{"id":23587,"date":"2023-03-08T10:03:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T04:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/?p=23587"},"modified":"2023-03-08T10:03:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T04:33:07","slug":"the-imperfections-of-faith-major-general-rajiv-edwards-vsm-retd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/?p=23587","title":{"rendered":"THE IMPERFECTIONS OF FAITH \u00a0– Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM (Retd)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THE IMPERFECTIONS OF FAITH \u00a0– Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM (Retd)<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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  1. The underpinning of religion is GOD, the epitome of love, and every faith is perceived to be a path to the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God. Religion is also important to establish a general ethical framework and provide a sense of community. However, many times, in the pursuit of faith, one tends to wean away from\u00a0 this reality and lose sight of the scriptural truth, \u2018that which clings blindly to one idea, as if it were all, without logic, truth or insight, that has its origin in darkness<\/strong>\u2019.<\/li>\n
  2. India is a deeply religious society, with nearly 97% believers in God. However, there is an inexplicable incongruity in our religiosity\u2026the gap between theory and practice. Not surprisingly, the cauldron of society is aboil with the amoral potpourri of every hue. We may not want to link religiosity to social decline, but it does not appear to be a contributory factor to morality as well. Sadly, that role appears to have been usurped by economics, wherein the ethical content of religion is swamped by the dogma of materialism<\/strong>, which tacitly approves unethical behavior.<\/li>\n
  3. Religion is a private calling, but usually practiced with the most public display!\u00a0 Competitive religiosity oft times manifests in an overdrive in public expressions of devoutness \u2026.<\/strong> as if brandishing and propagation of faith is likely to secure \u2018bonus points\u2019 for attainment of spiritual goals!\u00a0 This mindset reduces religion to a noun, less a verb<\/strong>, obfuscating the fact that genuine discipleship and faith is measured by parameters other than religious grandstanding and optics.\u00a0 Ironically, in a world of wanton consumerism, marketing of religion too has developed into an industry!<\/li>\n
  4. Secularism, with \u2018sarva dharma sama bhava\u2019 as its key tenet, is one of the basic features of our Constitution. In India, with its vast diversity, forbearance is the melody for peaceable co-existence. Sadly, opportunism has laid bare the soul of secularism<\/strong>; the use of God as a means to manipulate the mind and actions of the populace for selfish interests, is no means to justify the ends. Moreover, creation of fault lines between communities is unlikely to fulfill any meaningful purpose, but to raise the \u2018costs\u2019 for the country! The contortion of \u2018secular\u2019 for \u00a0\u2018sickular\u2019 and \u2018secularism\u2019 for \u2018appeasement politics\u2019 reflects the dissonance in the secular discourse. \u00a0The fact is that religion is the opium which everyone wants to reap<\/strong>! \u00a0And, the \u2018tu tu main main\u2019 to claim the secular crown, only lays bare the fact that, \u2018hamam mein saare nange hain\u2019<\/strong>!<\/li>\n
  5. The burden of lower socio economic status is more pronounced in developing countries like India. Consequently, religion plays a more functional role in helping citizens to cope with the daily struggle for survival. Not surprisingly, a large number naively kowtow to <\/strong>\u2018mentors<\/strong>\u2019 of varied genre<\/strong> and<\/strong> description<\/strong>!\u00a0 Religious leaders have a strong potential to influence lives and shape social values in line with faith based teachings.\u00a0 However, at times, in the process of religious teaching, there is artifact and loss, as well as embellishment and personal bias. God\u2019s word will not steer us wrong, but the \u2018Pharisee\u2019s\u2019 of religion often place a superfluous burden on the gullible followers<\/strong>, which distracts from the soul and spirit of faith.<\/li>\n
  6. The programmed schooling that one\u2019s religion is the best and others are probably some flavor of evil may result in exalting one\u2019s religion to the status of the \u2018premium faith\u2019, with the devotee willy nilly, becoming the \u2018defender of the faith\u2019. This is one of the causes that inhibits the ability of a society to achieve adaptation and integration. The idea that humans need to protect their gods, is potentially more dangerous, than the idea that gods protect humans!<\/li>\n
  7. As per His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, \u2018\u2026the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate\u2026..the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether<\/strong>\u2019. The fact is that being religious does not automatically make one spiritual; it is the transition from believer to seeker<\/strong>, inter alia a more meaningful connect to the divine, which distinguishes the two. Religion can take you to the second highest level of Maslow\u2019s Hierarchy of Needs, but only spirituality can get you to the top\u2026the concept of self actualization<\/strong>. This is the \u2018ability to become the best version of your (spiritual) self<\/strong>\u2019. It is only then that, rules, checklists and worry of how one is \u2018doing religion\u2019 will give way to tranquility and bliss and, in the overall context, a better society<\/strong>. The more righteousness a person uses to bring unconditional good to society, \u00a0\u00a0the more one climbs up the rung of humanity!<\/li>\n
  8. Wisdom is the perfection of faith\u2026the capacity of the mind that allows us to understand life from God\u2019s perspective. If spiritual wisdom<\/strong> is indeed the \u2018first and highest gift from the God<\/strong>\u2019, then it is equally true that this exceptional benefaction is earned through purity of faith and application of God\u2019s Word to our lives, in \u2018form and substance\u2019. This is the soul of religion.<\/li>\n
  9. Swami Vivekananda once said that, \u2018I shall call you religious from the day you begin to see God in men and women<\/strong>\u2019. Religion should spend less time talking about the goodness of the Creator and more time acting out that goodness. It is indeed a paradox why human beings cannot imbibe the goodness and love of the God, whom they believe in so fervently. \u00a0Be that as it may, it appears likely, that for the time being we will continue to live with the contradictions, until and unless, there is \u2018visible actionism\u2019, instead of \u2018muted acquiescence\u2019\u2026till then, \u2018vasudhaiva kutumbakam<\/strong>\u2019 may not be fully realised!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n

    (Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM** (retd) is a Historical Researcher and Commenter on Social Issues. Views are personal)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

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    THE IMPERFECTIONS OF FAITH \u00a0– Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM (Retd) The underpinning of religion is GOD, the epitome of love, and every faith is perceived to be a path to the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God. Religion is also important to establish a general ethical framework and provide a sense of community. However, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}