Monopoly of Religion

Religion has claimed monopoly over morality since its beginning. It was a primitive attempt to define a moral way of living on earth and there is no point being rebellious about it. No matter what supernatural equation or ghostly threat was presented, it was always an attempt to make people live happily on this earth & with this reality.

With the advent of Logic and Reason, mankind achieved a rational code of ethics. Dogmas were blasted and superstitions were eradicated. What the progressive leadership of ancient age once fought for, became common sense.

However, it's different with organised religion. It is made up of a set of dictums, based on faith & not on reason. It may have some rational parts, but the deciding factor is faith. The common method is to lead people into 'believing' even at the cost of free thinking. The objective is not to set man free. The aim is not pure scientific quest. By its own definition religion is a static set of tenets and it is truly believed that everything worthwhile has already been written or said. Most religions do not advance and correct themselves when new evidence comes up.

Even though the common man does not pursue religion per-se, he has a penchant to justify everything in a religious perspective. Once born in a certain religious community, which is not a matter of choice, he tries to 'somehow' rationalise its way of life. We dig in history, count our heroes vs. theirs and debate vehemently over primordial scriptures.

Have the champions of religion ever stopped and thought what the purpose of religion was in the first place? If the purpose was to define an ideal life, shouldn't logic and reason be the tool? Isn’t intellectual honesty enough?

When the basis of a society is organised religion, the aim of its leaders is to proliferate faith and enforce its beliefs. Taliban is an example.

A tragic mistake is made when we conveniently pick and use rational religious anecdotes as a justification for what we have to propose today. The battle is already lost because we admit to using religion as a way to define our values in today's context. This trap needs to be broken by the rational man.  If something needs to be picked from the ancient, pick it up because it is rational and not because it is ancient.

Fight the irrational with the rational and stop using religion as a crutch (a crutch that was built in the pre-adolescent age of mankind). Defend 'free thinking' and save it from the initiators of faith, fear and force. Dare to accept reality and reason as the sole means of defining 'good life on earth'.

- Amrut Kunte