Conflict Due To Faith

[Sikhi4Ever]

Conflict due to faith

Based on religious beliefs, the major faith groups that exist today are theists, agnostics, atheists, and those who believe only in the soul, but not in God. Basic morality preached by these different faiths, however, is in general similar. It is strange, rather unfortunate, that those who believe in the Creator do not share the same definition of God. Therefore, each religion claims that only the believers of their faith are qualified for rewards such as Heaven. People of other faiths, even though they are theists, will not be permitted entry into Heaven because they believe in a "false God." and not the "true God."

These beliefs have split society into opposing and mutually antagonistic groups that behave as if they are enemies of one another. Different religious beliefs have been the cause of many wars causing great harm to people worldwide and this unfortunate history is well documented. Ironically, even within the same faith, bloody intra-religious fights still persist. For example: Protestant and Catholic clashes in Northern Ireland, Shiite and Suni Muslim battles in the middle east, high caste and low caste Hindu killings in India, violent tribal clashes in Africa and other places.

Search for Peace

In the East, a holy man named Guru Nanak, revealed a new thought in the field of spirituality. He told his followers, "I was summoned by the Creator - our common Father-Mother, and was given the holy message to be shared with all the people. The sermon God gave me is: Do not divide human beings into Hindus, Muslims, or into other groups/faiths; they are all My children and equal. I love all of them; they may love Me by any name - Allah, Ram, etc. No one should be hated or considered alien."

Guru Nanak gave up his job, took long journeys all over Asia to the holy places of the Hindus, Muslims, and others. Wherever he went, he preached, "Anyone who loves God, realizes Him, and achieves the mission of human life. Beyond this earth, there is no physical place called Heaven or Hell. When we love the Lord and sing His virtues, we enjoy Heavenly bliss. When we ignore Him and become prisoners of vices such as ego, lust, anger, and greed, we undergo the sufferings of Hell here on this very earth."

Guru Nanak founded institutions, called Sangats or "a congregation of equals without discrimination" where all people, Hindus, Muslims, low caste, high caste, rich, poor, etc., were to sit together and recite God's praises. For God, they adopted many names - Allah, Ram, Rahim, Gopal, Krishan, Niranjan, Guru, - with equal respect for all names in vogue among the people of different faiths.

This thought united the mutually distrusting Hindu-Muslim communities. It also removed the inferiority and superiority complexes among Hindus of different castes. They joined together in common congregations and brought peace to a fractured society. They were called the Sikhs, the "students" or "seekers of Truth". Their faith came to be known as Sikhism. Its actual name is Gurmat, "the wisdom coming from the Guru," the guide.

It is probably because of the universal message and the non-discriminatory nature of the hymns in the sacred writing of the Sikhs that made Arnold Toynbee, a world famous historian who has done much work in comparing cultures, conclude,

"Mankind's religious future may be obscure; yet one thing can be foreseen. The living higher religions are going to influence each other more than ever before… In this coming religious debate, the Sikh religion and its scriptures, the Guru Granth, will have something special of value to say to the rest of the world."

[kaur_khalistani_lioness]

thank u! :pray:

[kh@ls@]

:BOW:

[RKang17]

:awesome:

:R: ^

[Mehtab Singh]

The sermon God gave me is: Do not divide human beings into Hindus, Muslims, or into other groups/faiths; they are all My children and equal. I love all of them; they may love Me by any name - Allah, Ram, etc. No one should be hated or considered alien."

Read this!

Read this!

Read this all you haters out there, and bang your head against the wall 15 times before you even dream of posting hate about other communities over here. Yes you know who you are. Now start whining!