Why we are not ourselves at the places of Worship?
Churches, Gurudwaras, Mosques, Synagogues, Temples, etc. are all just different names of places where people go to worship. Depending on your religion, you go to one of these places to pray to God, ask for forgiveness, ask for favors, ask for care, ask for mercy, etc. We all have our own reasons why we go to the place of worship.
I am not against that. Growing up in a very religious Hindu family, I have had my fair share of visits to the temples, not only in my hometown in India but places around the world including Nathdwara (Rajasthan, India), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Muscat (Oman), Milpitas (California, USA). I have traveled extensively just to visit temples half way across the country.
Over the years, I have seen hordes of people walk into places of worship and that is when things change, drastically. The way we behave outside the places of worship is very different than how we behave once we are inside. And this is not the case with people who believe in any particular religion, this is with EVERYONE. Once we are inside, our minds change, our personality changes and we do things we do not do once we step outside. How many times have you donated money at the place of worship but when a person in need was in front of us, we looked away as if that human did not exist? How come we are OK with giving away our hard earned money to God who does NOT ask for anything but we do not have even spare change to give that person who has no food to eat, no roof over their head and no means to survive. Why do we pray together as a group but are a loner outside of the places of worship and avoid groups? How come we never litter around when we are inside but not when we are out and about? Why do we speak softly inside a place of worship but shout in front of friends and family and sometimes even coworkers?
Why do we ask God for forgiveness when we are not able to forgive someone who did us little harm? Why do we ask God for longevity when we ourselves are responsible for taking the life of others? Why do we bow down to God but hurt people physically and emotionally who are elder to us? Why do we dress well and clean ourselves before entering the place of worship when there is so much filth within us? Why do we regularly go to the place of worship but do not care to even check how our friends and family member are doing for years? Why do we offer food to God and then feed that food to animals instead of feeding the millions who do not have access to it? Why do we believe in God who no one has seen but do not believe in black magic or ghosts? Why do we beg inside to God and hope to get what we want but we look down on the person begging outside? Why do we not steal from places of Worship but steal from others with or without them knowing? Why do we pray to female Gods when we are inside but we objectify women and assault them when we are outside?
Why do we drink holy water that is from a really old well or river when we are inside but outside we only drink mineral water? Why do we pray to God’s who have made sacrifices for others when we do not want to sacrifice anything ourselves? Why do we want God to help us find love when we took someone’s love for granted? Why do we never use curse words inside but we never miss a chance to curse outside? Why are we ready to go down on knees in front of God when we are inside when we can not appreciate those who have helped us when we needed them? Why we do read/hear the Bible/Quran/Geeta/Guru Granth Sahib only when we are inside but want to listen to the latest tunes of Taylor Swift/Jay Z/Honey Singh, etc. when we are outside? Why do we visit the places of Worship as soon as we face a difficult situation but go to a club/bar when we want to celebrate? Why are we not bothered by people from lower class/society when we are inside when we avoid to even pass through neighborhoods that have people from these classes while outside.
Maybe, just maybe, if the boundaries of these places of Worship were not so defined, the world might be a slightly better place. I am not against God or any place of Worship, I am just questioning why do we have to define God to be present and listening to us only in certain places when we are taught that God is omnipresent. Why do we do things in a certain way when we “think” God might be listening to us or watching us? Why do we want to be “in tune” with God only when we visit the place of worship and not otherwise?
There are a lot more questions to which I have not yet found the answers. Why people behave so differently when they are inside a place of Worship is something that I have been thinking about for years now and maybe there will be someone who can answer all of these questions. I thought it could be that humans are just selfish but that still does not explain it since there is no proof that God has given them what they asked for. We just believe that God exists and listens to us and helps us but how many of us can say that for a fact that their prayers have been heard, their questions have been answered.
