christmas is widely observed, though in a mainly secularized form. Christian organizations have also left their influence by founding well known educational institutions such as as Kwansei Gakuin University, International University, and Sophia University.

Roy E. Klienwachter asked:


Fear of the new or the unknown, is the crippling force that is holding humanity back from moving to its next period of evolution. It is self evident that 84% of the world’s population is not ready for the move.

Only 16% of the world has an alternative view from religion – they are the free thinkers who have chosen to think outside the box. It is this 16% who do not live in fear within religion that will move humanity out of the box it now finds itself in. Religion does not tolerate outside views, and it is religion that has kept humanity chained to the fear of leaving it – “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Humanity has a need to believe in something, and religion capitalized on the fear of the unknown to keep its supporting members.

The world has made huge advances in technology, but has remained stale mated when it comes to knowing itself, its purpose, were it came from, and where it’s going. It also seems inconceivable that mankind has been her now for 100′ s of thousands or even millions of years and in on the last 100 years has discovered the electric light bulb, automobiles and cel phones. Humanity has clearly demonstrated that it does not advance very fast. Where did all these recent discoveries come from? Has the technology been given to us, and are we being guided?

Religion has held us back, because it worked for the Churches. Evolution would automatically turn people away from the churches, because the church does not grow by its very nature. Religion disempowered its people so that they would remain loyal and committed. There is little else in the human experience that people will defend more fiercely even when its evil is exposed. The need to believe is much greater than what one can reason. Wise and powerful people use religion to get what they want and it would not serve them to promote change in doctrine.

Once a person has been disempowered the only thing they have left to hang on to is fear. Fear is the cement that binds and holds one in place, there is no possible escape. For a measure of personal security for its followers, and a promise of eternal damnation; the world’s religions have held back the world’s population in a place in time that is going nowhere. One cannot think outside the box, while they are inside the box. One can deny that they are in the box as their thoughts and actions always give them away – they always return to the box and support their old beliefs. Words can be manipulated and often do not reflect one’s actions. You may be able to speak in a different language, but until you are able to think in that language, you cannot experience it fully.

Many people do not like what I write about, because it causes them to re-evaluate their beliefs, and they don’t like to be challenged. But I do not challenge any belief – all beliefs are valid and appropriate they simply demonstrate what a person is thinking in the moment. What I do is bring to the table an opportunity for change, for something better, and I support empowerment and personal responsibility for one’s own power. No one should ever be condemned for what they believe. If what you believe is bringing you everything that you desire, you would be foolish to change. However, humans are explorers by nature, and if your belief system is holding you back, then you are being held captive by your own thoughts.

Any life affirming religion would empower its members to transcend what it teaches, to become greater than the master, to exceed the limitations of its doctrine. The student must always become the teacher and the teacher the student if it has any value for the future. But this is not possible in religion by its very nature as an end unto itself.

The anthropomorphic old guy with a beard and gray hair who lives in a place called Heaven exists only in your mind and it is what you were taught and because you are afraid to believe otherwise, you have accepted it, by freedom of choice. The world at large believes and created that truth and is made captive by it. God does not live in your body or anywhere else. You are the creator, you are the power to whom you pray to, and you are the centre of the universe. Your world is created by you, for you and because of you. You are the embodiment of all you consider God to be – you are God, and all things are.

Now take that concept and think about it, use it to re-evaluate and reaffirm your present beliefs or use it as a stepping stone to move to the next step. Accept it or reject it because it works or does not work for you, not because you are afraid of it. If unconditional love and unconditional freedom are concepts that you want to experience in your life, then does this new idea work for you – does it pave the way for you to work outside the box? Does it elevate you to a new place of awareness and enlightenment or does it bring you back to where you already are?

A gun in your hand pointed at your head cannot hurt you until you pull the trigger. It is not the gun that kills; it is your thought at the moment you take action on the thought. An idea is just an ideal until it is acted upon. You have nothing to fear from exploring an idea. Some ideas will work for you while others won’t. The thought of holding a gun to your head, is an opportunity for you to evaluate your life and make changes one way or the other. The fact that you got into this position tells you that your current thoughts aren’t working for you. It is an opportunity for you to try something radically different.

Man does not fear being powerless, he experiences it. What man fears the most is the knowledge of his own personal power, of whom he is and what he is capable of. Man uses religion to disempower himself so that he does not have to take responsibility for what he creates and he doesn’t even do it consciously. He creates religions and circumstances that do it for him subconsciously. It is what we have been taught since birth – can we believe anything else?

Try this whenever you are questioned by others or even yourself. When the question comes up about you believing in God or a higher power, answer this way – I believe in me and my power to create all that I desire and experience. I am the creator of all that I experience in this lifetime – there is no one else. I am that higher power and the embodiment of all that I know God to be. Feel the empowerment in those words or the fear that comes from saying the words. You will know immediately what motivates you.

It is not my intention, and never will be, to change the world. I believe it is perfect just the way it is. It is a giant buffet of opportunities that you may choose from. It is your perception of the world that you have control over.

It is the 600 free channels on your TV plus the pay-per-view that you are now experiencing. It is about a life experienced by freedom of choice and not fear. Even in your darkest hour, you will always have a choice because you create your experience through a thought made manifest, and a life lived in fear or freedom.

Roy E. Klienwachter asked:


Although from time to time as you read my books and articles you may get the impression that I am against religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not against any belief system and I believe that all beliefs are appropriate in their time and place.

What disturbs me the most is how the Churches use religion to disempower people. It keeps them captive in a belief system that is less than life affirming in that it holds back the believer from evolving past the Church or the religion itself.

It must be the mission statement of any organization to move its members to a higher level outside of their current beliefs, or the agenda becomes one of preservation of the organization over the welfare of its members. For me, the purpose of going to a church or attending any kind of a meeting would be to enlighten myself – not to be shackled or imprisoned. Moving from one box to the next is okay as long as you continue to move. Every step you take should take you to the next one.

The power of the church is obvious, and after thousands of years of mankind, humanity has moved very little spiritually. Today about 84% of the world’s population is religious. Men of importance and of high stature continue to practice outdated beliefs, and although they do it for their own personal reasons, fear is the common glue the binds them to it.

As enlightened persons, those who have moved out of the box may learn from the practices of the church. It is easy to see how organized religion can manipulate their congregants to remain loyal. The same practices are used in just about every religion – damned if you move; damned if you stay. Don’t ask questions about outside the box and don’t look outside the box or you will be damned.

Humanity is slow at catching up and religion is testament to that. In order to evolve, one must be ready to evolve. You can not walk from here to the corner unless you are willing to take the first step. You will when you are ready, and because so few have taken the step, it is obvious that they are not ready. It is no different outside the box as it is inside, except that you don’t have the four walls holding you back, nor do you have the protection of the four walls, but what you do have is an escape route and a chance to move somewhere else.

It is scary being outside the box and moving to places you know nothing about. However, with time the fear disappears as the unexpected becomes the expected. When one assumes responsibility for their lives, they also accept responsibility for the awesome, infinite power that comes along with it. The power and freedom to do, have, or be anything that you desire on demand and not be limited by ones own thoughts.

It is only when humanity looks to itself to create what it desires, does he truly know he is free and has joined with his God as one. The practices of the church, such as praying, worshipping, and letting go can give us example of how to focus on what we want to create. But, at the same time one must know that he/she is focusing on his own power to create; not any symbols or Gods outside of himself. If you are in denial of your own power, then you are at the whim of something that cannot hear you. You are past help, past hope, and past cure. That is not to say that prayers are all unanswered, but when credit is given away, so is the ability to tap into the power to create at will and from the true source.

When I talk or write about religion, I am not against it, nor am I for it. What I want to do is empower my readers to go past their beliefs, and create something that is even better than what they are experiencing now. I want to give them an opening in the box that they can squeeze through from choice, and move on to something even better. What I want to do is wave at you from where I am, and you are, and let you know that the distance between us is full of opportunities. I made it and so can you.

I am not looking for followers, I represent opportunity and not an end, I am not a guru or a savior, and I am a free spirit moving along a different chosen path. The pieces of paper that I drop along my path are my landmarks and acknowledgement that I have been here and gone. Either way, if you keep finding these papers or if they have all piled up in one spot – you will not find me, for I have moved on. It means I am life itself, always moving and always changing – just as you are.

Empower yourself, set yourself free to think outside the box, fear was meant to conquer; not imprison your soul. Give yourself permission to move on and experience all that you can be. The best belief is the one that demonstrates that it works for you in this life – that it offers you what you want to experience now, and not a promise of something that may come in another time and place. I am not God fearing, I am God loving!