Friday, March 01, 2002
Geez, it's stories like this one that make me wish that human beings had never invented religion in the first place. Well, that story, and the fact it also seems to be used as justification by people who run airplanes into tall building.
Why on earth does either side have to BE right? Why is one person bothered by the fact that another doesn't believe the same thing they do? How do they mesh sectarian violence with the presumed notion that the supreme being (or beings) they worship is supposed to be good?
Of course, this whole conflict may be completely unrelated to religion. The mosque torn down in 1992 by Hindu militants was built from the stones of the old Hindu temple to Ram, which the muslims tore down 450 years ago when Babar conquered the northern part of India (that's Babar the Uzbek conqueror, not the happy-go-lucky French elephant, though "Babar conquers Northern India" would be an interesting addition to the series). According to an Indian friend of mine, the former mosque would have the faces of Hindu gods staring down at you from the walls, right below moulding painted with lines from the Koran. That's like building a Catholic church in Bangor Wat.
Anyway, back to my point, this may well be rationalized as revenge for an act that happened 450 years ago. That's just about as stupid as killing someone because they don't believe the same thing as you.
Why on earth does either side have to BE right? Why is one person bothered by the fact that another doesn't believe the same thing they do? How do they mesh sectarian violence with the presumed notion that the supreme being (or beings) they worship is supposed to be good?
Of course, this whole conflict may be completely unrelated to religion. The mosque torn down in 1992 by Hindu militants was built from the stones of the old Hindu temple to Ram, which the muslims tore down 450 years ago when Babar conquered the northern part of India (that's Babar the Uzbek conqueror, not the happy-go-lucky French elephant, though "Babar conquers Northern India" would be an interesting addition to the series). According to an Indian friend of mine, the former mosque would have the faces of Hindu gods staring down at you from the walls, right below moulding painted with lines from the Koran. That's like building a Catholic church in Bangor Wat.
Anyway, back to my point, this may well be rationalized as revenge for an act that happened 450 years ago. That's just about as stupid as killing someone because they don't believe the same thing as you.
