In some cultures it is taboo even to talk about the religious tenets. Certain recent incidents have become a cause of tremendous stress leading to ugly confrontations. Communities get divided. Often, some moderates get pitted against hardliners and the results of such clashes are predictable. It opens up healed wounds of the past and puts other religious groups in a difficult dilemma. There is some narrow interpretation that keeps popping up in those minds that hold the reins of power.

Churches, temples, mosques, gurdwaras and synagogues, more or less, face the same situation. The turmoil we are witnessing in some religious establishments is perhaps the result of rigid attitudes in accepting reasonable accommodation or compromises.

Some religious leadership use the racism card to duck the real issue of radicalism. Often they try to cover up deficiencies through planned hostility and agitation. This has become a trend to grab control over feeble minds and overflowing coffers. For the selective few, religion has become a milking cow. When it is in their interest, they use it as a weapon to stir up raw emotion, leading to petty fights. It indeed serves them well when they lack convincing arguments.

For those among us particularly from Asia and the Middle East who have settled in Europe and North America, the importance of following our age-old religious traditions has remained their main objective and primary concern. We place dubious but strong emphasis on observing specific rituals as dictated in the religious text without altering anything to conform to the changing world. Hence certain dogmatic set of rules are kept in practice for obvious reason. That's why religion per se remains an alien topic for many, including youth, because to large extent it fails to satisfy their intellectual, logical and spiritual aspiration and needs.

Whether it is Jainism, Hinduism, Islam or any other religion, the real and deep meaning of religion can be understood only by accepting their commonalities and differences without prejudice. Praying is indeed a noble thing, but remaining compassionate and open-minded to other religion is in reality key to spreading God's message.  

It was Swami Vivekananda who at the World Religion Conference (The Parliament of Religions) in Chicago, along with Jain scholar Virchand Gandhi, gave a glimpse of Hinduism and to a lesser extent about Jainism, to the West. His message still reverberates and needs to be repeated often to remind us that God doesn't confine Himself in specific places. He suggested we should work for the poor, the meek of the Earth - and the Lord will show you the way.  

Even though we understand Vivekananda's message, we will still seek God many different ways but not his way. In India we have thousands of gods. We take them with us to countries we migrate to. Nothing wrong in that. But we tend to cling to the same rituals most of the time without understanding the vital meaning they intended to convey.  

 Indo-Canadian communities of different religious backgrounds have fared well in their adopted country, and many have established numerous temples in major cities to facilitate devoted worshippers who congregate mostly during week-ends or on special auspicious occasions to offer their prayers with love - and, of course, with generous contributions to fill up the temple coffers that eventually become the cause of discontent, disputes and strife.      

Recently I read a very interesting article on religion based on Professor Lionel Tiger's book God's Brain, which was released this year. It attracted my attention because the author asserts religious systems have lasted 70,000 years and are practised by more than 80 per cent of the world's adults. It is when humans lose faith that they fall victim to increased strife in this world.

Throughout history, people have sought solace and guidance from whatever God they believed in. Hindus worship numerous gods. Each has its own symbolism. We need to explain meanings and its relevant facts governing those symbols. Unless scientific correlation and philosophical guidelines are used, people will get very little real spiritual inspiration from simply going to temples or any other God's abode.

- Jayant Gala, Brossard, QC (gala_j@ sympatico.ca)