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If you meet a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or a Jew and he or she turns out to be a bad person, you can claim that 100% of Muslims, Hindus, Christians or Jews are bad.
And if you meet two of each and only one of them is a bad dude, your statistic is Half of all Muslims, Jews… are bad.
But when you meet 1000 of them in each group, most likely the following statistics will emerge.
95% of people in every religious group get their religion right
02% of people in every religious group are enforcers
02% of people in every religious group are easy goers
01% of people in every religious group are intolerant ones
The statisticians can tell what a reliable sample is, which will yield similar results no matter where and when you test. This has been my observation of several groups that I have been a part of for nearly 20 years, and a part of my e-lists that I mail to Atheists, Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Sikhs, Wicca, Zoroastrians and others.
Whether you are a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Atheist or other… the formula works… Most people do what their religion teaches them to – to be a good human being and few don’t get it.
MODERATES
95% of people in any group, religious, race, ethnicity, national or otherwise, tend to be moderate and want to get along with every one… and mind their own business.
It is the 1% intolerant and 2% enforcers that make it difficult for every one… and oddly, this group knows the other group that is similar to them in the opposite camp – they both recognize each other and hate the other with passion. No group is free from the three percenters.
Just imagine the previous meeting in your family reunion, school, church, board meeting, office meeting or a town hall meeting, you can actually count the ones who bully others, instead of giving value to other’s ideas. Their usual motivation is insecurity – it is the end of the world to them if their idea is rejected, and that is why they fight so hard.
As a rule of thumb, I start the idea meetings with an understanding that we are going to pool all ideas, once and idea is out of your mouth, it is not yours anymore, it ours and we will find which combination produces the best results for the goals. Most times it works.
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Deep down all of us are good people… we have to find and stoke it in others, others are our mirrors, we see us in them, and we hate them or love them. I have saved emails from right wing Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and others and they use the same language and identical words. Hope, I can place all of that in my next book. If a right wing Jew looks in to the mirror, he will see the right wing Muslim in it and not the moderate from 95% of them.
The problem exists in the world because we believe and blame others without hard facts. Even if my preacher, my brother, my book, and my friend “tells” me about others, and if it bad, I will trust the friend, but will verify it, after all, it is me who will bear the pain of anxiety.
My life is shaped by one singular statement from Bhagvad Gita, “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility.”I was an atheist for nearly 30 years of my life, I had walked away from Islam because of the wrong translations of Quraan I could not bear, then the guidance I sought from the knowledgeable ones was not good either. I walked away from religion altogether and had nothing to do with it. But, that verse from Bhagvad Gita led me to do my own research, and Karen Armstrong’s book Muhammad beefed me up with the desire to find the truth, and thank God, I did.
Islam is about pluralism, just as all other religions are. Each one of the known spiritual masters from Zarthustra, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Confucius, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Nanak, the Bab, the Native traditions and many un-recorded masters have all had one singular purpose: to restore trust in the society and bring orderly functioning, or cohesive functioning to it. That is their clear bottom line and that is what the creator wants; for his creation to live in harmony.
Shame on you and me, if we draw conclusions about other groups based on the actions of the 1%. Statistically that is dumb. Let the 97% of the people in that group represent that group. Here is an example of possible stereotyping each other between Jews and Muslims. I am compiling real examples with other groups as well. http://nabsites.net/demo/stereotyping-muslims-and-jews/
I see the beauty, inclusiveness, and pluralism in every religion – just as my fellow 97%ers see it. Let me be clear – my religion is not superior to others, that would be sheer arrogance, all religions do what they are suppose to do; make you a better person and a responsible citizen, if you are not, then study your religion again and again till you get it right. But hating, conspiring and ill-talking about others reflects the amount of meanness you have nurtured in you. You will be at peace, if you are wiling to be free from prejudice.
God bless you, it’s not too late.
Make the U-turn for good.
Mike
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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com