The seeker

These days the news is full of religious issues and where there is trouble in the world today there seems to be religion in the centre of it all. The refugee crises, the hostage taking of school girls, the burning of homes, large scale murders, rapes and everything else even mundane things like running a film school is affected by religion.

It is very disheartening when something personal to an individual is important to another who is often unrelated and inconsequential to the individual. Why fight about religion? It is like small boys saying, “mine is bigger”. Big or small it is usually most useful only to the owner, is it not?

When someone from a particular religion feels insecure with another religion and feels that the other religion must be eradicated so that his religion remains it must be a time to introspect. Why do different religions exist? I would believe that they exist to satisfy different needs and a person will choose to move from one to another if his needs are not met in his present religion no matter how controversial it may sound. There are others who move away completely from religion because their needs could not be satisfied and call themselves agnostics or atheists.

By wearing outward signs of one’s religion one may identify himself or herself with the religion but till one’s religion identifies itself with the individual it is a wasted exercise. If a religion proclaims peace or tolerance (most do) wearing the religious symbols and doing the opposite will drive people away rather than to it. As a seeker one would like to see the truth in the life of a believer but if the believer lives otherwise then the seeker will move on.

The seeker looks for God and hopes to see his invisible  God in his visible fellow man, if he sees the devil then why blame the seeker if he flees?