Reading Response #5
When
thinking about why people are taught about history in school the reoccurring idea
is so that maybe we will learn from it and not continue the same cycle over and
over again. Reading through this history book like so many other history books
we are constantly shown the effect religion plays in everything. Whether it is
a childish as people believing their form of God is better than the next persons,
or that it is God’s will for one civilization to move forward and take over
another. If we are to learn from history
and change the way in which we move forward we must learn to recognize that religion
is what charges a lot of the hatred and violence towards each other.
To make progress in a positive direction
it would be nice to see India’s famous emperor Akbar studied more in schools. I
will be the first person to admit, prior to reading Strayers book I don’t think
I have ever come across anything about Akbar. Other than a guy by that name
that I played football with I don’t think I have ever even heard that name.
In my opinion, after reading these
few paragraphs about Akbar and his way of ruling on pages 424 and 425 he had
the right idea. Creating a policy of tolerance is the way to go. Akbar a Muslim
defeated the Hindus in the region. Rather than making the majority of the
population convert to Islam, Akbar allowed for their practices to continue as
they always have. In fact, as Strayer pointed out he actually toned down some
of the parts of the Muslim religion. “…deliberately restraining the more
militantly Islamic ulama and removing the special tax on non-Muslims” (Strayer
424). This willingness to make things equal made this time comfortable for both
sides.
In contrast, this short period of
time was inevitably shattered because some people just do not see things in
this light. People do not believe each person can have their own god or way of
thinking and just move on. The emperor following Akbar reversed his policies
and imposed Islamic supremacy. So here we see history repeating itself nobody
being able to keep the peace.
Unfortunately our history as humans
for all our achievements has been riddled with millions of deaths all in the
name of religion. Until we begin to understand the effect religion has on our
day to day lives and live to respect the values of each other like Akbar tried
back in 16th century, we will only continue adding to the pages of
the same history book instead of creating a new chapter.
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