Men are good by nature
Many members of my community, Kashmiri Pandits, particularly those who were hounded out of Kashmir from 1989 onwards, hate Kashmiri Muslims, and believe that all Kashmiri Muslims are evil. And I can understand their sentiments.
My own family did not have to face persecution on account of being Hindus because we had migrated from the Valley about 200 years ago, but my wife's family remained behind, and many of them faced terrible atrocities by some ( not all ) Kashmiri Muslims, who now falsely put the blame on Jagmohan, instead of blaming themselves.
Yet I believe that 99% Kashmiri Muslims are good by nature. Why ? Because my teacher, the great French thinker Rousseau, taught me when I was very young that men are good by nature, though sometimes corrupted by society. And I have retained that belief throughout my life.
In India many Hindus hate Muslims, and many Muslims hate Hindus, but I believce that 99% Hindus and 99% Muslims are good by nature.
Many Hindus in India hate all Pakistanis. But I regard 99% Pakistanis as good by nature, though the minds of many Pakistanis have been corrupted by several ways, e.g. their school textbooks describing all Hindus as evil.
Many Jews would be hating the Germans in view of the Holocaust. But if a Jew is also a disciple of Rousseau, as I am, he will realize that most Germans are good by nature, though the minds of many of them had been corrupted by the Nazis.
Similarly, many blacks in America may be inclined to hate all whites in view of the terrible things done to blacks in America. But if a black American is a disciple of Rousseau he will realize that 99% whites are good by nature.
A citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo may be inclined to hate all Belgians in view of what the Belgians did to the natives of Congo during their rule there ( see Joseph Conrad's novel ' Heart of Darkness ' ). But if he is a disciple of Rousseau he will overcome this thought.
So i can never hate an entire community. Sometimes this makes me in the minority, but that does not matter. I will say what I believe to be true, no matter that the majority thinks otherwise, because often the majority is wrong. The majority once believed that the sun goes around the earth, instead of the other way around, until Copernicus proved them wrong.
If i start hating Muslims, what will I do when after my death I am brought before Rousseau. He will tell me " You were an unworthy disciple of mine. " That shame I will never be able to bear.
Many members of my community, Kashmiri Pandits, particularly those who were hounded out of Kashmir from 1989 onwards, hate Kashmiri Muslims, and believe that all Kashmiri Muslims are evil. And I can understand their sentiments.
My own family did not have to face persecution on account of being Hindus because we had migrated from the Valley about 200 years ago, but my wife's family remained behind, and many of them faced terrible atrocities by some ( not all ) Kashmiri Muslims, who now falsely put the blame on Jagmohan, instead of blaming themselves.
Yet I believe that 99% Kashmiri Muslims are good by nature. Why ? Because my teacher, the great French thinker Rousseau, taught me when I was very young that men are good by nature, though sometimes corrupted by society. And I have retained that belief throughout my life.
In India many Hindus hate Muslims, and many Muslims hate Hindus, but I believce that 99% Hindus and 99% Muslims are good by nature.
Many Hindus in India hate all Pakistanis. But I regard 99% Pakistanis as good by nature, though the minds of many Pakistanis have been corrupted by several ways, e.g. their school textbooks describing all Hindus as evil.
Many Jews would be hating the Germans in view of the Holocaust. But if a Jew is also a disciple of Rousseau, as I am, he will realize that most Germans are good by nature, though the minds of many of them had been corrupted by the Nazis.
Similarly, many blacks in America may be inclined to hate all whites in view of the terrible things done to blacks in America. But if a black American is a disciple of Rousseau he will realize that 99% whites are good by nature.
A citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo may be inclined to hate all Belgians in view of what the Belgians did to the natives of Congo during their rule there ( see Joseph Conrad's novel ' Heart of Darkness ' ). But if he is a disciple of Rousseau he will overcome this thought.
So i can never hate an entire community. Sometimes this makes me in the minority, but that does not matter. I will say what I believe to be true, no matter that the majority thinks otherwise, because often the majority is wrong. The majority once believed that the sun goes around the earth, instead of the other way around, until Copernicus proved them wrong.
If i start hating Muslims, what will I do when after my death I am brought before Rousseau. He will tell me " You were an unworthy disciple of mine. " That shame I will never be able to bear.
No one can logically find anything wrong in your belief that one cannot decry the whole community or all people of a nation just for the idiotic behavior of few from that community or the nation.Problem is how to make this rational and very simple idea for people to understand. Some propagate as if hating others is a sign of being patriotic or being more relegeous as far as your religion is concerned.
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