Cricket and Religion.

Who would have imagined that an Indian crowd would cheer for a Pakistani bowler bowling against an Indian batsman ?. All this hype about the divide based on religion has been proved wrong. Shoaib Akthar is a genuine fast bowler and an exciting cricketer. The support he got from the Kolkata crowd and from his team just goes to prove that the animosity between India and Pakistan is at the higher level and not at the grass roots. Shoaib arrived in India after a very rough month but he excelled in a situation tailor made for him. There was no bad blood as it was evident when Shewag congratulated the Pakistani bowler after the match. The politicians from both countries make really bad decisions when all the people want is a better life and really don’t care about anything else.

The same thing can be said about the war in Iraq . A good majority of the literate Americans want their government to focus on internal issues which are becoming worse and they really don’t want their country to be involved in any war but that means little to the politicians who are in power . The only way for a politician in any country to become popular is by creating a sensation. Anti Indian sentiments can help a Pakistani politician to get into and stay in power. Even in America , Ron Paul the only reasonable Republican candidate was not given any media attention because he is a boring candidate who believes war is a bad idea.

Overall the world will be a much better place if all countries can focus on improving the standard of life and facilities for its citizens. Religion is a good thing as long as it is used for the right reasons. To me if religion can save someones life I would endorse it but if it is used to kill someone I would reject it and call it a weapon of mass destruction.There is always this argument that religion was meant to guide people to do the right thing but that is really not the case as we see with all the conflicts in the world which are primarily to prove that some religion is better than another. Lot of people I know get very emotional and upset when I claim that I don’t approve of religion of any form or kind ( and I don’t even ask them to change thier faith in religion) . I would be more than happy to listen if they tell me how religion has made them a better person or made them do more good than bad. If their faith just helped them feel good about themselves then it is really not all that powerful. Religion was supposed to bring peace and harmony and nothing else. Everybody has a right to believe in a superior power and I have no issues with that but the moment someone believes that they can harm someone else in the name of religion it becomes a problem.

People fight for wealth and fame but they stop once they get there but it is very evident from all these fanatic groups all over the world that religious fundamentalists are a dangerous group who will not stop at anything including their own death . Most of the time is spent in complaining when one religious group complains about another followed by discussions on which one is better . There are millions of people following different religions in this planet . In simpler terms a good majority of people will be wrong if the other majority is to be right. The other important aspect is can we all accept the probability that there is no Allah , no Jesus and no Hindu God but there is one God who is powerful and protects the world and we all have different representations of the same one ? It will be impossible for a Christian to accept Allah and vice versa and there lies the disconnect for me. It is not even the concept of God that is very important but it is the flavor of it. These religions institutions are headed by humans who cannot know more about life than a beggar on the street. They act more like corporates selling their faith than imposing morality and good values. All you hear from them is how their God is better and more powerful and very little on how to lead a good life. History has proved that religion has caused more destruction than good.We either need to work hard on making sure that the religion is used for the right reasons or abolish it and move on.

I believe in Karma and for some it may be the whole concept of God and if that is the case I will accept it. If that also means that you have to be in a holy place to do that good deed I would still embrace it. Let us keep it simple do one good deed every day and ask everyone you meet to do the same. You have to be a good human first and then be religious .