Random Talk : Of Religion, Theism and Vacations

I know that it has been a long time since I have written anything productive and interesting and I really want to blame it all on my exams, but since I major in English, that excuse is not exactly valid. And with that statement out of the way, let me share some of the things that happened over the past few days and also delve a bit deeper into some of my personal opinions on a particularly touchy subject: Theism.

For the longest time, since I was a kid to up till I was around thirteen, if you had asked me if I believed in God, I would admit that, yes, I did believe in god. I knew a lot of devotional songs, some of which I still remember, I believed that praying actually worked, I believed that there existed a person, omnipresent, omniscient, and all good that looked over all of us and made sure we were safe. I believed in poetic justice; you had to be good to have good things happen to you.

It was also around this time that I started looking a bit deeper into religion and beliefs and, as a perfectly logical reaction, science. I started reading the bible first. I do have to admit that I am in no way well versed enough to jump to conclusions or talk in a manner that makes will me look like an expert. I just picked it up one day and started reading it.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a Hindu. Hinduism is a very complex religion with various interlinking and varying beliefs. It is a religion that is both polytheistic and monotheistic. We worship a set of gods, but with deeper understanding we admit that all gods are one and the same. There are a multitude of concepts that are interesting both spiritually and mentally in Hinduism which I can in no way do justice with this one paragraph.

Two of my closest friends are Muslims. I have known one of those guys for more than nine years. One of the things that I got him, back when I was fourteen, was a Quran. I bought two copies at the Chennai annual book fair and gave one to him as a gift and kept one for myself. To this day it sits inside my bookshelf. That was the time I started reading into Islam, their beliefs and practices.

From my childhood I grew up in a street where there was a mosque opposite our house, a church about two hundred meters away and a temple two streets away. I have friends and acquaintances who are Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Jains, and even Converted Christians. I have even spoken to a guy online who followed Buddhism. The point I am trying to make here is that I have, at some point or the other, learnt or read about the beliefs and practices of religions other than my own.

What I found was that every religion had some similarities and practices which closely resemble that of other religions. I associate this with the fact that we as a species do think alike, at least to a certain degree. What I also found was that there is never religion without personal agenda. I know that sounded harsh, and I know that people are going to say that is not true. Let me finish my argument. Religion, despite its original intentions being different, is a system and business built on one simple thing “Belief”

Religion, in my opinion, is a distortion of faith. Everyone who places faith in any higher power wants to find out a way to please the higher power so that they are “blessed” and religion is just a way of providing people with a collection of facts and rituals and practices that suit their beliefs and abilities so that they can be assured that their faith is true because they performed something that their religion dictated. Religion, to me is a sign that says it is a “shortcut to god”, but in reality that drains you of your strength, physical, emotional and financial, and leaves you questioning why you didn’t get the benefits of following everything you were told to a T.

To me Logic is paramount; but the basic problem lies in the fact that there can never be complete faith while logic is present. That is why every time I see food being offered to deities and even sometimes wasted on them I question the logic behind it. I wonder why all the money we spend on something related to religion can’t be used to make a change, to help real people who are in need, Instead of building places of worship, conducting rituals and so on.

Keep in mind that I am not saying religion is all bad. I do know that food is given to people regularly as a form of service. I do know that it encourages like minded people to get together in a peaceful and understanding manner. But it is simply a case not being balanced enough. What is given back is not always as much as what is taken.

Before we continue with my thoughts on religion and beliefs let’s talk about logic and, more importantly, science. Since has come a long way and has explained a lot of things that man never knew before. Yes, science does not have all the answers but it is the closest we can get to objective truth. We worship and fear the unknown, and science is the light that is lit in the darkness of the unknown. It is palpable, it is tangible and it is objective. We as human beings have always gravitated towards the objective and maybe that is why science has been accepted so widely.

But here is the thing; I believe that science can exist alongside belief and faith, not religion, but only as long as the faith does not stop new and exciting discoveries and explanations for the unknown. Science does not have all the answers and as long as there is a constant admittance towards the existence of an unknown that is the reason for our existence and our reality, I believe we will work towards discovering and understanding what it is.

With that little diversion out of the way, I believe that religion does not have the right to dictate people’s beliefs without proofs. I do not believe that religion can get in the way of happiness. I do not believe that religions need to recruit people under the pretext of dispelling their ignorance. I don’t believe that religions must automatically proclaim that one is better than the other. I don’t believe that rules and regulations written by someone else must govern your beliefs and faiths.

I believe that religion has been built on and is still standing on age old facts, theories and social behaviors that have been proven to be questionable and sometimes even wrong. Most religions have outdated and sometimes even hostile beliefs against homosexuality, gender roles, transgender-ism, marriage, punishment for sins and even the definition of the sins themselves. I am not saying that they were hostile when they were put in stone; I am just saying that they haven’t grown and evolved in their understanding of human nature as we, living-breathing-learning-understanding humans have, over centuries.

As much as I berate religion, I haven’t touched upon my actual belief of the almighty. Before we jump into that, let’s just come to one simple conclusion, I don’t believe in the concept of religion. While it may have been an effective tool for bring people together under a common cause, the effect it has had has been more counterproductive that productive. Before we move on thank you for reading till here with an open mind. Didn’t I tell you this was going to be controversial? Let’s move on to my actual beliefs shall we.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. In his book “The girl who loved Tom Gordon” he describes three characters which appear as hallucinations to the protagonist. One is the classical version of god, the old white man with a halo and majestic wings. The next is the classic devil, a rotting carcass full of worms and surrounded by fires of hell. But is the third character that really captured my attention. King calls it “The Inaudible”; and describes it as a gray ghostly figure without any discerning facial features.

King says that it is just like every version of god; omnipresent, omniscient and all powerful. Except, it isn’t all good; it has an agenda of its own. It has likes and dislikes, it has wants and needs, it plays favorites and most importantly it is completely unpredictable. It was this concept that fascinated me the most.

I believe in the existence of a higher power; let’s call it nature, or more appropriate to this article, the unknown. I believe that the unknown is much like King’s Inaudible. It influences us, it plays with us, and it rewards us and also punishes us, all in an unpredictable manner. It is what we perceive as ghosts and it is the reason for what we consider miracles. It is what cannot be explained by science and it is what theists place all their faith in and hope and pray is all good and at the same time fear it as it is also the devil. I don’t believe that it is good nor bad, I believe it just is.

I don’t place any faith on the unknown. I don’t depend on it, I don’t like it, nor do I hate it. I don’t believe prayer will help me get on its good side, nor will cursing it and ignoring it get me on its bad side because all its sides are grey. Don’t get me wrong, I am fascinated by it, more so because how much people subscribe to a concept of there being two distinct higher planes that separates the good and the bad, without realizing that we can only be us; not good, not bad, just us.

Before I was strong on my beliefs I fluctuated between being a theist and an atheist. Sometimes I prayed before exams, and sometimes I abhorred the concept of something that is above my control. But now I just call myself an agnostic. I have friends who are theistic, very theistic, and some atheistic, what we all share in common though, is the fact that none of us choose to impose our beliefs on others; while at the same time, we agree to be open to all beliefs and even participate in practices and rituals.

The ending of the last paragraph gives me a chance to talk about the last three days. As my exams came to an end on the eighth of May, I left with my family to two important temples. One is in a small village named Adambur, which it home to my father’s family deity. The next place was Vaduvoor, the home of my mother’s family deity. In both the places I was an active participant in the rituals that were performed. The two temples were very different from each other. Adambur was quiet and empty. I was allowed to step inside next to the deity and perform the rituals myself.

Vaduvoor was much more crowded. I took part in a ritual that is used to depict the marriage of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita. I was a part of the group of people who lifted the seat that the idol of Sita was placed in and had to walk around the temple, and at the end even perform a wedding dance.

Both these experiences were exhilarating. Not because I gained a new belief in god, but because they strengthened my belief in people. The first one was exhilarating because I got to help fulfill one of my grandfather’s wishes, and I got to watch my parents pray wholeheartedly. The second experience was exhilarating because of the atmosphere. Every single person who was there truly believed in the ritual that was going on and the gods who were a part of it. Despite there being an immense weight on my shoulders, literally that is, I was smiling because the atmosphere was one of complete belief, and happiness and devotion. Despite me not having these beliefs themselves, I felt a part of it all. Maybe that is what it is all supposed to mean; everyone with common beliefs coming together and believing in a fantasy so deeply that the aura encompasses everyone around.

Or maybe it is the happiness of seeing my parents smiling at my devotion. But the fact is this, what I felt was not devotion towards the deities present but it was just my way of saying thank you for all they have done for me. They have put up with my problems, my failures and have worked day and night, given up their wishes and wants to accommodate my growth. I can never repay completely what they have given me and helped me achieve. So this is just my way of saying thank you.

I will never hesitate or say no when my parents ask me to come to a temple with them. While I may refuse if given a choice, I will never say no when asked directly, because I owe them that much. I may not subscribe to their beliefs or even have the ability to understand them, but I will never give up on a chance to show how thankful I am for them.

So in the end I guess that is what it all comes down to for me. I choose to place my faith and belief in 

people. I don’t believe that anyone has the power to change things overnight, or make miracles happen. But I do believe that If we place enough faith and belief in the people around us, they will come through, and they will support you. Be kind to others and their beliefs, because no one is superior or inferior, and everyone deserves a chance at happiness, whichever path they choose to attain it.

I know that I said a lot of harsh and antagonizing things in this post, but it is all just my opinions.  I didn't mean to offend or hurt anybody. My opinions have changed a lot over time and I am sure they will change again; but until then this post describes my state of mind most accurately. Maybe you share my views and opinions, or maybe you don't. Either way, I respect you just the same and I do encourage you to start a conversation based on your beliefs so that people can hear other viewpoints too.

I want to end this post with two quotes that describe my frame of thought. “Tell people there is an all powerful guy in the sky and they will believe you. Tell them that the paint is still wet, and they will touch it to make sure you aren’t lying” and the other one is a pretty famous one, try guessing the name of the movie it is from; “I am not saying there is no god, I am just saying it will be great if there was one.” Until next time,

Peace!!!