Family and Nation

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya, A P J Abdulkalam
Publisher: Harper Publications India

Page 87

THE IDEA OF UNITY
THE NATURE OF FAITH
Faith is something one 'believes in'. It serves a major evolutionary purpose and has been an essential part of human nature since time immemorial. When shared by members of a group, faith strongly supports that group's internal cohesion. It strengthens that group's capacity to cope with the challenges of a hostile environment, and to compete successfully with other groups animated by different faiths. If you believe in nothing, if you question everything, then where are you? You are like a ship adrift, without a destination. You have a crew but no captain, no pilot, no compass, and no charts. You may end up in different waters from where you began, but to what purpose? What was the voyage for? The matter of faith changes all that. You know where you are going. If you in your lifetime get there, at least you were going in the right direction-and your faith may give you the assurance that somehow, the voyage isn't over, you will continue in some other form. Faith lends meaning to an otherwise meaningless existence. It makes the whole matter of life worthwhile.
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All religions are based on faith, but not all faiths need to be religious, at least in the sense of requiring adherence to a recognized religious persuasion. Religion teaches one to be altruistic, but traditionally that spirit of altruism has applied primarily to members of one's own group. All too often, believers have chosen to show their enthusiasm for their chosen faith by fighting other groups. Our tolerance for this kind of religious zeal is diminishing.
The world over, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and deprivation are driving forward the forces of anger and violence. These forces link themselves to some earlier real or perceived historical enmities, cruelties, tyrannies, injustice, inequality, ethnic issues and various forms of religious fundamentalism. Individually or severally, they