Why It's Imperative To Have No Religion And God While Studying And Analysing Different Faiths

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 28 January 2023 I liked Mr Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar's book review, ' Jesus and Muhammad by Roman James.' In his essay, he has rued the fact that Roman James has attempted to prove the supremacy of (his) Christianity over Islam and subtly tried to convert Muslims to Christianity. Nothing surprising. However broad-minded a person may be and however wholeheartedly he or she may admire other religions, it's one's own religion and its Natural Prejudicial Attachment (C G Jung's phrase, used in subjective religiosity) that cannot let a researcher/analyst of comparative religions remain absolutely indifferent, dispassionate and non-partisan. That's why, it's often said that a researcher in the sphere of comparative faiths ought not to have any religion and belief in any damn god/s. So long as you remain attached to a specific faith, you can never be totally impartial because you subconsciously tend to analyse other faiths with respect to the religion you belong to. No self praise but the fact is, I could study comparative religions in a disenchanted manner because I never had any faith and I never tied myself to the apron strings of any divine power. I could like/dislike all faiths in an unprejudiced manner just the way H C Fields observed and envisaged, ' I'm free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.' The apostle of peace, M K Gandhi respected all faiths. But his deep appreciation of other religions was subservient to his ingrained loyalty towards Hinduism. This is natural. Most of my teachers, who taught me religions, were outright atheists and had no trace of their parental religions. That's the reason, they could inculcate the universality of faithlessness in me. I grew up sans any faith and any god. Let me change the subject and come to Trinity of Christianity. It's a theological double Dutch and a later-day interpolation. Christianity borrowed it from Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) and made a mess of it while implanting it into the eschatological edifice of original/pristine Christianity. As a student, I laughed it off. I still scoff at the idiocy of Church and liturgical studies that concocted Trinity. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/imperative-religion-god-different-faiths/d/128978 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism