A History of God

Sometime ago I read 'A History of God' by Karen Armstrong. A brilliant exposition on the triad of Judaism, Christianity and Islam that were each reared in the lap of the Middle East. Judaism was really the codification of the beliefs of a tribe that gained more power over the others (they all had similar practices of anointing stones with oil, with different names for God, the name of the more influential tribe's God YHWH became the common name for God over time). Every religion develops some rot over time, and it takes some rebellion to establish equilibrium again. Christianity rose as a response to the ritual deadwood of Judaism. Islam rose against the converting influence of Christianity, to preserve the unique identity of the desert tribes. All three are wonderful and powerful creeds. All three have led people to explore within and realize vast spiritual wealth. They have led people to be kind and giving and loving and to generally be good human beings. 

 

However, since those who show the way to heaven are always more influential than those who collect taxes, politicians all through history have sought to control religion and use it for power games. It is recorded in the diary kept by Babar that when all else failed, he would declare "this is a holy war against Hinduism" and his soldiers would be fired up again. It is not the fault of the religion. It is always the heart of man that is at fault. The emperor Constantine declared Christianity as the official religion merely for administrative and political purposes. The Crusades were about land, not faith.

 

Secondly, when religious faith heats up to fervor and boils over to become zeal, it scalds many an innocent. The Inquisition is an extreme example. So is the current Taliban.

 

Third, when Jesus said "I am the Way" or when Krishna said "Mamekam saranam vraja" (Surrender only unto Me), they didn't mean go kill the others. They meant, spirituality is the only way out of this material world. They said, look at me, I am real, the rest of the illusion around you is not. I am the truth, your lies are not. Obviously, much gets lost and twisted in interpretation, translation, commentary, preaching and in the personal biases of religious teachers. Whether pastors, priests, imams or gurus, teachers are the major source of faith - they need to be nonpartisan, large-hearted and truly liberated for them to guide others. There are many warnings in the Upanishads against false gurus. One kind Christian woman commenting on a blog somewhere said "I cannot help but feel sorry for all the unsaved heathen souls..." The heartbreaking fact is she was genuinely concerned. How does one undo years of wrong and powerful conditioning?

 

Let at least our children learn to put humanity first. Over religion, over nationalism, over ethnicity, over language. Humanity first, every time.