STATE AS THE SAVIOR
Statistical surveys reveal that the majority of human race is not religious in spite of this we cannot think about a world without religion. Faith in religions will stay and conflicts in the name of religion will continue, unless the State intervenes voluntarily to remove all religions from the world and enforce Swadharma. The State is the conscience keeper of the people. All religions in the world were State sponsored. Religions have flourished and continue to prosper even now due to direct or indirect support of the State.
Innocent people in the name of religion are killed so often and the State is a mute spectator to this bloodshed. Why religion is restricted subject in the world were debate is resisted and gross human violations made by religions are rewarded with appeasements by the State? The time has come for the world to declare that all religions are outdated. Those nations which are governed and influenced by religions may take the first step for other nations to follow and make the world a religion-less society.
We need to line up education, spread awareness and evolve a value system that creates a single spiritual force. Not Religion but Swadharma should be empowered to become a spiritual force by the world leaders because they are the ones who can bring the change. In the past rulers propagated religions now let the world leaders and their state governments help to spread Swadharma.
We have inherited religions therefore we need a sound management to run these organizations. We have given three thousand years to religions to run their business but they have miserably failed. Cavemen do not dwell in a city. We must create a new kind of religiousness in tune with the spiritual needs of individuals, fit in private to create a better human being and not an organizational structure that incites people to kill each other. We can produce the new order by educating the new generation.
We should not believe in what is considered wrong by all. We should not back the communal power struggle of the religious leaders. They have by spreading their faith led people rudderless and turned them as enemies bent upon killing each other. We have to put an end to such wicked plans. We should talk about universal truths and brotherhood so that people cease to hate and love each other as a global family and live in peace and work for their common welfare.
Democracies are the most religiously diverse nations in the world. They are a multi-ethnic society. Diversity strengthens the freedom of human thoughts. Differences between races, religions and cultures can either break up society by despotism or can be converted into a significant synergy by democracy.
Man killing man just because he belongs to another religion reflects the dreadful conditions of religions. When we are given to understand that no religion justify such an action then why does it happen? The state must speedily introduce regulatory systems to curb this menace. Not a day passes when there is no killing in the name of religion. The state must stop appeasements and act fast to curb the danger of religious terrorism.
The politically administered religions are dividing the world. Secularists believe that religions are basically the same and therefore a nation should not have a state religion. World has paid a heavy price in blood for religious fervor. Despite tall talk we have failed to separate religion from the state polity and continue to promote it nowadays. The inclusion of religion into politics is evident. The world’s oldest democracy is led directly by divine guidance even today. While the worlds most populous democracy indirectly promotes all religions through secularism. Such belief in modern context is certainly at odd with the rational way of contemporary thinking. Democracy is the hope of the global age if it fails us then what do we expect from the theocratic states? Religion has no rightful place in politics/ polity.
Organized religions prospered in the past under the patronage of a ruler or the head of state that supported the mission to spread religion in and outside their country. Religions have outlived their utility the process of change must be launched by the governments now. If civil laws are under state control, why have separate laws of religion under the control of the priest? This is against the law of the land.
If the rulers were instrumental in establishing and spreading religion, now let the national Govt. of the world establish, and spread spiritualism in its purest form. Spiritualism is the core of all religions and Swadharma its avatar. They should conduct a comparative study of all the major religions of the world and encourage people to experiment with Swadharma individually without any external support. They should also introduce laws to prevent misuse of religion. Adulteration is a crime in trade and industry, while it is safe business in religion.
With time things change. It is a natural process that cannot be stopped. Capitalism has triumphed over communism. Democracy will ultimately prevail over dictatorship. The world is rapidly becoming a global village. Things are changing but only religions strongly resist a change. Swadharma can provide a platform to widen the scope of a thoughtful mind to loosen religious instructions and restrictions and think to change the old to a new religious order that is relevant to our time.
With the opinion of intellectuals we can facilitate change. It is not enough to criticize people for being fundamentalist, if they know nothing will happen to them. Other then condemnation we need an organization were religious bigotry, fundamentalism etc is punished, which we don’t have. The institutional changes are needed to be incorporated after due diligence. It requires broadening of the issue. Media and public discussions can play a vital part. Only those who lead the change can cope with it. Awareness is the medium that prepares the people for understanding and utilizing all that is new.
On religious matter there is no freedom of speech. This is an accepted norm. Comments on religion are guarded fearing that the religious sentiments of people could be hurt. Even defenders of free speech suddenly abandon their cherished values when it comes to religion. Educated people must overcome this fear and discuss issue relating to religions with loving kindness. As religious extremism is gaining acceptability across socio-economic groups, we have to rethink and take a firm stand against it.
Since human beings are driven by fear the religious preachers easily exploit them in the name of religion and make them subservient to serve their plans as bonded slaves. The organization of religions must run under the best regulatory methods and control like any other institutions. Similar to any other organization, religious organizations also have the right to exist. As all organizations thrive on growth, likewise religious organizations must shed rigidity and find ways to grow by having a new group of believers.
To get rid of religions the ideology of Swadharma must weave a tale about the plight of people, of a nation, a race or even the whole of mankind. It should glorify the past and talk about a miserable present and offer a rosy future to the people if they dismantle all religions and follow the philosophy of Swadharma. Notwithstanding the fact remains that in religion terrorist activities are real. It is essential to defeat the principles of religious terrorism. We all want to live in peace. Terrorism in the name of religion is a desperate act that target followers of a rival religion but also kills innocent bystanders belonging to other religions and the same religion of the terrorist as well. When religions fall from the pedestal of God to become a devil it loses its place in a civilized society.
We cannot have one world religion. The idea is not practical. Even the exercise to combine commonalities of all religions is vain. One wrong cannot correct another wrong. However, the general consensus of the people world over is that religion should be considered as a personal and not a public affair. This strongly conveys the message that people no longer want to be under the authority of the church or be misled by the priest. On the other hand spirituality remains the preferred choice of the majority of the people. The answer to it is certainly not atheism but in swapping the religion of masses with the religion for an individual. This will solve the problems created by religions. Since the erstwhile kings and kingdoms where responsible to lay the firm foundation of religions and continued to cater them, it is now the duty of the state to bring change by introducing religious reforms or treat religions as history to promote Swadharma, the eventual religion made for the individual.
REFORM RELIGIONS
There is little doubt that reforms within each religion are required despite theological rigidity. When things change we need to change. But to bring change how much liberalism is too much liberalism while dealing with the sensitive issue of religions? Is judiciary the right forum to address this tricky issue or, the state has a role to play in the religious beliefs of the people or should the state leave it to the religious leaders or act on the initiative of the civil society?
We live in a world where the state becomes indecisive, when called upon to break the rules of religion because the state fears that it will not come clean and will be accused of gross interference. Besides we know there is no context free, philosophical solution to the problem except to pour old wine in the new bottle. Debate on religion versus the state has also not helped either. Last but not the least we have to ask whether religious reforms can make any difference at all. Reality is not idealism it is more complicated. Past experience tell us that reforms have often proved ineffective in matters of religious conviction. The time has come not to reform or replace but to oust religion from public life and push it in the private domain of an individual. This should be the collective responsibility of the state, judiciary and the civil society.
The philosophy of religion was an attempt to understand the truth of life and living. But at the same time religion has no monopoly over this fundamental issue, which not only concerns the theist but also the atheist than why people are frightened to comment about each others religion. Religious terrorism has created fear and danger to life, a terrified silence is enveloping around educated people and civilized nations. Unscrupulous religious leaders are taking full advantage of this silence to carry out their plans freely.
We should know the advantage of keeping the matters of state and religion away from each other. There have been enough occasions where tragedies arising out of politics based on religion have made it amply clear that severance of the state from religion needs to be maintained resolutely.
The rule passed by European nations to ban the wearing of religious symbols in public is indeed a bold step in the right direction. It allows religions to modernize itself. Other nations should follow this example. Signs and symbols were invented to signal a person’s brand name of religion. Natural hairiness, beards and distinct dress codes are used, which when they are worn in public lead people to notice and recognize the persons religious affiliation.
All religious conceptions add value to their brand name in the market of public perception. People hardly consider religion to be realistic but need it to make sense of a complex world, no matter what the manner of its interpretation maybe.
Though religions have tried to define what the cosmos is all about but were unable to solve the puzzle. Even the sages responded with a poser, confessing that only the Gods know or perhaps even they don’t.
In an increasingly hostile world spiritual space in every day life is attracting the attention of young people. The state must act as a facilitator to allow all faiths including the atheists to express their personal views on religion publicly without fear or favor. Only through this process multi-religious and non-religious influences can grow harmoniously in a free society.
Secularism is a proactive process that involves all religions to tolerate and cooperate with each other. It builds self-confidence in each person to reach at a reasonable explanation about their own and others peoples religions. Thus spiritualism the core of all religions can grow only under such circumstances. But politicians play dirty politics and create vote banks by pitching one religion against another. We know that only democracy can uplift secularism so if the practitioners of a democratic state demean it by creating various religions as their vote banks than they are in fact dividing people on the basis of religions much against the principles of secularism. This is unacceptable.
There are universal values and time based values. Universal values are timeless but time based values serve a specific age and are laid to rest on the passage of time. With varying thoughts, altering circumstances and shifting economy our values are changing. Our civilization is now heading towards globalization. With moving time the rules for this moment in time will also change but our universal values will remain unaffected so where the threat to our culture is for religions to decry. The current socio-economic changes are a normal process of time.
Religion is not the torchbearer of moral principles. Is there anything right or wrong? The most balanced manner of living for a social being comes from the principles that help people to live and let others live freely in a civilized society.
We are living at the point in time when people have started seeing religion as a nuisance. This is because of religious terrorism unleashed worldwide by religious leaders and fundamentalist, who call themselves as the custodians of their religion. The simple fact is that followers of any religion should not be violent and destructive. A religion that preaches violent behavior is no religion.
It is wrong to believe in the oneness of religions. Instead mankind must accept oneness of man to live in harmony with each other. In different religions difference will continue to exist but in a free society we only need to respect them and democracies are where people respect diversity and uphold the rights of each other with dignity.
Religious terrorism damages the fabric of a multi-religions, multi-lingual and multi-cultural world. Religious leaders promote hatred on false propaganda. Once their half truths are dispelled by truth people automatically transform and through dialogue they can resolve all mutual differences.
All major world religions were founded many centuries ago. Few of them survive in their original form. The religion of Hindus has changed with the times without losing the core of their beliefs as a consequence of debate, criticism and reformation. Religions should not be rigid but agree to revise holy books. Freethinking to reform religions is useless without free speech. Let us stand up for this freedom.
Religious hatred incites hostility between different religions. This disgusting act should be considered as a crime punishable by the court of law. As the definition of religions lack clarity the acts of crime against religions are simply seen as petty offences is indeed a silly plea. The fact remains that religious fanatics have crossed all limits of civil and religious tolerance. Now there is hardly any difference between the robe and the rouge. Under such frightening conditions why has the initiative of the state to act dried up?
If the state fails, it is important for the society to face the challenge through non violent means. The biggest strength lies in saying ‘NO’ to what is not proper for the common good of mankind. And start a wide-reaching discussion on real values of religion and the means to rejuvenate them. State support systems are needed to confront with the cleric and their cohorts.
Globalization has promoted the idea of oneness of human race and the world as one family. As we all now stand on the demise of the old and birth of a new order, a creed based on scientific base can lead people from the old to a new faith. People are aware of the failure of religions to solve the problems in a changing world. The society is in need of a new start. Change can stir the society to the core but soon there is an order that follows chaos, when it settles down leads to a new way of thinking.
We are heading towards a world civilization. We are witnessing revolutionary changes in the field of communication and travel. In the past tribes, nations and empires progressed at the expense of others through conflict and control but in the 21st century people will prosper by caring and sharing human and world resources as one global family. People are developing a new way of thinking and the increasing numbers of peace loving people promise a bright future for mankind. These changes will certainly happen.
People who follow religions with blind faith have no sense of righteousness. Religious leaders incite only blind followers of their religion to indulge in violent acts against the followers of other religions.
Religious laws are incompatible with the precepts of law, gender equality and the principles of democracy. A regime based on religious laws deviates from conventional values with regard to criminal law and procedure. It lowers the status of women and interferes in the private and public life of the people by throttling human freedom. Wicked practices advocated by any religion are condemn-able.
When people belonging to all religions say that our religion is best and all other religions are bad than whose claim should we accept as true or false?
Fanatics and terrorist are the enemies of the people. Strong action must be taken against them for their criminal activities. Even though the extremist groups act in the name of religion but the majority of religious believer dislike violence that kills innocent people.
People are born with a religion and grow being tagged to religious symbols, labels, brand, name, dress code, rituals and superstitions. Through a slavish strategy the cleric coerce them especially from early days to offer prayers once or several times in a day so that by the time they reach adulthood their mind is totally conditioned. Than all these years of brain washing comes in use to defend and spread their religion. By the time they reach old age, weathered by scores of years the mind is habituated and their belief becomes stronger than it is too late for them to be sensible. See how religion and its network abuse their followers from the cradle to the grave by violating their human rights and curbing human liberty.
Certain procedures need to be introduced. State should end identification of people with religion, stop religious representation in legislative assemblies and discontinue giving concessions on religious affiliations. In democratic countries many political parties treat religions as vote banks, which give religion a chance to retain its medieval character at the cost of unjust conduct, the price to vote political parties to power. This is a desperate short-range method to garner votes to win an election. Such misguided moves can crush democracy in the long run. Politicians must overlook short-term interest and develop vision before the damage is done.
The crisis that confronts the world today is the failure to control religious terrorism. We need basic changes in international rules and institutions. If the existing institutions do not adjust to the new spiritual order that is rising in the world than greater instability is likely to ensure. Changing the organizational structure of religions is no easy task. But only revamped institutions and new rules can tackle the present crisis.
Society and nations are governed by common laws of the state to regulate their functions in a controlled manner. Similar rules and regulations must also apply to regulate religions without giving them any exemptions. With time the old set of laws are changed and replaced by a new set of statues. Why can’t we change the outdated religious scriptures to make them relevant to time? Religious rigidity is certainly against the law of change, therefore we must strongly oppose it.
It is evident that religious establishments are being run like any other business establishment then why their activities are not put under the scanner? Why their sinister policies are passed unchecked? Why under the refuge of exemption they are free to do activities such as misleading, terrorizing and holding the society to ransom?
Religious literature has been used as a tool to change. It contains the power to create or destroy. We have good, bad and dangerous religious literature helping and manipulating people in the world. There are also some religious books which condemn other religions creating conflict. We need to denounce such dismal and dangerous religious books. There is no reason why we cannot clean our religious literature of dirty stuff. The support of religious heads will give legitimacy to this exercise.
To change the system we must reform for the larger common good of mankind and bring change to infuse a new life into our aging religions of yore. From generations man has been following religious diktats and sermons. This long taming has accustomed man only to obey religious commands and follow them or else the fear that any infringement can invite the wrath of God and a place in hell to live. With this fear psychosis looming large on mans mind he is unable to evaluate whether the religious command he is following is for common good or not. It is important to face this challenge.
Religion is not one nation. World at large recognizes the diversity of religions and regard religion as a private affair of a person, which is wrong. The state treats religious communities as interrelated groups within a nation. Members of various religious communities follow their own set of beliefs and practices. Even with this shared aim, camaraderie has not helped to foster similarity of religious interest much due to the unconcerned attitude of the state. Being different and distinct the religious groups are hostile to the interest of each other and support separatist and troublesome trends, which have led to terrorism and fundamentalism. Considering that religion has nothing to do with the state polity, the states have failed to discern what they had supposed to be and what has sadly come to pass. The laxity of state is to blame in making this problem into a clash of civilization.
The state hesitates to bring changes fearing it may hurt the sentiments of religious community and as a silent spectator allows them to go overboard by eclipsing the human interest. The state should stop appeasement and act with courage to bring change. The state must change the way religions see the world. Who wants to tolerate religious atrocities at the cost of peaceful coexistence? The state must decide the importance of human rights and curtail religious terror.
Political forces are also to be blamed for taking advantage of the intolerance between different religious groups and support their hate agenda. The country should have law against the perpetrators of communal violence. Most people consider religion does more harm than good and is the main cause of division and tension between people.
On one hand the public display of external symbols like hairstyles, marks on forehead, head coverings and dresses not only create a separate religious identity it also promotes the brand name of a religion but on the other hand it tends to become a soft target of terrorist belonging to a rival religion to strike them with ease. If the state bans such external religious displays in public, all religious communities will automatically integrate in the multiplicity of a global society. The lawmaking bodies of the state are the agents of change. The state must also feel the public mood and their mode to bond religious divide through spirituality. Considering this the law should to be recast.
Child marriage is prohibited, voting rights are denied to children but religion is allowed to be forced unhindered upon a newborn by the state, isn’t it is a travesty of law, of a practice that comes under child abuse. Parents should be forbidden to thrust religion on their babies just for the reason that the newborns suffer from religious conditioning. Newborns are unaware of the ways of the world, it is the duty of the state to ensure that when they grow up as adults they must have the freedom to decide themselves whether to adopt or reject or have no religion at all. Religions are guilty of polluting the minds of children with retrogressive ideas, which they carry into their adulthood as beliefs that culminates in their old age as religious truths and not actual reality. Being ill at ease with a medieval mindset, how can such people march forward in a progressive society? The outcome is before us, ever since organized religions appeared, the world has been a battlefield of religious rivalry and terrorism.
CURRICULUM RENEWAL
Retrograde is the restoration of religion. We need to modernize religion with a dynamic curriculum suitable for the 21st century. It is important for religions to have organic growth and to constantly adapt to new forms. The level of thinking that created the religious scriptures in the past is no more relevant now. Besides religious organizations have served to create distinct identity of its followers over the years and have failed to promote oneness of mankind. This has led to division and conflict in the social order.
Without experiment or experience we cannot claim to know anything. At one time people believed that the earth was flat and the sun moved around the earth, which was later proved to be false. In the same way religious scriptures contain several systems of beliefs and suppositions, which simply aren’t valid now but the cleric still harp the same tune.
Religions have organizations and organizations are managed by people. The organizations that adopt and implement the process of self-correction and self-regulation are fine tuned to meet the challenges of time. Likewise the foundation of an organized religion must also rest on a liberal setup that can keep pace with the ever changing time. The religious authority must use the power of auto correction, which is a step in the right direction.
The development of human beings depends on gaining awareness of things around them by means of knowledge and wisdom. Being ignorant they cannot find their way. Therefore no one should follow blindly any religion or any Holy book or heed the preaching of any priest, without weighing them in the scale of personal experience, knowledge and wisdom.
Renewal is a continuous process to collect new elements and add value to human culture. In the present context these forces are struggling to develop a healthy respect for secularism, cultural pluralism, democracy, fundamental rights and the integration of social values to script the role of the future citizens of the world. Religions are a reality. The society by and large is religious. The holy books written in the medieval age have blocked all the routes to mend but the world wants universal values for a cohesive and a tolerant society.
Religion is not the source of all-embracing values. It certainly is the main source of value generation. What is required to-day are not religious values but universal values of one family one world. In a world with diversity of culture, religion and language, we must know the commonalities and the differences, wherever they exist. The commonalities lead to social cohesion and world integration and differences to mutual respect and human dignity.
Secularism bridges the gulf between religion and spirituality. A progressive leap from religion to spirituality is facilitated by secularism. Secularism is based on the virtues propagated by all religions; it discards fanaticism associated with religious fundamentalism. Secularism involves scientific outlook it concerns the science of religion. To cultivate secularism we need to propagate and prefers the scientific and philosophical aspects of all religions. Secularism is not nonreligious. It is the view of religions impartiality. What we worship is not the absolute. Religions are the stepping-stones and not an end in them beyond religion is secularism. Secularism is broad based on inner awakening transforming religion into spirituality.
Religions have divided the world by imagined differences that do not really exist. The religious authorities at odds with each others religion must not forget the fact that the face of religions will surely change with time. What would be the face of future religion cannot be said now. But it is certain that humanism will play the key role. With humanism on the center stage all religion based divisions will collapse and a global unity of the people will emerge.
The state should chalk out a code of conduct to check false religious claims and fix accountability. Such measures are not used to test religious texts. The complexity in finding a pack of lies is not due to lack of knowledge but the false impression of an ultimate knowledge. Adding to the problem is a blind belief that believes nothing is impossible. Mans mindset has changed today and is totally in disagreement with the strange, useless and primitive religious philosophy of days gone by. All these contradictions add to make the whole issue more and more complicated.
The disparity between past and present will always remain. It is impractical to match past with the present they can never be the equivalent. Only with retrospection and self-correction the veneer of a redundant past can be peeled off from the texts of the old religious scriptures. Religions must be in tune with the present but fanaticism is promoted to prevent changes in the holy books by the religious leaders to serve their personal agendas. Fundamentalism and terrorism are direct outcome of this regressive mindset.
The nefarious concepts that advocate killing innocent people just on the basis that they belong to another religion has given religions a bad name. It is a fact that many religions have spread mainly through violence and they continue to do so even today if not to spread but to suppress others. Everyone should accept the fact that all religions are manmade they has nothing to do with any sort of divine intervention whatsoever. A religion that compels the ignorant to be ignorant is not a religion. The purpose of religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual, if religions promote violence to kill each other than it is not a religion.
Despite being religious the majority of the people in the world disapprove the way religions have created hatred and division in the civilized society just to advance their inappropriate interest. The world is in dire need of a changeover, never before has there been a more urgent plea for renewal. To alter old beliefs, change is not imposed, it requires time to grow, evolve and move forward.
In the course of evolution all natural processes renew itself. Trees shed old twigs and human body keeps changing. Ideas which are relevant today are obsolete tomorrow. But people are still struck in the groove of outdated religions ideas. Why organized religions have been kept alive for more than 3000 years despite having lost its utility, it has played a long innings. If we don’t let it go, it will catch us and prevent human progress.
People try to breathe old lives over and over again, not getting any younger in reality but wandering in the terrain of their minds. Being chained to the past they are walking ahead. When people put up old scaffolding to build new structures than things surely fall apart. Past has gone just learn from it and leave it. If we don’t past will repeats itself. And that is when we find ourselves stagnant.
If we want new results, we cannot do the old things. Every single day gives us an opportunity to start anew. Our reluctance and stubbornness to stick with the old is the cause of staleness. Everything works for the good, if there were no dinosaurs there would be no human beings but the working of nature from the old to the new will endure.
Quite often, when religions are accused of promoting divisive tactics, the religious authorities respond by saying that no one has the right to interfere in their personal affairs because religion is a private matter of an individual. But the fact of the matter is that religions are more public and less private matter. At the most religion provides comfort to the troubled psyche of an individual otherwise religion is often in the public arena. Every religion has been used as a tool for aggression and violence by encouraging hatred of the people against each others religions. No religion has monopoly of desirable quality though which it can claim that other religions are inferior.
Recently we are witness to the emergence of religious leaders who have deepened blind faith and brain washed the followers of their religions, advancing the erstwhile schemes of the crusaders. Global terrorist organizations under the garb of religion are not in the business of religion but to promote a political ideology under the cover of religion. They are the biggest threat to world peace Religions are even today intolerant, incapable of living in a modern tolerant society.
Religions are old enough, obsolete, and have a medieval outlook and need to be changed by a new system. If polytheism was replaced by monotheism and the Idols of Gods were broken by proclaiming a formless God than why should the form and formless God is not replaced by a Godless religion? Not through muscle as was prevalent in medieval time but by the power of reason which is relevant to our time. Let us therefore start this process now.
Religion should be taught like any other subject by an educational institute. For learning philosophy you don’t require a guru, a priest or a mullah or myths and rituals. We are taught philosophy and the teacher is any other person like us, whereas in religion we learn more and know more about the teacher and not the subject matter of religion.
The gripping and glib claims made by religious leaders and their religious books to mislead the gullible needs to be curbed by a court of law with rules to determine what is permissible to prevent innocent people being mislead with false promises. Setting up a regulator to enforce guidelines and keep a check on misleading claims is the need of the hour. There are laws to deal with consumer issues and misleading advertisements. The time has come to regulate religions as well.
CLEB GOD: RELIGION IN OUR TIME
There is a universal consensus among the worlds educated class that all religions should be driven out from the public domain completely and a personal faith, if required by an individual be retained till such time the world becomes a religion free society. Considering this common conformity Swadharma, has been structured for the sake of simplicity and adaptability to facilitate this transformation.
The world is being rid of myths, miracles, and magic. Even the abolition of religion is crucial for the peaceful co-existence of the people. Even secularism has no major impact. Intolerance, terrorism and fundamentalism are growing. Human values stand vulgarized and human dignity debased. Everything religious is becoming meaningless. The evil face of religion is frightening.
The meaning of life and living is no more perused with interest. Human race is leading life technically on technology. Intellectuals agree that religion is destined to disappear. But the social purpose to sustain society through MORAL CONSENSUS and its influence alive is necessary. If religion were not accessible then HUMANISM would surely take its place.
Many truth seekers had forecasted the collapse of religion, contrary to what was thought several hundred years ago have not happened. Religion has not disappeared from the world even though it is considered as the world’s biggest problem owing to fanaticism and terror tactics.
It is strange, religions are supposed to preach love and brotherhood but their leaders often preach hatred to those who do not subscribe to their BRAND of religion. Unfortunately disrespect for another’s faith has resulted in wars, bloodshed, and terrorism in arousing communal passions. No one is against any religion and its righteous purpose, only the rigidity of religions to change with time and mislead their followers is upsetting.
Condemning each others and harboring hatred towards each others religion has created enormous disharmony amongst the people throughout the world, in fact religions are the biggest divisive force instrumental in dividing the world into armed camps on the basis of religion. Whatever religion one may follow, it is necessary to practice TOLERANCE & UNDERSTADING. Tolerance is indispensable for peaceful living.
Forcing God and religion on those who are not prepared to accept it, does not serve any purpose. To the educated people the belief in God and religion is not important to lead a spiritual and virtuous life. There are many who lead a righteous life without such beliefs while many believers infringe human rights and inflict pain to innocent people.
Religion needs to be relevant. Religious books are already under the scanner. Religious places are becoming less holy and more as a festive place. Music and refreshments attract people to visit religious places less for spirituality but more for entertainment. The signs of decay and decline of religion is clear.
There are hardly any religious leaders who are committed to the wellbeing of the people. They are trouble-mongers who give religion a bad name. With the support of innocent followers things get worse. Followers should get rid of them. The remedy lies in promoting people of caliber to head the religious organizations.
Religion was created for people who were illiterate. The authors of religious books knew that educated people could question the genuineness of these books. Restrictions were imposed on them through psychological fear, stating that the religious books was dictated by God himself and / or were written by means of divine muse. This ploy worked. Ignorant people with blind faith believed and feared the word of God.
The fear of God formed by religion in the minds of believers is fully exploited by the religious leaders. Followers are not expected to question the Holy Scripture and the reliability of their religious leaders, even if they project themselves as the agent of God. It is time for the followers of all religions to wake up from the slumber of blind faith; superstition, rituals and beliefs and recondition themselves and look afresh to reality with clarity of mind. They should realize the meaning of God through personal experience and not through religion but by following Swadharma, picking a personal spiritual path.
Religions have outlived their relevance. People now need a new and realistic spiritual approach fine tuned with time. Drastic reforms are considered necessary to get better. A thoughtful framework and strategy backed by intellectuals must create a vibrant system of Swadharma. The pride of power and the might of money of fake religious leaders have degraded religion. Religion is no more seen as a symbol of high principles but an organization marketing a brand of religion using money and power to pull people of other religions into their fold.
Today when people look for spiritual development they want something that is simple to put into practice, which doesn’t involve any ritual or rigor, they want a system that blends well with normal activities and their thought process, even if the procedure is considered against traditional religious tenets.
We live in an age where religion has become commercial, places of worship reduced to marketplace and cleric the center of power. People are totally disillusioned by religion, to add to their woes the terrorist activities in the name of religion have distanced them further from religion. Even though religion is accepted as a fundamental human right but there are no legal provisions to regulate religions, it is left to the cleric. Government of each country should regulate religions under the law of the land, absence of which has created unbridled terrorism worldwide. This is extremely unfair in a civilized society.
History has witnessed evil at its worst in the name of religion. Religion is now associated with terrorism and religious people seen as fanatics. Fundamentalism is the process to misinterpret scriptures to fuel religious passions. It is strengthening due to the integration of religion with politics and false religious leaders.
The growth of human qualities is possible as soon as people are able to make out and oppose false beliefs. If religious beliefs cannot stand the test of universal values then it is not a religion. If we want to live in falsehood, how can we live in truth? Mankind is governed by common natural laws.
Faraway from spreading harmony and peace, religions have created large scale hatred among people the cause of continuous conflict. Fundamentalist have used religion as a tool to spread terror campaign worldwide. It is a serious crisis that forces us to think about the unsuitability of religion.
Humanity needs a religion based on universal ideology, which imbibes time honored values and commands consistency. Swadharma is above disagreements, beliefs and superstitions. Let the nuclear age discard that which is false and worthless and accept what is right and practical.
Religions are creating divisions. This is an unforgivable offence against humanity. It must be dealt by law. The erring Religious leaders should be brought to justice. People and the state should protest. Silence takes away the right to disagree. People are not answerable. The plan to create divisions among people is backed by the religious leaders and their supporter states. There is a widespread disappointment with religion.
Born with the identity tag of religion people suffer from an identity crisis throughout their life. Their commitment to the tag of religion is so strong that it never allows them to see reality. This put off reasonableness, blinds the vision and creates complex mental blocks that go astray in the darkness of delusion.
Whether people accept it or not, the decline in religion is a worldwide trend. The reasons for rejection may differ from one religion to another. The greatest paradox is whether we can separate religions from spiritualism? The answer is to deinstitutionalize religion and take it to the personal domain of an individual. The core of all religions is spiritualism. We need a system which is open to verification and not blind following. The system needs to be revamped and rejuvenated with well crafted strategies. People want a new spiritual canon to face the future together.
Fundamentalism has impracticable answers of bygone ages, unfit to resolve the complex problems arising out of contemporary conditions. Fundamentalist feel that their religion empowers them with hope, meaning and a sense of shared community.
Should the pursuit of reason rapture religion? In the conflict of ideas, reason should have a free hand to combat against orthodoxy, blind faith and religious bigotry. It is reason that has laid the foundation of secularism, democracy and freedom, which are the hallmarks of modern life. Religions have decayed long ago. They are merely surviving by selling superstitions. We don’t need a revolution. Struggle between accepted beliefs and progressive thinking has been a continuous effort to find innovative and remedial solutions.
We need a people’s campaign. A revolution is not needed to dislodge religions. We do not know whether Swadharma that comes after such a campaign will be free from deficiency. Certainly, concepts are not perfect as perfection is an unattainable goal, what does matter is the idea whose moment has come. It is important that a campaign is launched, public support can be gathered and that will make a big difference.
Centuries old religious literature lies in the bin of bygone myths. Crack these myths and reality is revealed. Is religion a collection of frosty words, a set of doctrines, a belief, a system of ideas, superstitions, rituals or myths? Let us not deride the wisdom of these texts nor belittle the importance of learning from them. What is required today is the education all religions. So that people can know the finer aspects of religions and denounce the useless contained in it. This point of view falls in line with today’s progressive thinking. The bringing together of religions and secularism can indeed save humanity from communal discord.
Thinkers after thinkers have rubbished religious beliefs but the vast majority of human beings continue to follow them. Being religious means subscribing to the tenets of ones religion, any violation begets punishment. It instills fear of retribution and reprisal from God. This fear forces the followers to repose blind faith on their holy books giving them no right to decide or live the way they want.
Religious text and its interpretation are full of contradictions. This shows lack of clarity in Holy Scriptures. Religious books were written by human beings and not by any divine being. The problems in the writings have arisen due lack of vision. It needs human and not divine intervention to solve them. Waiting for God to descend on earth to edit the Holy books is silly. Changes must be brought through human efforts. When books pertaining to other streams are edited, why not religious books as well.
There is too much violence on account of terrorism instigated by religious preachers. When senseless violence begins to harm innocent people it becomes a cause for alarm. The greatest riddle is that animals kill to satisfy hunger but humans kill each other for no reason. Violence under the name of religion takes place due to wrong beliefs and fanaticism.
Fanaticism has been the main cause of terrorism. Proper education of religion can be a solution. Because learning is an unending process the appetite for awareness never satiates. Educated people must expose themselves to learn all religions, even though in large part religious scriptures can be described as crackpot and nonsensical. Pursuing the junk in religion make people suffer. Organized religions functioning like political parties have been involved in intensifying hatred among nations.
To end wrong practices of religion, the law of the land must bring certain proviso under its ambit, like: (1) The Right to study all religions (2) No religion can be inherited by birth (3) No religion can be forced upon others through coercion or allurement. People should be free to decide the religion they like to follow or pursue no religion. Any infringement of these terms is treated as a violation of fundamental right of a citizen.
Vatican City is recognized as an independent state. It is represented at the United Nations. It has diplomatic relations with nations and has ambassadorial missions in the city. No other religious order enjoys such privileges. This inequality must end. Such disparities create conflict. The very concept of faith republic is dangerous in a world already divided by religion. In the age of globalization, people need a universal religion and not Faith Republics.
We need to promote that which is relevant. Replicating the past is not an apt response. Modernity cannot be wished away. Can we merge the two to ensure continuity, looks like a tricky issue that requires to be tackled? To improve the quality of life, spirituality along with materialism is important for both inner and outward development. This dual sense of dharma, defines life in its totality.
Religious systems are governed by dictums, directives and commitment to characters. The rigidity of the preceptor and the precepts sap the strength of religion. The intellectual and the young dislike rigidity because it is against the universal principles of change. People do not desire to be dictated by doctrines and dogmas.
The influence of anything forced upon does not last long and the threats of fear create resistance to revolt against the system that instills it. But by reading the holy books continuously the mind of the dull witted is brainwashed and conditioned to drain this reaction. Static precepts, irrational beliefs, silly superstition and mechanical rituals are thrust by the priest on people who are easy to fool. Followers must verify the claims made by religion within the framework of life. People accept religious beliefs because they are old or they have a huge following or it comes from a famous celebrity. Few get to know the whole story while the blind followers keep their eyes shut.
Fanatics are enemies of human civilization and degrade ethics. A faith that is established on the word of God is dictatorial. The personality of a religious master must not obstruct the teachings of the holy book. If the master becomes the focal point then the teachings of the holy book is relegated to the backdrop. The life and teaching of the master is separate from the character and teaching of religion.
The approach of religion is regulatory in nature based on spiritual, lawful, ethical and opinionated ideas revolving on sin and virtue, which were indispensable requirements of the society during the medieval age. Now the acceptability in our society depends on trust and friendship and the emphasis has shifted on the individual, his rights and duties, ethical choices, compassion and moral courage, right to information, transparency and accountability. In a free society it is the individual who assumes the most important role. The indispensable requirement of our time is to tackle the individual rather then obey to the command of a celestial being. The process of implementation is stalled by avoidance than by compliance.
Suicide missions carried out by religiously obsessed terrorists is worrisome. People are still inspired by perverted medieval concept of a holy war against infidels is deplorable. The terrorist as human bombs are cowards rarely seen before, who explode themselves to kill innocent people. Their overwhelming presence is a matter of concern.
It is difficult for an authoritarian medievalist to digest democracy. Even their own Faith nation who are not in sync with their ideology, do not escape their wrath. Each nation state must become a religionless republic and bring in democratic system to promote individual liberty and social equality so that no one is scared to board a plane or go to office or the market.
The breeding grounds of terrorist are Islamic countries ruled by dictators. It will not be easy to eliminate their authoritarian rule. But democratization of the Islamic world has a wider acceptance to serve the aspirations of oppressed people. It is the spirit of freedom, which will ultimately triumph over terror. We need religious tolerance in the world to build a harmonious future for humanity.
Terrorists are seen as martyrs, at times they are compared to historical crusaders who led to the conquest of holy wars. It is appalling to see the way religion is being perverted. Terrorist recognize no nation and respect no borders. The world must rid the menace of terror through a global police force or through UN peace keeping force.
We need to protect the youth or vulnerable people from being indoctrinated by fanatics who preach hatred, revenge and violence. To achieve this, a closer social contact between different groups of people is crucial to create communal harmony and respect for each others religions and religious practices.
The world is shocked to see bloodshed and bomb blast everywhere. All nations of the world should unite to fight against the terrorists. The fight need not be violent. It should be through non-violent means like persuading the terrorist haven states to bring the terrorist to justice.
The terrorist are misguided people, if they see reason and know the truth they will certainly stop killing people around them. Compassion is not only meant for friends or for kith and kin but is even intended to those who are our enemies.
Destruction and death brought by terrorist attacks is an evil act. Evil rises in the absence of goodness. Evil is the cry to bring back the good. When goodness appears evil does not disappear it waits to reappear when goodness is lacking. The good and the evil are creations of human thought. There is no evil or good in existence. All that nature creates is harmony.
There are other reasons than religion alone that can be linked to terrorist activities. The selfish and indifferent human behavior, the vulnerability of youngsters to give up their life on flimsy grounds and the overpowering distress and grievances of people and curbing of individual’s liberty. The terrorist take up arms driven by a sense of injustice, where a minority feels that its rights are being trampled upon.
With globalization the concept of world citizenship and prosperity of mankind is emerging fast. Nationalism will be used in future to protect and to look after the culture of that region and not to compartmentalize the world into parcels of land called nations any more. The earth is one country and mankind its citizens is the new world order.
For the sake of peace and prosperity on earth the Human race needs a single world government, with all the countries as equal partners, having a common army and police to change the war-like nuclear world to a peaceful one. Then all problems will be resolved, in the world forum without any bloodshed. Till this goal is not achieved, there will be no peace on earth.
A movement leading to world unity will encounter opposing trends rooted in prejudice and partisanship, which will refuse to heed, the call of the new age. And people will continue to suffer from poverty, war, terrorism, disease and degradation of environment as a consequence of this opposition. Before this ideology matures into a reality, the lobby group has to pass through difficult situations.
The world’s leadership must recognize the crisis caused by terrorism and nuclear armament, which cast doubt on the eventual outcome of world peace. An old world is passing away and a new world is struggling to be born. The enormous challenge before mankind is to resolve collectively for smooth transformation.
There is nothing to justify war or anything as a just war to prevent future wars. Passive resistance or non-violent resistance may take a longer time to end hostilities maybe with a less collateral damage. But this is not a solution to war. Can we justify the misery and pain of victims inflicted by war? Can we draw the line of justification or non-justification of war? Succinctly put, there is no place for wars in a world that seeks coexistence and peace.
In case of terrorism, history illustrates that deliberate killing of innocent people creates a chain reaction and the banning of terrorist outfits becomes a necessity to curb violent backlash.
When Armed forces are ordered to carry out ethnic cleansing and commit mass atrocities and genocide, what can the helpless victims do? An ideology of cultural superiority seeking revenge from minorities is unbelievable and unacceptable.
The ideology of the militants is to use religion to enforce their policy to create separate religious identity whereas Fundamentalist mix religion with militancy to mobilize civil society. Fundamentalism and religious terrorism is a threat to human civilization. We need to guard against this scourge.
Ethnic and religious conflicts threaten to tear apart more societies to-day them any other issue. These movements achieve their goals through private army. These armies comprise of unemployed youth and mercenary who also function as an underground bullies for political parties to silence the voice of dissent. When militants are linked to legitimate political parties claiming to represent a majority community, their impact can be disastrous on the minorities.
Fierce and contending faiths, hostile creeds and divergent beliefs will reconcile. Mankind will come together in fellowship with mutual accord. All nations and people will come closer to each other. The age of human camaraderie has come. The world will soon become religionless. Racial prejudice will be discarded. All nations will live as a large human family under the shelter of a world government.
There is a need to form a union of all religions. Spiritualism is the thread that ties all religions together. An inevitable movement with a universal outlook has already begun to raise humanity to a higher consciousness. A spiritual revival is sweeping the world, countless people can feel it and some ridicule it and many embrace it. It is an unvoiced internal revolution of human mind. A nameless entity affecting a large number of people, we are at a crucial point in time, where spiritualism alone can lead us to an evolved nuclear age human existence.
Our educated generation is awake. Something significant is about to occur. Amid a growing intensity and longing the inner journey of human mind has begun, it is seeking its source. This personal transformation will have global effect.
We are all born with a natural spiritual urge and do not seek to inherit a religion. When we realize this fact, a ridiculous journey comes to an end and a sublime journey begins. Spirituality is our internal destination and materialism our external destination. Can wishing away reality make it disappear?
This spiritual seeking is inherent in humans. No one creates it. The human attraction towards spiritual is too profound to express but what is inside comes outside. The human spiritual impulse in its crude form first manifested externally in the past as magic, it exists in its vulgarized version in the form of religions and is now poised to exist in future in its refined form as Swadharma.
Religions have torn apart the world with conflicts. Swadharma is the death-knell of fanaticism. Swadharma is the path to the ultimate reality. The objective of Swadharma is to sense the presence of the pervading human consciousness everywhere. By knowing this the individual will transcend the barriers of all religions.
The holy war is open on two fronts, the first to annihilate the believers of different religions and second to wipe out the non-believers. Religion is the cause of violence that creates conflict and division among people. We need to lay emphasis on the moderate aspects of religion to maintain peace. Spirituality promotes a value creating society by dialogue and harmony. Our society is like a ship, which has lost its way in the middle of the ocean, sailing aimlessly to sink.
Organized religions have corrupted and vulgarized the spiritual. There is a need to replace old ideas with new ones. No one is interested to pay attention to a confused philosophy. They want the spiritual to be defined in a plain and practicable way for the common man. Swadharma is an initiative in that direction. It is time to change, it doesn’t matter if someone is an atheist or not, it doesn’t matter if somebody worships God or not as long as the person is not a fanatic, spiritual evolution and consciousness elevation is a continuous endeavor.
CLEB GOD
Worshiping celebrities is taking the place of religion in people’s life. Lesser religious beliefs in people make them more likely to worship celebrities and people with strong religious convictions are likely to become fanatics, both extreme are unreasonable. Those who are moderate are the harbingers of a sustainable rational change.
Celebrity worship is like religious worship. Much of the news is today dominated by celebrities. So powerful is the impact of the print and electronic media that the innocent people are affected more by what happens to their icon than by personal relationships with family and friends. Even the fans of deceased celebrities experience bereavement as a personal loss of a loved one, in extreme cases they even commit suicides.
Celebrities have become role models for million of people around the world. They now influence their values and lifestyles in the way religions have guided their followers. Just like religious worship, obsessive fans also follow one celebrity and put down the other contending celebrity similar to the worship of one God as some religions demand to revere. Like religious practices, Fans also perform rituals like collecting things touched by their icon and so on.
Celebrity worshipers believe that their icon can do no wrong. Celebrities are turning into modern Gods, a persona created by fans and media. Taking advantage of this mass hysteria more criminal are on center stage then law abiding cult figures. Criminal convictions on the contrary enhance their celebrity status. Limits between right and wrong now stands distorted. This is just an insight of contemporary attitude of hero worship.
Media has glamorized criminality in their search for heroes and role models to create excitement. We have come into a world of degraded values a decline in the reverence of honorable people. It indicates a need for clear value systems in our ambiguous society.
The celebrity syndrome and the magnetism of the famous imply mankind’s tendency of idol worship. People need more and more information about them to feel connected. Varied interpretations, bizarre explanations and endless rumors create a halo of myth around them.
GOD GENE
CONCLUSION
Religion in its pure form is a study of what should be righteous but in its corrupted form is seen as a foolish and hallucinated.
Religious thoughts initially took on the traditional forms of worship and the understanding that the universe was created by a divine force. Later scientific approach influenced by materialism shifted the purpose of life from just accepting God and following his commands to promoting a liberal social order and economic progress of the individual and the society as a whole. God and religion lost its meaning. Technology promised mankind a bright future. But materialism has also failed to achieve its end, despite economic prosperity, happiness is still eluding humanity. Systems which gave meaning to life such as inner development, morality and family bonding have been degraded. Meaninglessness is the norm of the day. Human touch is missing. Ethics have disappeared. There is no difference between right and wrong. The individual’s peace and harmony is, indeed at risk.
Life is multifaceted and complex. Multiplicity survives on freedom and democracy. When people lean towards identicalness they become vulnerable to monocracy. It is well-known that a dictator hates to deal with the many-sided opinions of the people. An authoritarian God makes religion blind, numerous Gods and Goddesses can lend a secular outlook. It is the inner spiritual journey that sparks the radiance of reality.
In countries based on one religion, there lies a latent turmoil, which threatens to go out of control, whereas in democracies politicians use religions as their vote-bank and to influence elections the preacher’s campaigning for political parties demean religion. Mixing religion with politics is dangerous to the world.
The fear of divine reprimand and punishment hammered and drilled into the minds of the people from thousands of years is deeply riveted, unhinged and inseparable. That’s the reason that even the intellectuals accept religious doctrines and dogmas submissively, others because they are traditional, some because others also follow them. There is indeed a blind following everywhere, which is misleading the human race negate reality.
Christ was born in Middle East yet the Middle East looks at Christianity as a western religion. The Hindus in India look upon Christianity and Islam as foreign faiths. Haven’t we created religious stereotypes based more on region and less on religions? Isn’t this enough to suggest how hallow religions are?
In modern age, people are educated they can understand what is right and what is wrong. Science and technology have widened their knowledge and perception to know the world and the universe which primitive people could not comprehend. Even their naivety was accepted as religious truths.
The world is not positioned in favor of religious point of view. The formation of this world did not take place to match the thinking of the authors of religion. The world operates according universal laws.
Ideas change with time. We need to remove and recast them by updating our religious books from time to time. Earlier people believed that the sun rotated around the earth and that the earth was flat, later astronomers proved it wrong. The theory of evolution has rejected that life was created by God and so on. The religious authorities objected, persecuted and accepted the truth but refused to rewrite their holy books.
The irrevocable demand of this era is to unfetter humanity from the shackle of religious slavery. Performing religious rites and rituals, praying or making offerings to God does not make a man religious. No human being requires a religion to become spiritual. All human beings are born with a spiritual mind. Life is led by applying intelligence watchfully without relying on the help of God or depending on imaginary concepts spread by religions, spirituality and not religion helps the evolutionary process of mind.
Religions promote faith and people follow it blindly. Religions command surrender to an unknown entity on the basis of fear and punishment. Surrender brings humility and hopes, the driver’s enthusiasm and endurance but surrender ought to come though watchful watching and systematic study based on reason and psychological analysis of mind and matter.
Everything is interdependent, conditioned and ever changing, to find the first cause that creates everything in this flux, is indeed unattainable. A cause has an effect. The same effect may again become the cause and continue in a cyclic occurrence. The appearance, disappearance and reappearance of universal phenomena’s are the kaleidoscopic vision of nature at work.
Without intellectual interaction religion becomes a system of blind belief reduced to a baggage filled in excess of rituals and superstition people carry with them. This stifles open thought and religious mediocrities produce trouble. The society struggles to open up to a world of progressive view
We should accept universal laws having worldwide relevance. Ultimately truth triumphs over error and shows us the path of righteousness. To praise, defend and preach ones own religion and criticize and refute other religions goes against the decorum of a civilized society.
Religion contradicts reality. Even though thinkers and scientist have propounded grand philosophies and discovered great inventions, giving a new dimension to knowledge and technology. Even then our understanding remains inadequate to comprehend the mysteries of the universe. Spiritual insights fill the gap of human limitations.
Religions have retarded the progress of mankind. They have misled people through superstitious beliefs and practices. There was no organized religion five thousand years ago yet the human race and society developed for several million years without religions and Gods. Whether religions exist or not, the fact remains that truth will continue to prevail with no priest and Gods.
Humanism was the beginning of religious conviction. The existence of a God as a savior was simply a concept created to instill psychological fear in the minds of those who dared to drift away from basic morals and civic responsibility. No one else other then we can save ourselves. It is our personal endeavor that leads to salvation and not through God as the liberator or from a religious mass that redeems.
People blindly observe religious commandments and are afraid to question its veracity, Gods wrath and his punishment acts as a deterrent. They blindly follow religious dictates hoping that God will reward them. This is the main reason which makes them observe religious laws and not from a sense of religiousness. Only educated people can think independently and understand things in the correct perspective.
Human nature is unpredictable, it backtracks to sin rapidly, unbridled it wavers and his animal instincts is ready to rip apart the social order as if geared mechanically to violate all norms of manmade morality. It is a fact that animal instincts are indeed powerful then the moral lessons taught to tame them. A state of “free-for-all” situation does not bring togetherness. It is fear that helps people to live together. Fear of extinction is a powerful biological instinct. That is why religious conviction was needed to train them in the past and now it is regulated by the court of law. The rules of law are not sacred but ethics are, to keep this sanctity alive the role of spirituality cannot be undermined. Law and order bring social progress and spirituality an individual’s inner progress.
This world is Maya and we live in illusions. All knowledge comes from imagination. Imagination is illusions. Aren’t we simply creating illusions to break away from illusions? When will the illusionist within us see reality as it is and not the way we want to see it?
In the past we were scared of natural calamity, wild animals and evil spirit. Later we realized that many of our past beliefs like spirits and angels were make-believe. Today we pay no attention to them. What we need to fear today are ruthless fundamentalist who are out to destroy society and world peace under the cover of religion.
No species in the animal kingdom follows religion but nature. It is the human mind that has invented a religion perhaps to subdue human selfishness and deceit or to yield authority over others. It is difficult to change human nature. We don’t need religion to change. We need to look into the nature of human mind.
We need to practice universal ethics of righteousness for collective living and welfare of each other. We need freedom of thought to carry out a significant study on the deeper aspects of mind and consciousness, science and universal laws. The aim of faith should be to awaken mankind to have a clear understanding of life and living and not to dwell in the fantasy world of religions.
Religions have evolved by imagining the origin of the universe created by a supernatural being and revolve around a soul as a separate entity based wholly on speculative theories, which are neither verified nor verifiable. They are result of thoughts let loose. There is no reality behind them. Due to these unreasonable theories, religions have created divisions in the world. Even today people are ready to lay down their precious life for fictional things and story bound leading heroes.
Believers read holy books as a part of ritual without understanding the language and its meaning and defend the written words of their holy book and even set out to give up their life for a celestial cause. The carnage in the name of religion has not stopped. In spite of people of being outraged but hesitate to raise their voice against religion for fear of reprisal. If knowing that religions are responsible in destabilizing the social order of the world then the audacity to stand by what is right even if one is alone is necessary to end the terror campaign.
Nearly every religions talks about heaven and hell. Heaven is ruled by God. While Hell is under the governance of evil. Earth is a place where good and evil is put to trial. Only from earth the believers can reach heaven through their righteous conduct. Once in heaven all pleasures of life are placed before them to have. Every religion preaches that heaven an imaginary place, must be the ultimate abode. Even if the authors of religious books did not know where exactly heaven or hell was.
Rigidity saps the strength of religion, educated people find it objectionable. They do not want to be dictated by static doctrines and dogmas which oppose the natural rule of change. Inflexibility leads to restriction and limitations hinder the evolution of mankind. We need to educate people with the knowledge of life and living. Dwelling in fantasy and fiction is daydreaming and living life a hardcore reality. The reality of practical life depends on human understanding, skillfulness and maturity. Religion being speculative is an incompatible channel for practical life. The need is to develop a reasonable mind, see and experience life here and now and rely on you and not on others.
Stop reading religious books it misleads just experience life and learn from personal understanding. Don’t seek affirmations in religious writings. Reality unfolds spontaneously and not by seeking. There are hidden invisible layers of cosmic dimensions found by subtle feelings, untouched by reason, free floating from the limitations of the mind.
Poverty is glorified by religions. Religions offer no solutions to eradicate poverty. Living in hunger, filth and ignorance is considered as a divine will, which misleads the downtrodden to escape from the harsh realities of life. Religions offer material comforts afterlife to the poor while the Pope, Pundit and the Mullah use the comforts of wealth, collected from the destitute to live a life of luxury.
Religion has lost its spiritual essence, it has become commercial, preachers and Godmen are market and media created icons. They are spiritually and morally worthless, third-rate cheats who do not practice what they preach but are smooth talkers and media smart. All Godmen painstakingly devote more time on their outward appearance to look holy because media is keen to focus on an individual who appears Godlike for their viewers.
Religion is inherited as a family legacy, few are fortunate to select their religion. When weird is desirable the usual becomes dull. Religion is so perverted, vulgarized and aimed on amplifying orthodoxy, superstitions and rituals. We need to reorient the whole outlook of religion. Religious conviction should be looked at from a position from where it can be practiced without guesswork.
To attain a particular state of mind religion may or may not be helpful but for sure in a freethinking state of mind religion is not needed. Plain truth can hurt others and half truth is undesirable. Our understanding must not be far removed from truth or linked with religious beliefs. What we consider as a fact today can be proved wrong tomorrow. The human mind cannot draw a line beyond which reality does not exist. How superficial and hallow it is to impose religious beliefs on others.