Peace Begins With Tolerance & Respect For All
Recent news of a powerful developed country’s invasion on a neighbouring small country to merge it into its own territory, clearly shows that how military or political power corrupts men and also the nations they lead. It’s a fact that when power goes into a person's head, he gets so intoxicated that he does not mind the consequences of his misadventures. In his quest of gaining new countries, he may lose even his own or may be judged as a criminal in the eyes of the international community and may thus lose prestige and even power, yet he takes all these risks because his judgement is shadowed by his ego generated by his military might. If we rewind our memory a little bit, we would recollect many such misadventures that took place out of one person’s ego.
Any vice is thus not only harmful to the person who is afflicted with it but it also spreads like an infection, and affects the moral and spiritual health of the whole nation very badly. The chronicles of mankind or of various civilisations or nations bear witness to the truth that property worth inestimable and incalculable amount, and millions of men have been lost in the slaughter house of intolerance during the last 2000 years or so because of intolerance that ensued from a hurt ego. If only this virtue, called tolerance, had been sustained—all or many other virtues also would have survived, for, when tolerance is lost, man loses his patience, self-control, spirit of non-violence, etc. Another important negative development that generally takes place as a result of aggravation of vice in the leaders of a nation is that, generally, it attracts a negative response from other nations or their leaders. Not only are many evils allies of one major evil but they generate their own enemies which also are nothing but evil. All this forms a vicious circle and destroys peace and happiness.
Therefore it is not too late in the day, for, if even now those who are mercilessly killing innocent people begin to observe the virtues of tolerance, respect, compassion and mercy, which are greater than valour and all weapons of war put together, mankind can be saved from the scourge of wars, bloody ethnic strife, communal riots and conflict on the basis of difference in religious beliefs and can be saved from extinction through a nuclear catastrophe. (Spiritual organisations keen to be featured in this space contact features@fpj.co.in)