“To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance" (Eric Hoffer)
As we know, India is a secular country. People from diverse religions live with unity. The constitution also declared India as a secular country. And every citizen has the right to follow any religion.
The four main religion followed in India is Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam. Jainism and Buddhism are also among other religions followed by a minority of people in various parts of the country.India is a united country with diverse religions. But some people discriminate and don't tolerate others on the basis of religion, caste, color, and community.
So here in this article, we will discuss in detail religious intolerance, its causes, and its negative effect on the people and society.
It is an act of opposing the right of people of another religion to practice and express their faith and beliefs freely. Religious intolerance is like discriminating against others on the basis of religion.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich” (Napoleon Bonaparte).
But today's scenario is different: people are killing others on the basis of religion. It is not only the problem in India or any particular country but a global one . Many countries of the world are facing this problem and trying to stop it by following different measures.
Causes of the intolerance
Every religion teaches to promote peace and harmony in our surroundings and society. They taught to unite the nation in terms of religion as India is said to be a secular country.
In the past, many wars were fought in the name of religion. Even today also lots of conflicts and disruption arise in society because of the religious aspect. The main causes of religious intolerance are as under-
1: Political Aspects: Political scenario becomes one of the major reason for discrimination and conflicts among people. Politicians usually took advantage of common masses by advocating violence in their speeches while rallying for their own benefits which needs to be stopped .
2: Beliefs: In some religions, it is believed that if any person dies in any religious work will go straight to heaven and it sometimes encourages people to participate in a religious war.
3: Scriptures: Scriptures include religious texts or any religious written material which relates to raising the spirit of aggression in the people because some people feel driven to be a part of god’s war against evil.
4: Economical Aspects: In simple words, the person who has money can do anything in society. Intolerance develops when the gap between rich and poor increases instead of decreasing or holding the difference. Then people become intolerant to deal while dealing with some of the issues that exist in our society.
5: Community interest: Religious violence occurs if the interest of one community is threatened by another community and that leads to the violence or war between the communities.
6: Exploitation: The people are exploited in schools and workplaces based on their religion. In every country, it is observed that the people belonging to a lame section of society are misused by the wealthy ones, based on religion, and when such victimization becomes unbearable people may become violent in such cases against the former.
Effects of religious intolerance on the society
Religious tolerance gives a perverse effect on society as it is rising highly in India. India is a country that has given birth to religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, as the Indian Constitution declared India a secular republic as well.
Religions are teaching people how to live peacefully in this world, help and do not harm others. But people today forgot the basic principles and teachings of their religion. And they keep fighting with others on the name of religion which is one of the major social issues arising before us. Today what we are seeing is that religion is turning people against each other and some lost their lives for no reason. Religious intolerance is making the lives of people miserable which needs to be stopped at an earliest. It leads us nowhere rather than communal disputes and wars.The famous, Nobel prize winner in peace, Kailash Satyarthi said-
“The biggest challenge or biggest crisis knocking on the doors of humankind is fear and intolerance.”
Solutions and Measure to be Taken
For every problem, the solution exists. To solve the problem of religious intolerance some measures must be taken which are suggested below:
1. Religious institutions must provide the right knowledge to their adherents.
2. Governments should enforce strict laws without discrimination to discourage those who resort to violence to settle their differences.
3. During elections, religion should not be the subject of promotion and campaign.
4. People need to focus on the positive aspects of their religions and cultivate tolerance.
5. Most importantly, religious extremists, to whichever religions they may belong, must be isolated and dealt with severe punishments and deterrents.
Religions are not meant to restrict and limit our thoughts, emotions, and life. It is meant to cultivate good thoughts and connection to God. In every religion, it is taught to love and help each other. Religion doesn’t tell anyone to discriminate or harm each other.
What’s Our Role:
As a citizen of a country and a follower of any particular religion:
1. It is our responsibility to maintain peace and harmony in the country.
2. Do not differentiate people on the basis of religion.
3. We are representatives of our religion in society, so we should act in a way that others will respect us and our religion.
4. We should respect other religions also.
5. We should not disrespect other sacred books, places of worship, and other things that other people are worshipping.
6. Teach our children to respect others, their religion, and beliefs.
Conclusion-
Religious intolerance must be removed as it is not good for society. It may lead to the devastation of society as citizens are fighting on the basis of religion. The government should make awareness among the people regarding religious intolerance through campaigns and programs. It should be removed completely for the improvement of society and the nation.
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