SONGSOPTOK: To what extent
do you practice ‘religious tolerance’? Since when (how long ago)?
PHILLIP: The shortest
response is, I practice as best as humanly possible, universal tolerance for
humanity collectively regardless of ethnicity or their preferred belief system.
and have been doing this since I was about seven or eight years old though
hardly able to articulate this concept other than I pretty much smiled at
anyone young or old.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you believe
all religions are the same?
PHILLIP: Not sure I can verifiably answer that question
but will suggest, that I think the reasons for mankind's search for the divine
is essentially the same when you boil down inspiration to its simplest impetus.
SONGSOPTOK: In case you practice religion, do you
consider all your religious beliefs to be true? What about those of others?
PHILLIP: I am personally not religious rather a true
believer in a pure entity that remains unnameable. The veracity isn't important to me and would
be meaningless to me if it were or were not true because I trust in what I am
able to imagine which is neither true or false but something a priori.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you believe that all faiths are equally
beneficial and equally harmless to society?
PHILLIP: It's never the belief system that causes any
kind of quantifiable harm, only people and their zealous misinterpretations
account for hits occurrences.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you believe all religious groups are
equally beneficial and equally harmless to their followers?
PHILLIP: My answers would have to be as varied as a
random sample of people. Whether I
selected 100 or 10,000 or more random individuals, I'd find good and bad in all
of them with the tacit possibility that anyone of them could do something
devastating. Humans are by far the most
dangerous animal on this planet regardless of their sentient proclivities.
SONGSOPTOK: Should members of any given religious group
refrain from criticizing religious practices of others?
PHILLIP: In general, I'd prefer most people embrace
pensive silence. Moreover, most people
seem to know little about critique (which can be inestimably valuable) but
mostly hurl insults without any insight or genuine reflection with regard to
what they're saying.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you usually refrain from talking about
your beliefs to others? Should you be ignoring your own religious ideas?
PHILLIP: I proselytize to no one and will only address
questions of the sacred and profane only when someone invites questions on that
topic or only when rarely, I find those comments germane and useful as the case
maybe.
SONGSOPTOK: What are the
different ways religious tolerance, including secularism, can help (or hurt)
the demands of a complex world?
PHILLIP: I think tolerance of all belief systems, even
those who are atheists can only benefit society and bear in mind, as soon as
people embrace violence of any kind, they negate the very beliefs they
supposedly honor.
SONGSOPTOK: Should ‘religious tolerance’ be a part of the
school curricula?
PHILLIP: I think tolerance in general should be imbued
in any student body along with respect and reverence for one's fellow human
beings.
SONGSOPTOK: Religious acceptance and bigotry appear to be
the two sides of a coin (unbiased). People are equally likely to choose one
over the other. Do you agree with that observation? Please explain.
PHILLIP: Only insofar as various real world experiences
allows them to flip the coin at their whim and surprisingly, the outcome will
most likely not be a traditional 50/50 average as most folks i know are full of
biases, prejudices and bigoted viewpoints of which I necessarily must not
exclude myself as I am alas, human.
We sincerely thank you for your time and hope we shall have your
continued support.
Subhodev Das
(Chief Advisor: Songsoptok)
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