A multicultural society doesn’t reject the culture of the others but is prepared to listen, see, dialogue and, in the final analysis, possibly accept the other’s culture without compromising its own. – Reuven Rivlin.
This makes me ponder in which culture are we living? Is this the world our progenitors fought for? Do we (cordially) accept others’ cultures? I don’t think so! Our great progenitors configured a flawless concept several years ago and called it religion to recover faith, to learn humanity, to have hope and inner peace, to become humane. Even if there was disparity in the names of cultures they developed; the preaching was the same and they lived happily accepting the differences. Then what has happened to the world which considered religion as humanity; now has the brutality?
I feel that our culture has become so good at pulling other people down and has become judgemental over decades. Yet there’s space for all of us to be who we are. There’s space for us to celebrate each other and not put down each other. We can’t manipulate someone to like or be as “our” cultural demands! In this 21st century, we are facing a lot of problems that we as a united society need to look after. Then why is everything still orbiting around the religion? I am deeply shocked how can a person fall for doing heinous acts in the sweet name of religious beliefs or culture? In India, religion has become the key point of everything. People are murdering their own companions, the young girls or women are being victimized by Hindu-Muslim religionism, the terrorists are thrusting innocents including small offsprings without thinking twice in the name of jihad. People are voting political leader on the basis of cast, creed rather than capabilities.
This is detrimental. Nothing’s going to be better if this culture that we’re nurturing keeps multiplying. Religious beliefs or practices, the culture we live or develop is the personal matter of every individual and we need to respect that. If a person is born in an explicit religion, its neither his offense nor preference. We need to suck that up profoundly. Religion, castes, culture are just man-made theories which harness human’s hope and peace. No religion is ill, the people born in it are making it ill.
You must be asking, ‘so it’s the religion you want to change?’ No, obviously not! I know I alone cannot make a change in the whole cultural system. But at least I can try and beseech to you. The role of culture is to make people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it’s easier to overcome the economic, social and political barriers. But first, we’ve to understand that our neighbor is, in the end, just like us, with the same problems, the same questions. Preservation of one’s own culture doesn’t require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.
So let’s start with our own selves. Each one of you who’re reading this; do something good for other culture’s people. Comprehend it. Communicate about it.
Share your culture’s concrete philosophy. Share happiness and peace within. Never let our prejudices become hindrance in the path of blessedness. The equal right of all citizens to life, education, security, culture, and wellbeing – are the same rights we proclaimed when we began our struggle, in addition to those which emerge from our dreams of justice and equality for all inhabitants of our world – is what I wish. And I’ll do everything it takes to make that change happen in our society, till my last. To sum up, I’ll recite an excerpt from the work of Jalaluddin Rumi:
“He was not on the Cross of the Christians. I went to the Hindu temples. In none of them was there any sign… I went to the Kaaba of Mecca. He was not there. I asked about him from Avicenna the philosopher. He was beyond the range of Aviccena… I looked into my heart. In that, his place, I saw him. He was in no other place..” 🙂
-Apurva Nitin Mane, Blog writer
