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I sat here trying to think of what I could possibly title a post about the terrible happenings in Mumbai last week. The sheer senseless loss of lives, destruction of property, the youthful young men who had their whole lives ahead of them choosing to go into a situation armed to the teeth to meet their own deaths and bring as many with them as they could…its beyond my comprehension hence the title as it is.

There’s much being made of the fact that its another act of violence against innocent civilians by Muslim extremists which puts Islam in a bad light once again. I have nothing against Islam. As someone who believes in the concept of God I do have a certain amount of respect for all religions and more than that I respect someone’s choice of what they want to believe in. What does bother me is the extremist fanatical attitude that’s prevalent in all religions..the “you can’t question the word of God” approach. I have questions. A lot of them.

I question the dogma that is pounded into young minds that tells them their faith is above all others. I question the religious leaders who claim to be experts and yet do not stand for their expertise being probed and obvious loopholes in the theories being scrutinised. I question how they can justify murder when the sanctity of life is the cornerstone of every religion. I question the basic interpretations put on the “words of God”. By their very nature words are open to a wealth of meaning..hence their place as our primary communication tool. What is the benchmark for being an expert on the word of God? Being able to quote scripture and choosing the meaning to uphold your beliefs and your beliefs alone? 

I question how women can be subjugated and seen as second class when they are the ones responsible for nurturing our lives as mothers. I question how they can turn the innocence of youth into the flat, cold eyes of the young people who devalue the lives of others. Most of all I question the thrall of the followers who do not seem to find the voice to say this is not the only interpretation of the teachings of God, this is not humanity, and most of all this is not ok with me as a human being.

These thoughts float about in my conscious and were brought to the fore by an article AB had forwarded me by Thomas L. Friedman, “Calling All Pakistanis”. This article specifically references the Mumbai attacks of 26th November but is a question that needs to be raised of not just the Muslims but people everywhere. Every religion carries in it the seeds of extremism. Where do we cross the line of identifying ourselves as human beings first into our religious divide or cultural identities? Why does it become easy to say ‘I am of religion A and the bugger from religion B is trying to be a punk so lets squash them all’. Now this is perhaps trivializing the feelings of some and in the heat of the moment its easy for lines to be blurred.

I am more of a spiritual rather than religious type. I find the organized doctrine of religion confining and I am not able to say this is the word of god so I’m just going to accept it no questions asked. I am also too much a believer in choice and the respecting of the choices of others even if its not what I would choose for myself.

There’s an incident I’ll share with you which has happened with me personally. Many years ago the first lesbian/gay books were being introduced into the Canadian elementary system. I lived in Vancouver at the time and many religious groups opposed the addition of those books into the system. The basic premise of the opposition was that it went against God to be Gay and to teach our children to be accepting of such a difference was intolerable as it went directly against the word of God. Petitions were drafted and signed at various religious institutions.

I went to the gurdwara(sikh temple) on one such evening as I was prone to do at that time and was asked to sign the petition. The man encouraging me to do so was elderly with all the obvious trademarks of being a ‘true’ sikh, turban, beard and all. He explained that this went against the teaching of our gurus and we had to stop it. I looked at him and said “No”. He was visibly shocked. I went on to say that I didn’t see anything wrong with children being taught to understand that we are all different and to accept each other for our differences. He thought I was a “wild, westernised, probably on drugs” girl and I thought he was an “uptight, anal extremist”. It takes a voice.

Alas my voice has failed me as well. I had a similar conversation with an acquaintance who felt much as the man did. This time I said nothing. This was an acquaintance, someone who I had viewed to have some similar background and foundation as I did.

In my eyes this makes me as guilty as the young men who shot the innocent tourists and staff at various places in Mumbai and indeed around the world  wherever terror in the name of religion has raised its ugly head. Its not enough to have a voice unless you use it. Unless you use it in every occasion where such issues which go against your moral grain arise because every silent acceptance is another layer in joining the thralled masses who may privately condemn such acts but will publically condone it.

The only way for this to stop is for the world to say this is not ok and most especially for the people of the same faith, the faith that’s being raised as the flag for such action, to say this is not ok. That it is never ok.