But when I picked up the same book, it forced me to think about whole idea of his believe about sin. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still love to read this book again and again for many times as its so good and his reasoning is very convincing and my respect for him has not diminished, not even by an inch. Its just that I disagree with him, when I came to an end of the book. The part that have stayed in my mind long after I read it. However, when I flipped the pages straight towards the last couple of pages, one word intrigued me as it stood tall among his other belief. Its his believe that fear, hatred, inferiority [complex] and guilt are sins.
It really forced me to think hard. These are common human weakness; not even psychological issues. We all have these weakness, regardless of our family background, class, society, nationality regardless of we being belonging to any part of the world. Everyone of us have these weakness, some more and some less. I would not regards these weakness as sin; just the natural flaws. A weakness that separate us from God or some superhuman. But, when Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, a religious leader, international speaker and most powerful pastor of his country puts those weakness in the bracket of sin, it sure makes his huge followers [ inside and outside the country], to believe in it and at the same time has tremendous power to confuse equal number of people, regardless of their religious belief.
If fear, hatred, inferiority [complex] and guilt are sins; then what makes criminal instinct, murder, serial killers, terrorist act, or those who did or ordered for genocide or even worse those who are so corrupt, that their corrupt habit is taking lives of so many others; but only indirectly. They never get punished for the death they caused in many ways. Yet, they never feel sorry for what their action touched many live in negative way, and what do you call the person involved in human trafficking and making mankind as close to animal and treating them like slave. Does sin has A, B, C grade ?
As I was reading another book, Truth and Transformation by Vishal Mangalwadi, who again is another religious preacher, Indian philosopher and . In one incident in his book, he had written anger is sin. Since when, human emotions like anger is also part of sin ? Its very hard to believe when social reformer and intellect like him advocating on the subject that is emotion like anger and put it in the sins bracket. But, its the power of thinkers to change the society with radical thinking and more than that they also indulged in power to confuse common people always. And in this case it sure has full power to confuse the people who have huge faith in God. This is the logic made by religious leaders, in the name of God to confuse the huge general mass.
Some people define sin is what when majority of people think ‘this is sin’. Disapproval of the community is what makes an act sin ? Is sin is something going for the forbidden fruit ? whether its by God or the upper caste people in the society, who are in a position to make rules ? Personally to me, it seems that the word has a blind faith, without using the common sense. It also seems they blindly believed what the religious gurus said or defined it. What is sin then ? what makes an act a sinful act ?
Some Hindu religious leader regard sex as a lust and not love; even in married couples. In so many religion sex is mere use for the utility and nothing else. Many religious leaders from east and west are unanimous, when it comes to abortion, making it a sinful act. Only couple of years ago, it was one of the most deciding factor to choose the President of America based on his opinion on abortion; until one smart person came up with the answer, that made the would be president to respond, “we are going to respect the decision mothers make for themselves”, this statement doused the hot discussion on sleep mode. Now a days, this issue is not the topic of discussion, any more, for the presidential campaign.
To control a genocide some super nations enters into the mission of stopping it with a motto, ‘stop terror with terror’. Americans were always divided during the gulf war to shut down Saddam. Who decides what is good or what is bad then ? Since when murder by powerful politicians is not murder and by individual it is still called murder.
Why some religious leaders preach a human flaws as a sin ? Why they are trying hard, the impossible act of controlling the flaws by telling them to suppress it. Telling them to be the one, who they are not. Then again, why this kind of philosophy is not helping any society - east or west - to control the crime or sins to happen in every society ?
The truth is; how hard the religious leaders try to stop some sins to take place in our society one thing is sure, the all of the combined force of religious leaders of the world can not change one core point of the human beings, to convert them into a God. Human remains human; with all their weakness and flaws and as long as we live on earth the sinful act will never stop happening.
So the best for every one is to remain the best of yourself and try not to be like God or live the life of faking everything, no one has to pretend, who you are not. I am also hoping when you are reading these lines, you must be very much aware of; what moral integrity is. So relax, be yourself, I mean true self of yours and without worrying what is good or bad; live your life your way, with all the flaws that is your which makes you truly you. As time flies by, you will grow up to know all on your own, what is good and what is bad. Because what seem good to you, will always seem bad to someone else and one day you will grow up to find the answer of that act of yesterday. More than that you will grow up to know that those who preaches to be good and sinless are also not the perfect self of them.
Do what you think is right and what feels right to you. Let others judge you, because that’s what they do best to judge you or your decision. Always keep in mind, they don't live your life, which you have to live. Make your mistakes and learn from your mistakes just keep in mind that life is too short to make all the mistakes and learn from it, at the same time.
Every human being has its share of natural weakness and flaws, that's what makes us human being and not God !
Note : this article was first published in Nepaliadvocate.
Very powerful argument about what consists a 'Sin'... and I would go by the definition mentioned in the article itself that people define sin is what when majority of people think ‘this is sin’.
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