This post is a sort-of addition to the post labeled ‘terror’.
I wish to stress upon what we consider as facts, and how anger and hatred (or simply bias) might influence our interpretation of these facts.
A simple fact. ‘Jihad’ supports attacking people. Try to dig deeper and you find it initially had 2 meanings… one more radical, one less so. One, that jihad should target even muslims who interpret their faith differently, attack and get rid of them… and two, the one that rejects the ‘legal’ definition (as armed conflict) and insists on withdrawing from worldly concerns to achieve spiritual depth. Islamist scholars are still deciphering the true meanings (in an uncanny resemblance to hindu literature) as meant by the Quran. (also read comments on the earlier post)
Of course, there have been people who have interpreted it wrongly and unethically, and used that interpretation for their own interests, whatever they may be… but if you realize, this is true for almost every religion I know of. Nag Panchami wasn’t made to stitch snakes’ mouths and make them drink milk (which they can’t digest), but to respect the spirit of the snake who ate the farmers’ enemy (rodents, if you didn’t get that)…
We base our conclusions upon whatever information (correct or incorrect) we know. We try to figure out whether the (super-ancient) people who ‘made’ religion meant this or that, and which exactly should we follow. But what we don’t realize, is that in the end, we only act upon “our own” interpretations.
My purpose for bringing hate and anger into the picture was simply this. Anger does not allow us to interpret a piece of information in a stable, logical way. We see only what we want to see, we infer only what we want to infer, and we believe only what our “aroused” emotions allow us to believe.
I understand the situation isn’t so innocent and naïve… all I’m saying is that feeling anger limits our capacities of solving it, and unknowingly, we do more harm than good.
I quote a common sentiment I’ve heard,
“terrorists feel what they feel because of religion and we feel what we feel because they killed our loved ones/mumbaikars/indians.”
(If I’m a fanatic) I feel hatred because of my religion… what does this mean?
Because I feel my religion is under threat… I feel as if someone will “harm” what I do or what I believe… simply, I feel threatened. All over the world, for ages, people have done enough to fuel this feeling. Even now, there are people around me who are, knowingly and unknowingly, fuelling it.
And to be really honest, we feel anger because they killed some of us… which might mean we feel ‘we’ have lost someone and ‘we’ (or people close to us) might be next. Isn’t this also simply a feeling of being threatened? And ‘they’ are fuelling it.
What’s sad is that we are allowing our anger to be fuelled by them.
When you go deep and think of the cores that both arguments have, you will realize that they are shockingly similar. What I’m proposing, is a total shift into a stable and ethical zone, which is difficult, but not impossible.
I wish to stress upon what we consider as facts, and how anger and hatred (or simply bias) might influence our interpretation of these facts.
A simple fact. ‘Jihad’ supports attacking people. Try to dig deeper and you find it initially had 2 meanings… one more radical, one less so. One, that jihad should target even muslims who interpret their faith differently, attack and get rid of them… and two, the one that rejects the ‘legal’ definition (as armed conflict) and insists on withdrawing from worldly concerns to achieve spiritual depth. Islamist scholars are still deciphering the true meanings (in an uncanny resemblance to hindu literature) as meant by the Quran. (also read comments on the earlier post)
Of course, there have been people who have interpreted it wrongly and unethically, and used that interpretation for their own interests, whatever they may be… but if you realize, this is true for almost every religion I know of. Nag Panchami wasn’t made to stitch snakes’ mouths and make them drink milk (which they can’t digest), but to respect the spirit of the snake who ate the farmers’ enemy (rodents, if you didn’t get that)…
We base our conclusions upon whatever information (correct or incorrect) we know. We try to figure out whether the (super-ancient) people who ‘made’ religion meant this or that, and which exactly should we follow. But what we don’t realize, is that in the end, we only act upon “our own” interpretations.
My purpose for bringing hate and anger into the picture was simply this. Anger does not allow us to interpret a piece of information in a stable, logical way. We see only what we want to see, we infer only what we want to infer, and we believe only what our “aroused” emotions allow us to believe.
I understand the situation isn’t so innocent and naïve… all I’m saying is that feeling anger limits our capacities of solving it, and unknowingly, we do more harm than good.
I quote a common sentiment I’ve heard,
“terrorists feel what they feel because of religion and we feel what we feel because they killed our loved ones/mumbaikars/indians.”
(If I’m a fanatic) I feel hatred because of my religion… what does this mean?
Because I feel my religion is under threat… I feel as if someone will “harm” what I do or what I believe… simply, I feel threatened. All over the world, for ages, people have done enough to fuel this feeling. Even now, there are people around me who are, knowingly and unknowingly, fuelling it.
And to be really honest, we feel anger because they killed some of us… which might mean we feel ‘we’ have lost someone and ‘we’ (or people close to us) might be next. Isn’t this also simply a feeling of being threatened? And ‘they’ are fuelling it.
What’s sad is that we are allowing our anger to be fuelled by them.
When you go deep and think of the cores that both arguments have, you will realize that they are shockingly similar. What I’m proposing, is a total shift into a stable and ethical zone, which is difficult, but not impossible.
5 comments:
Ruchi…peace does not bring about change. Instability lights the fire in our bellies and brings about the change. Imagine the magnitude of anger harboured by the terrorists which was sufficient fuel to keep them fighting aggressively throughout the mission. Though for a negative cause but it was anger. The reason our country is what it is today, is purely because everybody is very comfortable in their peace-zones. Nobody wants to take risks, be bold and be outrageous where required. We have been ill-treated for ages together and we have been angry; but we have not been ‘Angry Enough’ to bring about the ‘Change’ which has in turn given birth to ‘Hatred’! Basically, we hate our selves for not having done something about it. Whatever be the reason for today’s anger, it will effectuate change.
I would also like to mention that it does not imply that I transform my anger into violence. However, if I am thrown in a situation where the terrorist points a gun at me, I don’t think trying to peacefully brainwash him, at that moment, would be a wise idea. Also, if I am aware of a terrorist’s whereabouts I would not hesitate to destroy him irrespective of what religion he belongs to.
Today’s anger is generated by hatred against the terrorists and at this point of time, all we need is someone or something to blame.
Lastly, a man capable of thinking rationally cannot be misled by anger. It is about leading anger in the right direction.
Peace will triumph but before that we need a wake up call which is loud and clear and rattles people out of their seats.
NOW everybody’s awake!
Aaah, my dear Kachu, you are almost right… but not fully. There’s a little jumbling-up happening…
Read this… read it from the third topic (The Starting Point: Three Steps).
http://www.guidetopsychology.com/anger.htm
It isn’t related to our subject, but it conveys the thought.
Anger is natural, no doubt. The terrorists were angry, yes, but in their case, their actions and their anger required the same output. Whereas in our case, anger will only prevent us from thinking sane. Give me one example of anger helping this cause of preventing terror.
Beef up security? Question the authorities? Find out terror camps’ whereabouts? I don’t need to be angry for that.
Bold, yes, brave, yes, focused, yes, firm, yes, strict, yes. Angry, I think not.
You say we haven’t been angry ‘enough’… what kind of movement do you see with angry people in it? Visualize.
When you say anger can be directed towards positive things, I’m supposing you mean something along the lines of the fight or flight response, which is almost a reflex. It no doubt helps us in the situation you spoke about, where a terrorist points a gun at you. But ‘conscious’ anger is a very different thing, where you logically justify your feeling of anger and consciously ‘act’ on it.
A man capable of rational thinking ‘can’ be misled by anger. There can be ‘physical’ changes in your body which let that happen. In some cases, people don’t even remember what they did in anger. Of course, that’s a very high degree of it… but aren’t you saying we have to be “angry enough”?
Believe me, in a month or so, nobody around you will be discussing this. The “anger” will have died down. Only the ones who “thought” about this with a stable mind will still be discussing it.
Think. I know you do.
I did go through the link. Each one has their own take on anger.
Anger is also a manifestation of immense discomfort. For people like you and me, it is easy to study a situation peacefully and the very thought of improving the situation is enough motivation. For the masses, who barely know what passion is about, what it is like to bring about a change or the need for change, a motivation factor is essential. Somehow anger, envy, sadness, fear make fantastic catalysts! These are the very things that generate discomfort and propel you to take action. This is exactly what we need.
People all over our country are discussing this issue…less than 1/10000 th of the population will bother doing something about it. Out of them many would be the ‘highly aware lot’- the ones who are naturally sensitive to issues like these, the rest would comprise of the ones who are directly affected by the incident.
It is not the Anger that is bad; it is the ‘Reacting in a fit of Anger’ that is bad.
Once you get over the initial phase, half your job is done. You are awake, alert and aware. Action is the next thing on your mind.
Although the fit of anger works sometimes…How often have you heard a common man abusing a chief minister publically? ; or stopping politicians from entering your house?; or journalists doing some serious politician bashing? Let’s face it, no one has the bloody guts! Anger generates fearlessness.
Talking of the anger fading away? It sure has. I am fed up of the ‘Wear Black’ messages! This is what I mean by “Not Angry Enough!”
So, we have people like you to help them tide over the initial phase of anger.
Truth remains…set their Asses on fire and they’ll jump into action!
Yup, some points taken.
The problem is that our masses aren’t motivated to bring about change. True. But if anger becomes their motivation, the reactions you will see aren’t always positive. They are wonderful catalysts no doubt, but they affect the result, more often than not, in a negative and sometimes dangerous way. Anger is a manifestation of discomfort, and it generates discomfort, you say… this looks like a deadly cycle to me…
I’m quite convinced by the distinction you make between anger and reacting in anger… but practically, I cannot see valid examples of it in life. It’s a fine line and I’d want to keep the whole thing away if I can manage. Maybe another issue here is aggression… which again, is a whole new subject altogether.
The reactions we see seem like a big thing… a lot of people feel they are doing a good job by sending messages and ‘wearing black’ like you said. I don’t think much of it. I value credible, mature, well thought out and united acts instead of random, impulsive actions, though both can be acts of protest.
Please understand, that this doesn’t mean it to be ‘soft’ or ‘weak’. It requires a great deal of bravery, commitment and motivation.
Anyway, there is truth in your words. The time isn’t far when we will witness a revolt in very much the same way you say. Things always reach a boiling point… we have seen it in history. People can only take things for so long. Looking at things today, I realize (though I still hope not) that it will be both angry, and unfortunately, violent.
Remind me about this conversation next time over paanipuri. :-)
Peace.
cool animation...
you are on your way to becoming an animated gif expert... :)
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