The country has been bitten by a bug- and the name is Elections. Alright...if not the country the politicos definitely. It is that time of the five year, when it is raining promises and freebies...at least they sound real good. But then there is one thing that is almost always a regular and seldom fails to attract attention. And un-fortunately it is also something that many of us don't want to be a part political manifestos. It, my friends, is religion. Ram Mandir, Reservations for Muslims, Avenging the atrocities on Christians, and Justice to the victims of Sikh riots. Whatever be the topic, play the R word and you are sure to bag the headlines the next day. Why?
Religion, for the common man occupies a very personal and private space. Something which he does not wish to be discussed in a public forum. When i say a public forum i mean- i as a christian would not prefer speaking about the nitty-gritties of the religion in front of people who are from other religion, unless of course when you are asked to. And pre-dominantly i have seen others like the same way. I am talking about the common man, and not about people who are extrinsically doctorined and motivated. This personal space starts occupying national headlines when the same space is being shared by many others and there is a voice to it. For an inter-cultural society where peace is a very delicate fabric, this voice has often proved to be a very dangerous spark that threatens to burn everything down. History tells us this. Nero. Crusades. Witch Hunts in Europe. Ayodhya. Jihad. Orrissa. Every time, its been a voice for this from one of these collective personal spaces that has triggered it off.
It brings me to the question- Is it really worth? What on earth is the need of it? People may think of me as blasphemous. Alright now let me be an Atheist and not a Christian any more. Religion basically was made or should i say as a system to bring a sort of order into society, segregate people according to their 'karmas' . And more important than anything else it was brought in as the unknown factor. For anything unknown, unexplained, mysterious for which the curious mind could not find an answer, it became the domain of God. How did the earth came into existence. Big Bang you would say now. But before that it was when he said "let there be light and let there be heaven and earth' and so on and so forth. So the question is why can't we have one religion? why should there be religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Budhism, Scientology (whats that? will some one please tell me?). Well the answer is simple. The human mind is a thinking mind. It has the tendency to think away from the set and has always had a tradition to make someone do something or say something totally different. And there you have it. Like mushroom another religion here and there, more fungus and little food.
Today religion has become a great business, the philosophies have been forgotten. It has become an opportunity for merchandises, symbolism, TRPs, Cirulations and even networking to a great extent. Not to forget, it is a great way to garner votes. It seems as if we vote either for one religion or against one religion. And not for a party or a candidate or an issue (unless of course it has a religious angle to it.)
Makes me wonder is religion really worth the trouble? And is this post really worth the trouble, if the previous question is answered in a negative? Think over it.
