Truth About Religion

Quite recently I was asked this question during a party with friends – Which is the best religion? The reason I was asked this question was simply because they are aware of my travails, of my quest to find the right religion. However, after a lot of reading & speculation, I finally realise now that of all religions in the world, the right religion is – there is no right religion & similarly there is no wrong religion either.

The reason is very simple, because the way the various religions are practiced today, leaves a lot to be desired for it to be termed as a perfect religion. And I say perfect religion because, ideally it should describe god & his attributes, the right way to pray to him & the right way to lead ones life so that in the end you reach him.

Now the problems with most religion are they get the most important things wrong. Most describe God as a vain & revengeful being, who will punish you if you do any wrong and is very particular in how you address him. And some of them go so far to claim that it is the only right religion & if you follow anything else, you are destined for hell. I find all this to be nothing but utter bullshit. The mere thought that God is anyway interested, even remotely, with things like how you address him is laughable and just goes to show that these cannot be true representations of the divine being but just poor excuse for the same coined by a much lesser being; namely human.

To begin with, if we assume that yes, the entire universe has been created by a divine being, one who is aware of the smallest of intricacies; He would have to immensely powerful, beyond comprehension of our human brain. If we were to go to that point just before He (I am saying ‘He’ not because I am a chauvinist or anything, God could also be called ‘she’ for that matter, it is just that God is popularly referred to as ‘He’ & I somehow cannot bring myself to call God as ‘It’ even though I know for sure that He wouldn’t mind) created this universe, he must have known beforehand what the final universe would be like, he must have known exactly to the minutest of detail, everything that was required for the universe to function in a perfect manner, with all the laws & reasonings that would make it run without his direct involvement even before he created it and just at the instant when he thought about creation. So for a being, that is so immensely powerful, to have even one of the negative attributes that is common to man would be impossible. It simply cannot be. Period. Therefore, God cannot get angry, he cannot have any ego, he most definitely does not punish someone & therefore in the same vein, he does not reward someone either. But what does happen is there is a system in place, of cause and effect that comes into effect with every action that you do. Something like Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, wherein, just as your actions/words gets a reaction from the universe, the same actions/words also affect the fabric of the universe changing both you as well as the universe forever. So you have an intricate web of action & cause wherein all of us are part of that giant universal fabric & although He may have created this, he simply does not take direct part in it.

So then why do we need religion or do we need religion at all? My answer for that would be a big YES. Most definitely religion is required. But for reasons different than what is generally thought of. All religion that is practiced today happens by way of, shall I say, ‘indoctrination’, wherein, all related values and practices attached to ‘the religion that you are born into’ is imbibed into you from birth. Hence, all things related to right & wrong have been connected or shall I say given a ‘religious twist’. This indoctrination is so deep & intense that rarely do you see an individual strong enough to question its veracity or even challenge it. (However, I strongly feel this is changing & I will try and explain this later). Hence, how you lead your life is very strongly dependent on these values & practices that have taught to you since birth. A fear is established within your conscious self, of that all-knowing, omnipresent Almighty, who will then reward & punish you according to your actions & will also determine your journey into hell or heaven. (Unerringly, this concept is present in every religion of the world which is in a way an indicator to the fact that all religion therefore has a common beginning. By which I mean that there most definitely was mother religion, from which all other religion as we know have taken birth from.) This belief & the deep-rooted fear that it generates is then the most important limiting factor that stops a vast majority in the sea of humanity from committing the sort of crimes that generally is associated with only a small percentage of criminals. Imagine then a society, where people firmly believe that there is no God, no religion is practiced and are fearless before committing any act. It would be hell on earth. It would be impossible to govern such a vast multitude that does not have any amount of self-restraint, and frankly, there is not enough police or military personnel that can be deployed in such a world. Not to forget the fact that they too are humans. Hence, however inadequate be the religion that we practice today, the fact of life is, it is of utmost importance that there should be one. Therefore, any conflict that arises due to religious belief is but a small price to pay for the greater good. And more importantly, this can most definitely be controlled.

The reason for religious conflict also is because of inherent imperfections in the religion & lack of comprehension into the real nature of God. If we go back in history, most of the big wars that have been fought till now, has one way or another been due to this friction caused by difference in religious belief. But like I said earlier, I believe that things are changing. And changing for the better in most parts of the world. There is a definite bent generally among civilization towards things spiritual, as compared to say maybe 15-20 years ago. People are slowly realizing that yes, there is more to life that just living it & running around in a rat race and slowly, quality of life is becoming important. This shift in thinking is just the beginning of a sea change that I believe is in the process of happening around the world. Hence, you find more & more people questioning the traditional practices for a rational explanation & even discarding age held beliefs & values in search for better one that makes sense. This is a slow process that will take time. But I for one believe that there will come a time when all religion as we know & practice today will come to an end & will be replaced by a single thought & belief. A single religion that will unite all of mankind & then words like universal brotherhood etc. would not be just in the dictionary. It has to happen simply because in the cyclic nature of change, we have gone from a similar time to utter chaos & it logically will come back to the same state of things. As to when, your guess is as good as mine but all I can say is that with the level of awareness among us human beings getting better & better & more & more relevant & informed question being asked, it is just a matter of time.