India – Let’s Learn To Respect Each Other’s Beliefs | Bookosmia

In society, individuals possess different qualities and personalities.  The most important qualities of an individual in a society are patience, loyalty, tolerance and love. Tolerance can be defined as the skills we need to live together peacefully. Hence, tolerance is one of the most important qualities which forms the ‘bedrock’ of a society. In this era of globalization, societies consist of people from different cultures, religions and backgrounds.

Tolerance can be practiced in all aspects of life. In the case of religion, we need to be tolerant towards people practicing different religions.

Everyone has the right to practice a religion of their choice and have their own beliefs. We should appreciate and respect the views and practices of people following a different religion. The Prophet had allowed the Christians of Najran and the Jews of Khaybar to enter the Islamic state and practice their respective religions. If the people of the early centuries could practice religious tolerance, then so should we. For example, we should not mock anyone wearing a hijab or a turban, it is the person’s choice on how they wish to follow their religion. It is up to one, which religion they wish to follow and we should respect his/her decision.

Other than someone’s religion, we should also be tolerant towards their culture and background. To be culturally tolerant, we must not disrespect or mock one’s culture and traditions. By being culturally tolerant, we can respect and learn about new, interesting traditions practiced by people from different cultures. Cultural tolerance plays an important role in promoting social equality. As we travel across the world, we meet people from different cultures and backgrounds.

For example, if we visit Vienna, we should appreciate the culture of music and theatre or in a place such as Rio de Janeiro, we should respect their culture of festivals and carnivals. We should not mock people for practicing their traditions but instead embrace them and learn about their different practices.

Most people are mocked because of their disabilities. People have been treated differently for their ability to speak or walk. Just because someone behaves in a different manner than us, does not mean we can mock them. A person with a disability is simply another person who is slightly different than us. For example, an injured war veteran should not be mocked for having a disability as he/she had put their life on the line so that we can live in peace and harmony.

If we are tolerant towards a person with a disability, we can get to know their story and the hardships they have faced for being different and possibly, help them.

In this world, people come in all shapes and colours. However, that does not mean we should discriminate against them on how fat or thin they are or because of the colour of their skin.Their skin being of a different colour or the person being of a different shape does not make them an ‘alien’. They are simply a human with different features. Some people, naturally have different coloured skin and it is not their fault for being different but instead, it is our fault for not tolerating and not accepting them as a part of society.

The level of intolerance in humans is getting worse day by day to the point where people are discriminated on based on their gender.

Gender discrimination can be observed in the Indian society where men are encouraged to go out, work and enjoy life while women are told to stay home, take care of children and do the household work. We should learn to let a woman do what she wishes to do and supporther decisions. Many transgender people are also not treated equally. They are mocked for simply not being normal even though they are as much human with a set of different features.

Thus, we should treat people having disabilities and of different religions, cultures, genders, shapes and colours equally and as a normal human being. We do not know what people facing discrimination are going through. Instead of mocking them, we should tolerate them and have a look at what they excel at instead of discriminating against their features. At the end of the day, all that matters is that we tolerate people who are different and treat them equally, as if they were a brother/sister.