Religion
When George Orwell first prophesised about Big Brother, little did one realise that the institution that would come closest to performing that role would be neither the CIA or KGB, nor Google or Microsoft, but religion. And it did all of this without any hi-tech spy satellites and surveillance, for it, more than any other would-be Big Brother, fully understood, and thrived on, the human psyche, as it has for centuries. Fear and greed are man’s greatest motivators, and religious institutions have, since time immemorial, exploited these to the fullest.
As I write this, someone out there has issued yet another fatwa, this one against Muslim women working with men; some old men who consider themselves the protectors of Hinduism dig up some old excuse about gotras to brutally kill people and try, then, to justify and legalize it; pro-life petitioners and some other ‘believers’ use all of God’s popularity and public speaking skills to force through anti-abortion and anti-homosexual laws leaving queers and teenage rape victims biting the dust.
I write this, not as a religious expert, but as a layman, albeit a deeply distressed one. Correct me if I’m wrong, but religion was meant to be a way to understand God etc. One is rather skeptical, though, when asked whether it is performing the role it was made for. Today, not only has religion far exceeded its brief and encroached upon the domains of other institutions, but now also seeks to be the ultimate legislature, judiciary and executive all rolled into one, controlled by the will of (as they would have us believe) the Lord himself. In the Medieval Ages, when there were no human rights and democratic governments, this arrangement might’ve done more good than harm (on paper, at least), but today, this is a slap in the face of the modern society said to be based on famed trio of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Each day, the average human is faced with a plethora of warnings and orders from the ‘enlightened’ ones, as to just what (s)he must do in order to reserve her/his seat in Heaven and avoid the eternal torture of Hell (every religion has some variant of this basic concept).
If the religious leaders are to be believed, God really cares about and keeps a track of what each and every person out of the six billion wears and exactly how much flesh is exposed (only for women; God doesn’t seem to care what men wear, for some reason (writer feels neglected 
)), what time (s)he gets up and goes to sleep, who (s)he talks to during the course of his day, whether and what (s)he eats, how many times (s)he prays, how much money (s)he donated to religious causes in the day, who (s)he sleeps with, how well (s)he protects her/his religion from outsiders, what religion/caste people (s)he mingles with, who (s)he votes for etc etc etc. Putting all this together, we get one extremely obsessive-compulsive, greedy, prejudiced, control freak of a God. Wait, what happened to ‘unconditional love for all his subjects‘ and all that?
One of the greatest drawbacks of modern society has to be the inability to differentiate between the religious and the cultural/social, and religion and God. A little common sense might make anyone see that many things religions purport to be God’s instructions for everyday living are simply the social norms prevalent at the time of the religions’ inception, thousands of years ago. Some do make sense in everyday life today, and still more don’t. Three people, of the same religion, living in, say, New York, the Amazon rainforest, and Vietnam are likely to lead very different everyday lives. A person living in, say, Arabia a thousand years ago, led a very different life to one who lives there today, even though they might be of the same religion. Rules that define life in modern society (Constitutions and others) are always being amended and modified to suit the time and place. If religious texts are such an effective guide to everyday living, shouldn’t they be open to changes also? But, of course, the mere mention of such a thing would mean blasphemy now, wouldn’t it?
Would a social worker in a bikini who helped change the lives of thousands of people be less welcome in Heaven than an apathetic woman who always covered up from head to toe? Is it unethical to believe in God and not want to jump through the ridiculous hoops religion throws up?
If as much effort had gone into solving REAL problems like illiteracy and poverty, as goes into debating about exactly what is and isn’t allowed by any religion, one wonders where the world would be today. It is a sad truth that many readers of this article will interpret it as atheist propaganda. One hopes, though, that society will someday, open its eyes, see through the holy facade, and realize that religion is, and has always been, Man’s invention, not God’s. Man, who is susceptible to, and hence always restricted by, fear and greed.
Dude… first of all if after all this introspection you consider yourself a layman, then the world(full of plenty of layman who need experts to enlighten them) would have been perfect. I personally believe whoever started the thing called religion did so to instil an element of fraternity among people and also a fear of god so that we mortals don’t claim ourselves as know-it-alls and cross our boundaries. Its only later some genii thought of using religion for personal gain and that is where you get the religion of today. I don’t blame religion nor the preachers rather the blind believers to stick to their illogical faith. If the latter kind can be removed your problems are solved. Now thats a million dollar question?
thank you, Shyamal, for the vote of confidence; but a layman i remain, in that I possess no knowledge of the religious texts and my article was based on just watching the news and making inferences..
yes, religion may well have been created with noble intentions, that I have no problem believing. But intentions can only count for so much, reality speaks far louder. One doesn’t need to subscribe to all these silly practices to have the fear of God in him/her. God can exist without religion, while the reverse is not true.
The common man has always been susceptible to believe anything, especially when it’s supposedly backed up by God, and this is what modern religion feeds on. I don’t expect millions of people to start thinking independently all of a sudden. That is asking too much. So I would be very surprised if the answer to your million dollar question is in the affirmative.
Hence, I place the blame squarely on the religious preachers and leaders (the group of them in general, not each one specifically. there may well be good preachers too). All the nonsensical things associated with religion are ones foisted upon innocent believers by these folk.
The problem could partly lie with how ancient the whole thing is. If there was constant evolution of various aspects of religion like other things around, and if traditions/rituals/beliefs could get updated accordingly, half our problems would be solved. But, again there is the issue of who is going to bring in the changes.. definitely not the religious leaders we have around! Religion is irrelevant in the present day. Blind faith is outdated. There are multiple sides to this argument and as ever.. Religion proves to be a touchy issue!
Very well written. As people already said whats wrong is “illogical faith and blind following”, people should not blindly follow what their religious leaders say but should think before acting.
BUT the article you highlights just one side of the coin, religion can be a very positive instrument if one is thoughtful. I read an article once by a soldier’s wife, her husband was in Iraq and she was distressed and she was glued to the television whole day watching news, she and her husband were atheist. One day she found her son with his eyes closed, praying and he was afraid of her when he realised his mom is looking at him. And then they discussed, the kid was taught in school about God and he believed that God will take care of his dad. So in the end she concluded that just that faith in God brought peace of mind to his son while she was worried. Peace of mind is one of the most important things needed for a good and healthy life. One can get rid of a lot of stress by leaving it all upto God. As you wrote “God really cares about and keeps a track ……………… who (s)he votes for etc etc etc” No one knows if God exists or not, if he keeps any records or not but if the belief that he does and he keeps track can make your life peaceful then there is no harm in believing.
Like everything else in this world, it depends on how you use something available, how you interpret a text.
Sud, totally. Happens sometimes. Like you don’t see Sati any more etc. But those are in the minority. The problem is, any evolution would mean erasing/improving upon what’s present; and what’s present is, according to the fundamental assumption of each religion, God’s will and God’s words. Which religious man would dare change that?
But, contrary to your view, I don’t believe we can dismiss religion just yet. Or, we wouldn’t see so many honour killings or suicide bombings or, for that matter, so many devotees at the Kumbh Mela or Haj. Religion continues to thrive in today’s society and it is completely upon the individual to deal with it as he sees fit.
Kartik, thank you. In this article I have not cast aspersions on the power of faith/belief, or upon the existence of God (that is a whole new debate). Or, even upon the function of religion in society. I agree that religion plays a part in society and many people depend upon it, I only ask that religious institutions restrict themselves to their brief and not encroach upon every single aspect of a believer’s life, as is happening today. If you tell me, ‘Believe in God and pray’, that’s fine, but the moment you start asking me for money, and telling me what to wear, what and when to eat, who to talk to etc etc etc, and tell me all of this is God’s will, it’s not fine.
Nice story there. I’m totally with the little boy. Everyone should be free to choose his/her viewpoint on anything. But I am tempted to ask, does Faith in God come only through religion? Are parents incapable of teaching a child to believe in God without making him subscribe to all of the rituals and traditions of any particular religion? Surely God is more than just a bunch of rituals. Why can’t one just be theist, without being a Hindu or a Muslim etc?
just believing in god without following hiduism etc etc is also a religion, i guess its called arya samaj not sure though. I am not saying which religion to follow n all. Just wanna say that religion has got some plus pts an some minus pts. it depends on how u see it, glass half full or half empty.
Historically speaking the archaic religions were modeled entirely on nature-worship (including Hinduism). The motivation came from fear, fear of the unknown being the most prominent and consequently regarded as the biggest fear. Over a period of time this basic ideology has convoluted. The validation of religion today is on the grounds of the “power of belief, faith and healing”. Well then why should we also not deem Baba Ramdev God and Yoga a religion.Perhaps because he assumes a mortal form.
Maybe marijuana is a religion too considering its relaxant and healing properties. Its almost strange how most would laugh off one who may have claimed to have seen a multi-colored parrot but would take to weapons if he pointed at a certain “flying monkey” or perhaps a “talking vulture”.
I see a Dawkins fan through your writing. Very well written.
I believe in a personal God who looks to the smallest detail of my life. I have thought it out, rationalized it. I’m extremely comfortable with it and it is a matter of eternity for me. It is easier today to accept the atheist/agnostic norm in order to appear even remotely intellectual, and in the process essential details are forgotten.
TAFN
For a society that doesn’t really need God ( you didn’t write it, but thats the inference I’ve drawn ) you ought to study societies that sought to survive without God by repressing Him. Study Communist Russia, North Korea, Hellenistic Greece, Epicurean Rome. Your point of view, as you will find out, is nothing new and it has existed and evolved with the ages. And on the few occasions, they ceased to become just philosophies but inspired governments, they have resulted in destructions of empires and grotesque human rights violations.
I’m against the man made institutions of religion. I’m also against meaningless laws and bylaws that suppress the human spirit and puts him or her in bondage. But a lot of what is construed as ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom’ is just meaningless reductionism at the end of the day.
Sunil, you seem to note that the essential details that are forgotten is that Atheism doesn’t work on a large scale. Whether or not that is even true, how should that be a factor is deciding whether or not to believe in God? Whether it works or not for the world, does not change what is true and what isn’t. Our world view that the Earth was the center of the Universe worked for everybody, but that didn’t change the fact that it was false.
Repressing God is the same as repressing anything. It doesn’t work. People do not like to be told what they cannot do (as long as it doesn’t involve hurting anyone). The correct path is not to repress or to enforce but to put all the information out there and let people make their own decisions. It is by far the slowest path, but the only path that can truly create a free society.
Many have accused atheists as arrogant people that are no better than evangelists in their attempts to “proselytize”. Well I would like to use your words. You say that it is easier to be atheist/agnostic to appear remotely intellectual. Why do you think that is? Why is it that whenever an atheist speaks up people around him are annoyed and immediately brand him as arrogant? It’s because deep down, people have their doubts, but are bound by their creed. God, as he is regarded today, simply doesn’t make sense. But neither does most of the Universe. But does that prove that there is a God? Not by a long shot.
Pranav, yes, valid points. We all laugh at religions like Scientology etc, but every religion is based on some unbelievable, so-called divine events. Marijuana is actually part of the rituals of the Rastafarian religion. They believe it helps them commute with God, or something to that effect.
Sunil, yes, guilty as charged. A Dawkins fan, and the inference is somewhat right, too. And indeed, being atheist/agnostic is assuming fashion-like proportions. All I ask here is that one be free to choose his/her path without powerful institutions trying to take charge of his/her life.
And agreed again that, as much as I’d like it to be, atheism doesn’t work any better. They tried it in Turkey too, but they just ended up suppressing all the religious folk, making draconian laws discouraging theists and resorting to mindless violence (not much different from, I’d like to point out, some of the religious people of today). I have read about Communist Russia, will try to read about the others too. But just as suicide bombings and the Taliban aren’t a reflection on all of religious society, these do not represent all of the other side. Perhaps the problem is inherent in man, and no solution of the theist-atheist debate will ever work perfectly.
“Today, not only has religion far exceeded its brief and encroached upon the domains of other institutions, but now also seeks to be the ultimate legislature, judiciary and executive all rolled into one…”
Religion always was like that. Nobody ever liked it. It was always a tool to gain power. Ref : Separation of church and state
I still believe in God though, just not in godmen