In their well being and prosperity alone....

The following post is a work of fiction and the thoughts it expresses are not meant to hurt the sentiments of any particular religion, race etc. etc. Its not meant to insult any particular individual, country, animal, car maufacturer or silicone implants. The thoughts expressed are those of the author whose bloody blog it is.

Every once in a while, in the midst of drunken stupour, an interesting conversation comes about. A conversation that provokes thoughts you never knew your brain could think about. Maybe its got to do with the alcohol or the food. But its primarily got to do with what the person next to you is talking about.

Religion and pseudo secularism is not the cheery sort of topics one generally indulges in when you are having fun. But talk you must and talk you will. For someone who detests, abhors and loathes the concept of religion, the statement that Islam is worse than other religions is the kind that evokes a response.

Statements and questions were put forth to me - "Muslims in India and other countries have better lives than individuals in Islam nations who dont practise Islam"..."Islam is violent and causes violent fanatics who refuse to think"..."Pluralism is absent in Islam"..."Why should individuals from foreign countries have to surrender their passports when taking up jobs in the U.A.E"...""Why is it that in a so colled progressive Islam nation, Malaysia, its against the law for a Muslim individual to convert to another religion"..."Why are all terrorists Muslim"

These questions were put forth to me when I questioned the existence of religion. The good friend I was having a conversation with was of the belief that all religions were bad, but Islam was more evil and violent than the rest. And he had the above reasons for his argument.

I had to confess my ignorance to most of the statements he made. I am ignorant about the work practises in the middle east and I dont know about the laws in Malaysia. I didnt have the wherewithals to come up with facts and figures to make an argument. All I had was friends.

Friends who had Muslim names and practised Islam. And these individuals were of varying nature. Some where gentle and calm. Some where passionate and fierce but they all had one common quality. They were all decent human beings. This qulaity was one of the factors that has always made me give importance to the character of the individual irrespective of what his ideology or belief is.

This conversation, like every other conversation, had to eventually end. The pseudo intellectual in me went for a brief walk and the real me made a concluding remark - "What difference does it make if one shit stinks more than the other... its still shit!"