I will take your word any day. I know you will not lie. What shocks me is the <inserted>
identity of the <close insertion> individual concerned.
Maybe that needs to be elaborated, to avoid being thought to be a hypocrite.
I am not religious, not in the sense that people go through the motions every day of their lives, and feel smug and satisfied that they are close to God, to Allah, to Sri Krishna, to Sri Rama, to Ma Kali, to Murugan, to Jesus son of God, whatever. I have belief in something transcendental and it is something that I will never discuss in public; it is private and personal, and does not take rituals and observances into account. But that is my belief, and it is not necessary that anybody else shares it. If somebody else has a different way of explaining the great puzzle that is existence, then good for him (or her). Unless some of the rituals and observances harm other individuals, or society, or humanity at large, I will leave it alone - one of our friends used the term 'indifference'. Taunting him about what he believes is impolite, it is rude, it is wounding, it is offensive, it is hateful and it is not tolerable, in increasing order of being unacceptable, from a minor discourtesy to a major offence. In the worse cases, the less desirable part of the spectrum, it is worthy of correction.
As for this instance, I had known the person and admired and liked him for his knowledge of military history, and the pain he took to bring facts before us, and for his detachment from social or political wrangles and quarrels.
It came as a shock to me to read Django's post about his impending departure, and the shock deepened as I read more and more posts. It reached its maximum on realising the identity of the person, on his indifference to the pain caused, and on his unwillingness to come forward to assuage the pain. If he were to ask me, I would say, wounding another person's religious belief is a painful punishment to inflict on that person, and is never justified. Not unless in an academic or open-ended discussion, where both sides realise that the subject under discussion is not to be bounded.
I hope others who have no hate or inverted bigotry in their hearts will join me in wishing that the person causing pain should come forward - voluntarily - and heal the pain, and should abjure such action for ever, on line or in real life, and keep religion out of the list of topics that may be discussed in a public forum.
@I.R.A
@Maarkhoor
@lastofthepatriots
I request you to read my post above. Your regard and esteem is valuable to me, our occasional disagreements and my own bad-tempered outbursts apart, and I would like you to understand that the vast majority of Indians would subscribe unhesitatingly to the credo above. The few offensive ones you may have met are very peculiar exceptions to the rule.
When someone comes to annoyingly preach and change the way your living....then smack em across the mouth for sure and thump their head in if needed too...but only then.
