I have to, first and foremost, credit the title to my husband Ganesh who popped these words a few days ago when we were discussing some interesting thoughts about religion and beliefs of people, including ourselves. This is the first time I've heard it so I am not sure if it is a jargon that is in wider use or something he came up with. Anyway, it was very enlightening, so I thought a bit more about it.
We were discussing, or rather I brought up the topic of people's beliefs in religion and God and how I, being somewhat agnostic myself, was a little confused about other people's thoughts. Especially with the concept of people converting from one faith to another(within a particular religion, for instance, from being Hindu Brahmin to being Hindu Non-Brahmin). I feel that faith is somewhat personal and it is very abstract and it is in one's head. So to me, when someone says 'From today I follow Faith X as against my original Faith Y', I feel that it is just a change in one's mindset. A change in the way one thinks about things and probably makes decisions, so I don't understand why one would have to explicitly convert or say that they have converted. For me, it is more of a change per se. Like for example, until yesterday one would have believed that one has to speak one's mind at any cost and would have been impatient, but after some experiences, now the same person may have understood that being patient pays off and sometimes one has to learn to hold back on some thoughts. This is really a change in one's thinking and it impacts one's life, but we don't explicitly talk about this change in a larger context.
Coming back to the topic, when I was arguing all this with Ganesh, he simply said something that struck a chord in me. He told me that though I was very liberal in my thoughts I was becoming 'liberal-strict', as in I was making 'liberalism' a religion by itself and was wanting everyone to be liberal. And I think that in a way, it beats the purpose of liberal thinking. Ganesh rightly pointed out that I have to be 'liberal-liberal' rather than 'liberal-strict'. And come to think of it, that is the true essence of being liberal.
I've been giving this some thought and I must admit that though I ultimately let people keep their ideas and I don't really disrespect it, I tend to think aloud, which means I ask a lot of questions, so it also looks like I'm trying to change others' thinking. However, that is really not what I intend to do but it does sure make sense if I put myself in others' shoes and I can understand why Ganesh calls me 'liberal-strict'. As always, some things get me thinking and help uncover part of the maze in my mind. This was one of them and I sure am consciously going to try to become 'liberal-liberal'.
2 comments:
Thanks for the credit.
In fact, I also indulge in such discussion and do it for understanding religions better. I also do question a "believer's" thoughts on topic where the religion itself has some conservative thoughts.
Though I am as agnostic or aethist as you are, religion does excit me. Because I think it was a system developed by us - human beings - to bring order and standards.
The scripts of all religion seem to preach similar things.
Religion as a concept has played an important role in the history of human kind. It will continue to play in future.
The only grudge I have against religion is that instead of it becoming the torch bearer for peace in the world, human beings are using it or letting it used to wage wars and promote disharmony.
The very purpose of religion is being defeated.
I completely agree with you that religion does have a major role in our lives in many forms. It is also an interesting thing to learn more about. Nevertheless, as you rightly (again) said, it is a shame that people are using this more for all the wrong reasons rather than right ones.
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