A Christian cannot be Christian unless he believes in Jesus Christ. A Muslim cannot be Muslim if he refuses to believe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as last prophet. Regardless of whatever good that may be in texts of these religions, one must first believe in these pre-conditions – the special status of these people – to be eligible for anything else in these texts. For example, if I believe in all the noble verses in Quran (which I firmly believe in), but reject those verses that call Muhammad Sahib as last prophet (because the concept of avatars or prophets does not appeal to my rational mind), I will not be considered a Muslim. In fact if I call myself Muslim because I like a large number of verses in Quran, but reject the concept of Prophethood, I may be put to death in certain countries on charges of blasphemy. Christians have become much more liberal but nonetheless the word ‘Christian’ itself states that belief in Christ is a must. Now this may be a very good thing to inculcate discipline in certain situations. I am not arguing their merits or demerits. But to my democratic and liberal mind, Hinduism appeals so much more for respecting and even celebrating my individuality. It makes me feel so much special and values my uniqueness. It has no concept of blasphemy. It is not threatened by views, deeds, speeches or writings of a few individuals. On contrary, it embraces even them into its fold, if they are driven by honesty. agniveer/why-i-am-proud-to-be-hindu-part-1/
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 09:43:16 +0000