Religion

Some might know that I am an atheist. I have from even a young age, never felt an inclination towards believing in a supernatural force that is present to guide us. A major part of this belief of mine can be seen as a (totally non forcible) influence of my father’s views. But as I have grown and matured, I have realised now, that it is not God that I dislike. It is religion.

Let me tell you a story. When I was about 12 years old, I had a friend whose father had passed away recently due to some doctors screwing up. We both went to cricket coaching (yes, sadly, even I was a fan of this game). When the other kids were made aware of my friend’s father’s death, they started to stay away from him. I was puzzled by this. I couldn’t understand why. Nobody was talking to this friend of mine and they were hesitant to come within a radius of 5 metres.

I was the only one who wasn’t following these acts. My mind told me to console and stand by this friend. How devastated and sad he must be with this tragic loss? Then, one of the other guys came along and told me to maintain my distance from the friend who had lost his father. I asked him why. He said that his religion (Hinduism) stated to do so.

And from that moment, I became disillusioned (to be frank, I was never “illusioned”) with God and religion. I can see why a 2^nd century religious leader might decree that all the members of a family which has experienced death be shunned. The death might have been caused by some communicable disease. But now, in the 21^st century, isn’t it time we shed these decrees and abide by more scientific and rational methods?

But my disgust for religion stems from more than this one story. Stating them here would makes this post long and boring. Maybe I will discuss them elsewhere. Today, religion is the cause of more hate and fighting than anything else. It splits the world into factions, creating tension and havoc among one another.

I don’t know how religion was born. But I do know that if the whole world consisted of people who belonged to a single religion (don’t ask me which one), there would be considerably less problems in the world today. And if the world consisted of people who didn’t believe in any religion at all, there would be even less problems.