The UNCONVINCING Religion..!

Take-1: On my birthday, I was on a family outing and as it always happens when I travel with my family, a temple visit is outright mandatory. I was along with my father, mother and my grandma. My father entered the main gabhara nonchalantly and we were about to follow when my mother stopped in her stride and exclaimed, “Bhairavnathachya mandiraat bai-manus jaat nahi!” (It’s not allowed for women to enter the Bhairavnath temple). I reacted, “What? Who the hell made this rule?” Mom, well aware of the fact that I will keep pressing my point, firmly replied, “No, means no.” But I was reluctant to listen to them and almost pushed them inside saying, “Let’s see what happens when a woman enters. Will this temple crash or will God punish us for not obeying the rules made by some idiot who obviously had a thing against women or some incident had happened in his life which prompted him to make such a hopeless rule?” My grandma almost threw herself out begging God to forgive her but I held my mom’s hands tight and asked her to pray without thinking of anything else. She did pray after I calmed her with my father staring angrily at me and her. I tried to explain but as always, ‘how much one tries to explain people with “prejudices”, one seldom succeeds.’

Take-2: Yesterday, a message on my mobile read: Please do not react to provocative SMS targeted to create a rift in the name of 24th September verdict. Regards, Commissioner of Police, Pune.

Take-3: While having a chat with a ‘doctor’ friend this morning, he happily said how he was excited about coming Friday and how he and his friends were planning to celebrate after the 24th September verdict. He seemed so overwhelmed from his voice as if the verdict was already declared in the so-called Hindu group’s favour. They planned to burn crackers to let the world know about their happiness. I, being always opposed to such tactics, tried to explain how their step may fuel something as bad as riots. But then he gave me that old cliché “I know how me and my family have suffered from these riots. U don’t know a thing!” Obviously I kept mum given the gravity of the situation.

Now, what is with this religion and God concept that people get so emotionally flared up? If they are emotional about it, why can’t they be ‘peacefully’ emotional about it? Why there is so much vengeance in their minds when they talk about religion? Or should I say religious disputes? Why are there disputes in the first place when religion is all about peace-of-mind i.e. spirituality?

The answers are not so simple. The issue related to the 24th September verdict is not of the present. It dates back to almost 1889. I am not going to discuss the issue here coz according to me it doesn’t even merit a discussion. What I am going to discuss is what is at the root of this issue. At the root lies our so-called great Indian culture and tradition which teaches that there exist a ‘x’ number of religions co-existing peacefully in India and every religion has its explanation for the existence of God while also stating that people are still divided on the basis of the faith they follow and people should be careful while commenting on religion in public. It’s almost forced upon us to be ‘proud’ of our culture.

Now tell me, how and why should I be proud of a culture which has for ages prevented women from entering a particular temple? And now being in the 21st century, we are still not in a position to change that mindset? Why should I be proud of a culture which till today hasn’t been able to resolve a conflict over a mere piece of land? Whether this land belongs to Hindus or Muslims? (Oh, come on! Can’t a common temple-mosque stand over there just as a show of UNITY to the world?) Are our hearts converted into stones when precious human lives are lost in the name of God and religion? When just for a simple reason that the other person belongs to a different faith, people pick up swords and mercilessly kill each other, does their pride go for a ride? I really don’t find any pride when the second thing asked after my name in any job-application or even a school admission is religion & caste.

According to DR.SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN,”Nothing is so hostile to religion as other religions. The world would be a much more religious place if all religions were removed from it.” I couldn’t agree more. Taking into account both the functional and dysfunctional aspects of religion, I have found the dysfunctional aspects more convincing than the functional ones. As in the ‘Take-1’ above, rather than giving importance to praying whole-heartedly, the restrictions imposed were thought about more and not to break them was taken care of. There’s no need of “mores” to be followed when what we have to do is as simple a thing as pray. And by the way, who decided these customs and usages? It must be a person or a group of people brandishing themselves as ‘protectors of the tradition’ or ‘servants of God’; but just coz they are being followed since ages, it doesn’t make them RIGHT!

As far as I can remember all the greatest of disputes right from time immemorial have had their seeds in religion or caste. Actually, religion is a byproduct of CASTE. People compared and divided first on the basis of professions then on the basis of their faiths which is unfortunately going on till today. People haven’t been able to break free from the prejudices what their forefathers had, when there’s enough proof to suggest otherwise. This is where I feel is the bane in this problem- it’s easy to teach a 3-year old kid to read and write but it gets impossible to flush out the preconceived notions from a grown-up or even a well-educated adult.

This brings me to the point where the great KARL MARX went to the extent of saying that ‘religion is opium to the people’. When people aren’t able to find solution to their own problems, they search for answers through God who is nothing but a sort of intoxication, maybe at a peaceful level. At first it seemed blasphemous to me but then I came upon another great French philosopher VOLTAIRE’s lines which plainly said, “If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him.” For once, it seemed so true to me. And why not? It is some person who is responsible to create this image of God. All these religious scriptures and holy books did not fall from the sky. They were hand-written on this very earth. There is lack of REASON. On the other hand, “Science does provide satisfactory and rational explanation to the evolution of human life which any religion has not been able to till date.”

When the same religion which promised to be peaceful turns life-threatening for my countrymen or my near and dear ones as in the case of 24th September verdict, it’s better to look at that religion ambiguously. Still, I would not describe myself as an atheist. An AGNOSTIC would be better. I know there is very little to separate the two concepts but, who knows, maybe that little itself may become path-breaking in times to come. After all, as the finest English romantic poet PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY said, “The more we study, the more we discover our ignorance!” Maybe there’s a lot of ignorance (even in my own self) around which is needed to be discovered. Maybe or may not be! The whole concept stands on the edge of “MAYBE” which makes it so intriguing and fascinating to study!