Religion was meant to be a guide, to lead people on the path of spiritual attainment. However in today's world religion is no longer what it was meant to be. There is much more involved now. Politics, money, corruption and what not. It has all become an integral part of every religion. Nothing about them is holy anymore.
In a recent attempt not very long back, the Australian government tried to lift a long standing ban on Stem Cell Research. A panel was set up consisting of some of the greatest scientist of the land. As a dedicated biotechnologist, I was excited about it. A week before the bill was to come up in the parliament the Catholic Arch Bishop had something to say on the issue. He came out with a press release that sounded more like a threat. He threatened to excommunicate any member of parliament who voted in favor of passing the bill. Which means that they will be out casted from their religion. I know I love my religion, everyone loves their religion. It is what we were brought up with. The beliefs have been rooted deep into our personalities. But do I love my religion enough? Religion brings to us a sense of right and wrong. So, do i really need a priest to tell me what is right and what is wrong? Do I love my religion enough to risk my freedom in the hands of a priest? What right does a priest have to dictate to me as to how I should live my life, for I can think for myself.
Religion is more than just being told what rights and what is wrong. The true essence of any religion lies in the ability of a human to by himself understand the difference between right/wrong, to know what makes a right wrong, and what makes a wrong right. Right and wrong are no fixed things. They change with time, situation and necessity. Enslaving one self to the preachers of one's religion, can not be the teachings of a holy being. What kind of self realization or spiritual attainment can a enslaved mind attain?
How does it concern a priest, as to what a pregnant mother does with her fetus? Isn't it her body, her child! What does he know about her social conditions? Is he ready to pay for the child's upbringing? Or at least adopt the child! A holy man is not so holy after all. At least most of them are not holy. It is our inability to commit ourselves to honesty which which has brought them these powers. We are afraid, afraid of all the things that we do in our day to day life. Our awareness of all the bad things that we do, the wrong things. We do realize what our actions mean. Don't we?
So does a priest have the power to convert my wrong into a right then? Who bestowed him with the power to forgive me for my sins? God? Then how come God didn't give them a brain capable of performing logical functionality? Any priest that claims to be the hand of the almighty, to be more than a mere human, or in any sense to be more human than what I am, can not be holy. He is the biggest sinner of them all! It is about time these priests stopped directing us on issues such as Stem Cell research/ Cloning/ Abortion etc! God gave you nothing more than what I have. Let me think for myself. You still want to excommunicate someone? Go excommunicate Bush!
P.S:- The Archbishop received a fitting reply in the news papers...
Tony Stewart, a Catholic and Labor Party member of the New South Wales Parliament, said the country does not "need a religious leader telling members of parliament what should be done," adding, "Maybe I'll go to hell, but if I go to hell, I'm going to do so by saving a lot of lives, because that's what this bill is about."
In another development, my dear Pakistani friend Ali, who is a Sunni muslim, has decided to marry his Shiya girl friend. Five years of love. He has been threatened with excommunication from the main mosque in his home town Karachi.
If all these holy people really want to prevent people from doing the wrong things in life, then how come we never heard a single one of them lashing out at Bush for all that he did wrong in Afghanistan and Iraq? For all the money that has ever been put up into weapon's research or development of nuclear bombs? How come not a single hindu, sikh, christian, or any other religious body react to the Godhra massacre?
In a recent attempt not very long back, the Australian government tried to lift a long standing ban on Stem Cell Research. A panel was set up consisting of some of the greatest scientist of the land. As a dedicated biotechnologist, I was excited about it. A week before the bill was to come up in the parliament the Catholic Arch Bishop had something to say on the issue. He came out with a press release that sounded more like a threat. He threatened to excommunicate any member of parliament who voted in favor of passing the bill. Which means that they will be out casted from their religion. I know I love my religion, everyone loves their religion. It is what we were brought up with. The beliefs have been rooted deep into our personalities. But do I love my religion enough? Religion brings to us a sense of right and wrong. So, do i really need a priest to tell me what is right and what is wrong? Do I love my religion enough to risk my freedom in the hands of a priest? What right does a priest have to dictate to me as to how I should live my life, for I can think for myself.
Religion is more than just being told what rights and what is wrong. The true essence of any religion lies in the ability of a human to by himself understand the difference between right/wrong, to know what makes a right wrong, and what makes a wrong right. Right and wrong are no fixed things. They change with time, situation and necessity. Enslaving one self to the preachers of one's religion, can not be the teachings of a holy being. What kind of self realization or spiritual attainment can a enslaved mind attain?
How does it concern a priest, as to what a pregnant mother does with her fetus? Isn't it her body, her child! What does he know about her social conditions? Is he ready to pay for the child's upbringing? Or at least adopt the child! A holy man is not so holy after all. At least most of them are not holy. It is our inability to commit ourselves to honesty which which has brought them these powers. We are afraid, afraid of all the things that we do in our day to day life. Our awareness of all the bad things that we do, the wrong things. We do realize what our actions mean. Don't we?
So does a priest have the power to convert my wrong into a right then? Who bestowed him with the power to forgive me for my sins? God? Then how come God didn't give them a brain capable of performing logical functionality? Any priest that claims to be the hand of the almighty, to be more than a mere human, or in any sense to be more human than what I am, can not be holy. He is the biggest sinner of them all! It is about time these priests stopped directing us on issues such as Stem Cell research/ Cloning/ Abortion etc! God gave you nothing more than what I have. Let me think for myself. You still want to excommunicate someone? Go excommunicate Bush!
P.S:- The Archbishop received a fitting reply in the news papers...
Tony Stewart, a Catholic and Labor Party member of the New South Wales Parliament, said the country does not "need a religious leader telling members of parliament what should be done," adding, "Maybe I'll go to hell, but if I go to hell, I'm going to do so by saving a lot of lives, because that's what this bill is about."
In another development, my dear Pakistani friend Ali, who is a Sunni muslim, has decided to marry his Shiya girl friend. Five years of love. He has been threatened with excommunication from the main mosque in his home town Karachi.
If all these holy people really want to prevent people from doing the wrong things in life, then how come we never heard a single one of them lashing out at Bush for all that he did wrong in Afghanistan and Iraq? For all the money that has ever been put up into weapon's research or development of nuclear bombs? How come not a single hindu, sikh, christian, or any other religious body react to the Godhra massacre?
Yes u r right. But when some people raise their voices talking about Godhra they r told that the riots that followed were even worse. What a justification? What about the fact that Bohr, Einstein, Wheeler regard ancient Indian wisdom as the best that has ever existed on earth? And yes, its not hindu or sikh or jain or something.. its INDIAN wisdom
ReplyDeleteBeing a majority in India is a crime? Cant our religion be "Country first"? Cant we make our country ecnomically and socially strong by making "Country first" as our theme, life and religion?
But no, eminent scientists like Dr. Kalam are replaced with third-rate "politicians" like pratibha patil and Mrs. Kiran Bedi is not promoted because of vested interests.
Why? More than religion its about our attitude. We have to accept our great past, the fact that we r the oldest civilization and still surviving makes us unique. Are people willing to change?
@WindsOfChange,
ReplyDeleteNot only have you failed to understand my post, you have also completely stirred way from the topic. Thus you dont receive a reply!
Read the post again, maybe you will be able to understand it!
No no.. i dont care about ur post or ur reply (as if u r the worlds best blogger).
ReplyDeleteMy reply is based on the last line of ur post.. and from thr i have tried to establish that its not always about religion.. By the way do u urself remember what u have written??
And what u have written is not even an iota of rocket science.. whats their to "understand" dude..?
Now think.. if u can.. Bye
@WindsOfChange,
ReplyDeleteOuch! The winds just got turbulent aint it? Lolz
Thanks for showing me the light and telling me I'm not the world's best blogger. Now I shall definitely try to be the best :)
Yes sir, I absolutely remember what I have written, but then I'm sorry that I havn't been able to convey it, or atleast you didn't seem to understand.
The last line? I thought the post as a whole had stronger content than just the last line. Funny that you just want to talk about the last.
Iota of rocket science? Now what was I trying to do aye? Not trying to come up with theories at least.
Sir, your understanding of my blog is not correct. It is not a preaching ground or a place where I seek to change the world. That is why I maintain a close readership consisting of people who think alike, and you definitely don't fit in. I'm sorry, but I never really enjoyed talking to religious fundamentalist.
"Every one loves to talk about their own religion, but unfortunately no one likes to hear about another's religion" , The same is applicable to you and to me as well.
By the way,nothing in the world can justify what happened in Godhra! No religion in the world is worth so many lives, just aint!
Thanks for visitin and hopefully this is the last I see of you!!
Again u got me wrong... Somebody who talks about wisdom and "country first" cant be a religious fundamentalist.. What happened to ur logic dude? If possible think again.. and this time LOGICALLY. I believe "Beast" can think that way !!
ReplyDeleteNeways, giving u the benefit of doubt, as an engineer if cant even understand this much then i think u shud read more relevant stuff.. When u talk about weapons, riots, priests and everything in one go, u have balance the global vs local and the subjective-objective fact analysis trade-off.
Hope u understand my point now !! Although even i dont like people who raise questions without knowing the facts and not even analysing them properly.. Ignorance is NOT bliss :)
@WindsOfChange,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if I have misunderstood you at all, but somehow religious fundamentalism always upsets me. Your comments really sound so. However if under any condition they were not, and if my understanding of what you say has been wrong, then under such a circumstance kindly accept my apologies!
@WindsOfChange,
ReplyDeleteTiwari saab, stop being so rude if you will. Just because I apologized, you dont have to feel all so masculine about yourself, and maybe I would appreciate a little bit of humility from your side as well.
Now gettin back to the points raised by you, My post doesnt talk to religion in the way you understand it to be. I talk of religion's power to enable our mind to diferentiate between right and wrong by our selves. I talk of our individual capabilities to decide for ourselves as to what is right and what is wrong. I am not talking of religion, im talking of the keeprs of religion and how they have assumed a role which is unethical. I talk of priests telling us what to do and what not to, and how I object it.
The poitn regarding guns, weapons, nukes and godhra comes in when I say that there are better things that need their attention. As to why no priests stopped the things that happened in godhra. They talk about stopping funding for stem cell research, then why dont they stop funding for weapons research.
I dont like to explain my posts or what I write, didn't have to so far as my readers thus far have been smart enough. Kindly don't attempt to twist around my posts to derive meanings that I dont intend. If I mean to convey something in my post, then it comes out direct!
So my post aint a iota of rocket science, and I definately aint the best blogger in da world! But then, who gives a fuck bout it!!
he he.. as expected.. logic isnt ur game !! all the best
ReplyDelete@Amal Tiwari,
ReplyDeleteHahaha... man you either havin an attempt at being funny or you don't understand english. Nywayz thanks for the lovely comments, and do keep me in your prayers asking the lord to lend me sum "LOGIC". Thanks n I hope that is the end of it!