Religious Arrogance

ARROGANCE

I wrote the following in the comment section of Washington post in response to Princess Lubna; http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/09/lunar_calendar_holy-days.html

The purpose of religion is to create harmony. Indeed, arrogance is the mother of all disharmonies in the society. Not the religion, but the self appointed guardians of religions add religious arrogance to create disharmony.

If you are Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or a person of any faith, and claim your faith to be wise, oldest, modest, best or perfect then it is sheer arrogance. God has not signed a deal with you or me behind any one's back. Each one of us believes that God is about justness, peace, harmony, co-existence and truthfulness, and then we cannot make God our exclusive property or a partial sneaky God.

As people of faith, we need to resist the temptation to claim that our faith is superior to the other; that amounts to sheer arrogance. God likes a person most who forgives and the least that is arrogant. The purpose of religion is to bring humility, harmony and peace to an individual, and not rattling arrogance. As a Muslim, I do not claim my faith to be superior, but it works for me as your faith works for you.

All faiths work for the individuals who believe in. As they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I would say, faith is in the heart of the believer.

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