The reason why
There is a lot of unnecessary misunderstanding between people of different faiths—and among sects within the same faith. And yet far more similarities connect the various religions—and sects—than there are differences. The same applies to culture. Inuit Eskimos have more in common with, say, the Maoris than dissimilarities.
People find what they look for
In the 1990s, the Anthropological Survey of India studied the customs, beliefs and habits of the Hiñdus and Muslims of India. The ASI found that 97% of these traits were the same. Indeed as many as 12% of all Indians followed two or more religions. (I am one of that number.)
Till the 1930s the Jews and Christians of Europe listened to the same music, went to the same plays and operas, admired the same paintings, read the same books, honoured the same philosophers, used similar furniture and architecture, swallowed the same medicines, suffered from similar diseases and spoke the same local language.
They would then go home and pray in seemingly different manners—though what they would say to, and expect of, God would be identical. (See below.) Some community festivals would be different, as would be a few details concerning marriage, birth, death and inheritance. There were some kinds of foods that the Jews could not eat—but not very many.
Had an ASI-type survey been conducted in 18th century Europe it would have been revealed how much the Jews and Christians had in common. And how insignificant their differences were. I am certain that the same was true of Bosnian Muslims and Christians before 1990.
After all, the Catholics, Protestants and Greek Orthodox, too, seem to pray in different fashions—even though the essence of their prayers is almost the same.
It is possible that university educated and well to do First World people don’t beg God the way we do in the South. I was a student volunteer in Sandinista Nicaragua in 1987. I was amazed by how rural Latin American women (and many men) prayed to the regional manifestation of Mother Mary in exactly the same way as their Hiñdu counterparts worshipped the local variation of the Mother Goddess. And the things that they asked for—as well as the intensity, the promise to sacrifice something if the wish were granted, and the tears in their eyes—were identical to what happens at Muslim shrines and Buddhist monasteries.
All believers beg of God, ‘Please buy me a Mercedes Benz. Please cure my hopelessly ill relative. Please make me do well in the school tests. Please give me peace of mind. Please book me a place in heaven when I die. Please make me lose weight. Please fix my boss. Please make millions of people read this blog.’
Since 1987 or so I have been collecting information about customs and beliefs shared across communities, as well as identical passages in the scriptures of different religions. These exciting facts are enough to fill a very fat book. Unfortunately, my day job (right now I am the Chairman and Managing Director of the India Tourism Development Corporation) does not give me enough time to write a book—or even to transfer those thousands of pages of notes from paper to computer.
Since June 2006, The Hiñdustan Times has very kindly been publishing, at the rate of 150 words a week, the nuggets that I have gathered, in a weekly column that they call ‘God’s Zillah.’ (Zillah is Persian-Urdu for ‘district.’ The pun is obvious.I would have preferred the title ‘Spot the difference’—meaning, ‘Do you find any difference between Hiñduism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam in the facts published in this column?’)
At this rate it will take me twelve years to complete a 300-page book—and twice as long to write the book(s) of my dreams.
In this blog I plan to post the factoids that I have already published in the HT and elsewhere. If I have your indulgence, I would also like to post raw data—not edited for spelling or grammar—from my computer. Longer posts (e.g. Lord Jesus/ Moses in Kashmir) are from my books.
I hope that some readers will post similar information—about the unity of mankind and the oneness of all religions—on this blog.
Of course, for that to happen I will have to first pray that someone at all reads this blog.
People find what they look for
In the 1990s, the Anthropological Survey of India studied the customs, beliefs and habits of the Hiñdus and Muslims of India. The ASI found that 97% of these traits were the same. Indeed as many as 12% of all Indians followed two or more religions. (I am one of that number.)
Till the 1930s the Jews and Christians of Europe listened to the same music, went to the same plays and operas, admired the same paintings, read the same books, honoured the same philosophers, used similar furniture and architecture, swallowed the same medicines, suffered from similar diseases and spoke the same local language.
They would then go home and pray in seemingly different manners—though what they would say to, and expect of, God would be identical. (See below.) Some community festivals would be different, as would be a few details concerning marriage, birth, death and inheritance. There were some kinds of foods that the Jews could not eat—but not very many.
Had an ASI-type survey been conducted in 18th century Europe it would have been revealed how much the Jews and Christians had in common. And how insignificant their differences were. I am certain that the same was true of Bosnian Muslims and Christians before 1990.
After all, the Catholics, Protestants and Greek Orthodox, too, seem to pray in different fashions—even though the essence of their prayers is almost the same.
It is possible that university educated and well to do First World people don’t beg God the way we do in the South. I was a student volunteer in Sandinista Nicaragua in 1987. I was amazed by how rural Latin American women (and many men) prayed to the regional manifestation of Mother Mary in exactly the same way as their Hiñdu counterparts worshipped the local variation of the Mother Goddess. And the things that they asked for—as well as the intensity, the promise to sacrifice something if the wish were granted, and the tears in their eyes—were identical to what happens at Muslim shrines and Buddhist monasteries.
All believers beg of God, ‘Please buy me a Mercedes Benz. Please cure my hopelessly ill relative. Please make me do well in the school tests. Please give me peace of mind. Please book me a place in heaven when I die. Please make me lose weight. Please fix my boss. Please make millions of people read this blog.’
Since 1987 or so I have been collecting information about customs and beliefs shared across communities, as well as identical passages in the scriptures of different religions. These exciting facts are enough to fill a very fat book. Unfortunately, my day job (right now I am the Chairman and Managing Director of the India Tourism Development Corporation) does not give me enough time to write a book—or even to transfer those thousands of pages of notes from paper to computer.
Since June 2006, The Hiñdustan Times has very kindly been publishing, at the rate of 150 words a week, the nuggets that I have gathered, in a weekly column that they call ‘God’s Zillah.’ (Zillah is Persian-Urdu for ‘district.’ The pun is obvious.I would have preferred the title ‘Spot the difference’—meaning, ‘Do you find any difference between Hiñduism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam in the facts published in this column?’)
At this rate it will take me twelve years to complete a 300-page book—and twice as long to write the book(s) of my dreams.
In this blog I plan to post the factoids that I have already published in the HT and elsewhere. If I have your indulgence, I would also like to post raw data—not edited for spelling or grammar—from my computer. Longer posts (e.g. Lord Jesus/ Moses in Kashmir) are from my books.
I hope that some readers will post similar information—about the unity of mankind and the oneness of all religions—on this blog.
Of course, for that to happen I will have to first pray that someone at all reads this blog.
posted by P Dewan at 2:49 PM
1 Comments:
Good blog! Good idea and good work.
May God bless you in your work and your path.
Be Well,
Bob Griffin
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