Religion and communalism

In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the path better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however it is foolish to use blind old man as guides.

Heinrich Heine

Topic of the seminar contains twin horror that haunts world today, religion and communalism. It will be difficult to find some one to call oneself a communal person; no doubt it is a bad word no one will like to be labelled communalist. But you will hardly find a religious person who is not proud to be religious. So I won’t be sparing much of my time with Communalism, but I should remind you that it comes in many flavours, most common is religious communalism but ethnic and linguistic communalism not rare. Its main symptom is ‘us verses them’. A communalist person assumes we are good and they are bad. Even a person who is knowingly have a communal mind set will refuse to acknowledge it, he will either refuse it or justify his thoughts and actions as reactions of what ‘they’ thinks of him or did to his community.

Religion is another beast altogether. An average person is proudly religious. He doesn’t think he needs to justify his religious beliefs, because it is matter of faith. He believes that any action, no matter how ridicules or criminal it is, is his natural right, if it is sanctioned or demanded by his religion. A religious man demands your respect for his “uncivilised” and inhuman behaviour. Every religion wants you to surrender your constitutional duty to have a scientific temper and democratic right to doubt and question every thing. At the time when ‘age of reason’ was being born, religion began with “how dare you” and “burn him”, then it changed to “you are wrong you fool” and “don’t talk to him”, for some time tune changed to “we new it all along” and you should have consulted with us” but know it turning full circle and dissenters and doubters and branded heretic and apostate, fanatic mob is again asking for “carnival of blood and fire”.

I don’t mean to demonise every religious person as a gory bigot; I know any one can show me examples of people like Kabir, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, where religion was the inspiration for them, to take side of humanity against oppressor. But I think these individuals were exceptions not rule. Even a avowed atheist thinker like Marx justified religion as opiate that oppressed need to dull their pain. My opinion is that religion is not even a ‘placebo’ (fake medicine), it is the cause of pain and responsible for much of human suffering. Religion was and is a tool to keep oppressed dumb and sedated; it was the partner and perpetrator in most massacres and wars through out the human history. Gold and Gods are both are drenched in the blood. In this post modern century, uttering such blasphemy in public is asking for trouble. But that is my point, why, what a person can say freely in sixth century BC, in 12^th or 17^th century AD and get away with it, is not possible today, in 21^st.

I don’t think this the place and time for me to go in details of history of confrontations between philosophy and science but I want to have some land marks to be noted.

European re-discovery of the Greek philosophies and sciences, which was preserved and also further, developed to some extent by medieval Arabs scholars, was beginning of the end of ‘dark age’. Import of new mathematical tools of place value, notation system, algebra, geometry, principle and practice of observation astronomy, chemistry, optics and theory of vision were tools for new scientific approach to investigation of nature. Copernicus was a neo-platonic idealist but his heliocentric computational model of universe forced him to be a ‘reluctant revolutionary’. Francis Bacon’s inductive logic paid way for empirical study of nature. Galileo was probably first scientist to use experimental method to establish truth rather then argument from authority. Intellectually religion is on retreat since the birth of natural sciences. Descartes gave lease of life to religion by separating two domains, domain of material world and domain of spiritual. Cartesian dualism, on one hand kept most philosophers busy with higher things but freed scientist to explore world of lowly matter and discover secular laws governing it. Newtonian universe was automaton a self governing machine without a ghost inside; he went even a step ahead of Galileo by firmly establishing ordinariness of the heaven. Though he believed in original cause or ‘prime mover’ to push the ‘power button’ of the cosmos, but since then, he thought god has retired. Darwin’s theory evolution has not only discarded Aristotelian ‘Great chain of being’ and established non miraculous origin and evolution of the life. It made Homo sapiens a brother/sister of beasts. He even had daring guess that origin of our morality is result of evolution. In the Einstein’s relativity god is indistinguishable from laws of nature. Most nondeterministic branch of physics, quantum mechanics doesn’t a need any whimsical personal god to rule the world. Big bang cosmology is now pushing the limits of knowledge but alas, it couldn’t find handiwork of intelligent creator in the first knowable moments. Richard Dawkins’s Gene centred view of evolution is changing our perspective of life and our place in the universe, a individual is just mean for genes in the impersonal battle of survival and extinction refereed by natural selection. The Copernican principal, that laws of the nature are universal, in other words, we are not special, our earth, our sun, or our Galaxy is not special in any imaginable way; leaves no space for any anthropomorphic god in the cosmos.

Many humanist thinkers were inspired by scientific world view, but their secular utopia were too anaemic to survive. In the pre First World War age only nation to be found on secular principle was USA but there too Christian fundamentalism still refuses to die. Social Darwinism and eugenics were humanity’s nightmare, combination of bad scientific thinking and fascism pushed us to the edge of self destruction from that we are almost lucky to survive. Racism and neo fascism are far from dead every European nation have shadowy ally where forces of darkness are lurking in disguise of conservatives and nationalists. Failure of Marxian philosophy as a scientific school of thought proved too costly to humanity because it was not just any school of philosophy it was basis for a socio-political system and many revolution were inspired by it. Revelation of horrific crimes committed in socialist block in name of Marxism has left a void for activists fighting for just and humane world. But bigger loss is due to making of Marxian religion under various disguises Marxism, Marxism -Leninism, Marxism –Leninism-Stalinism, Marxism –Leninism-Stalinism-Maoism, Marxism –Leninism-Stalinism-Maoism –Pol Potism. Point is that not having a scientific temper to inculcate among masses and suppression of religion given a bad name to atheism and made religion come back with vengeance. North Korea is farce in name of a scientific philosophy where it is ‘holy rule’ of the ghost, father and son is in place. You need to have blessing of ‘beloved leader’ for a successful cataract operation in a socialist nation. In post colonial Asia and Africa there were many nations embracing secular humanism and socialist utopia when they got independence. But failure of socialist experiment left them disillusioned. It is no paradox that champion of democracy; USA always sided with despots and fundamentalists, kings, autocrats rather than with democratic secular states and political forces, driven by its greed for oil and other natural resources. Islamic fundamentalist have a very fertile ground in most Asian and Arabic nation, which were quite secular till fall of the USSR. Soviet misadventure in Afghanistan left a country full of rubble and turned it in to a nursery of fundamentalism. Unlike Pakistan and Bangladesh India is still a secular nation but Hindu fundamentalism is on rise. Deeply rooted cast system hides behind an apparently modern nation,

If Radical absolutism was fashionable till seventies, since nineties, it is Post modern cultural relativism that is in vogue now. I don’t have space to go in detail biopsy, but I can say its attempt to undermine modern science is ridicules and no scientific philosopher of science takes it seriously. It is a façade, behind that hide a face of apologist of religion. Many anti scientist philosophers have using it as last resort to resist, science’s mission to demystify and nature.

Religion is a phenomenon too complex to be exclusive monopoly of any one discipline, like philosophy, social sciences or neurobiology alone. At one level it is a social institution, probably first evolved during time of Neanderthals, but on other it is personal view of the cause and purpose of the universe based on beliefs rather than by scientific understanding. Many a time progressive religious thinkers make a naïve appeal to ask to keep religion personal affair at time of communal crisis, they forget religion was never a personal thing it is a socio-political institution and with a very deep relation with money bags. In modern time religion sprouts another root need of an individual to an ‘identity crutch’ in face of a new depth of alienation, brought to us by curtsey Globalisation. I remember very disturbing example, recently in choosing the ‘Voice of India’ a popular national entertainment channel finally it boiled down to a SMS war between Sikhs and Hindus audience was asked to give a war cry of “ Har Har Mahadev”( a Hindu war cry) and “Sat Shree Akal”( a Sikh slogan).

Though I don’t have hard data to support but I think religion is practiced by not less then 80% people in the world, irrespective of their nationality or ideology. More nations have been founded on various religious doctrines rather than on secular principle. Hold of religion over a individual in its daily life is no doubt on decline but attraction of religion as badge of identity is growing increasingly globalised world. This is true of not only for ‘uncivilised’ middle and west Asia and backwater nations like India it is true for civilised nations like USA and many European nations. Fundamentalists and sectarian scum of all the colours saffron, green and white have no difficulty in finding fertile ground even in the modern civilised west. Slogan like, “Conflict of civilisation” and “Unholy hegemony of amoral western modernity” feed on each other. Religious schools are breeding a new generation of Jehadies, Karsevaks and Crusaders who are well versed in use of internet electronics and sophisticated explosive devices to achieve their bloody medieval goal. Voice reason and sanity is weak. Even officially secular nation states like India and USA are paying lip service to founding principles of secularism and humanism or distorting them. At this point I want to underline that the secularism is not “sarva dharma sambhava” (equality of religions) as it is proposed by many ‘soft secular’ and ‘soft communal’ both. Secularism is not only separation of state and church/temple/mosque, it also means a right of individual to nurture and spread anti religious thoughts and freedom to teach and propagate scientific world view.

It is beyond doubt that religion played an important role in evolution of the human society though its role was a positive or negative can be debatable. Both apologist and fundamentalists of every religious doctrine asks us to believe:

• Without religion society will disintegrate
• There won’t be any moral guide to tell us what is wrong and what is right
• Ancient book or books have every thing that is or will be discovered by science
• We will burn in the hell forever for doubting in existence of creator
• Religion provide us with token of identity without it ‘others’ will exterminate you and ‘your kind’

Without religion society will disintegrate:

It could be argued that historical religion would have played a role in developing social bonding in Homo sapiens but there are many examples in animal kingdom from ants to apes that the same role hade been played by genes-hormones and by natural selection-group selection much before ‘intelligent and enlightened brain’ evolved. Apart from this social cohesion under a religious order is coercion in disguise. ‘Social cohesion’ hide behind it repression of minority, slavery of women and rampant chid abuse, physical as well as in form of religious indoctrination.

There won’t be any moral guide to tell us what is wrong and what is right:

This very dubious hypothesis, overlapping of moral guideline among various religions makes this unlikely cause. Secondly moral values are not static we will be horrified by many moral stands taken by founder and god-gods of most religions if someone repeats them today. Moral values appear to have much more deeper historical roots even many apes and monkey display surprisingly ‘humane’ moral behaviour in recent studies. So there are strong evidence that morality evolved much before religion in Humans or might have inherited its seeds from ‘beastly’ ancestors. I can’t quote but I am aware of some survey indicating that the more religious a society is more ‘amoral’ and inhumane it is.

Ancient book or books have every thing that is or will be discovered by science:

Every religion claims to be perfect. It flaunts a book or books to have every thing that is ever discovered or will be discovered by sciences. This apparently harmless past time not only suppresses sprit of enquiry it distorts minds and creates a backward facing young generation. Tools of creativity, doubt and critical thinking is misused and abused to attack scientific and religion itself asks from others to above such scrutiny in the name of faith. Some critiques of science have guts to say it is science that is faith based. Most irritating is patronising comment I came across is “That is your science and this is (religious doctrine, astrology etc.) our science. Isn’t it a nice gift from post modernist to religious obscurantism?

We will burn in the hell forever for doubting in existence of creator:

This is what religious sadism at best. I don’t know how many generations, how many lives are wasted away, how many soles living under terror of everlasting hell fire. It ask you to spy your self. Martin Luther kin called doubt and reason devil harlot. Islam and Christianity compete with each other in making of the best hell they could think of. Hinduism found a better way by keeping majority of its population illiterate and ignorant. If some person of lowly birth tries to gain knowledge behead him or her. If king is unable to punish a heretic or atheist a Brahmin should not talk to him. Only in Buddhist philosophy doubt is a virtue but as religious institution it not much different from other religion.

Religion provides us with token of identity, without it ‘others’ will exterminate you and ‘your kind’:

Yes religion is a token of identity that you can flaunt. A scull cap, beard, cross a vermillion mark on fore head, helps you to distinguish friend form fiend! But with this you loose your identity as a human being. ‘Other’ face is vermin to be quashed at slightest excuse or it will do the same to ‘you’ if it gets a chance. Fear is the key of survival, live under fear and inculcate fear in ‘them’. “You teach them a lesion, reaction is your birth right act now” Even a majority and ruling cast have been humiliated and oppressed according to popular pseudo history. “Look at them how united and militant they are, learn and be like them or you will be no more”.

Few suggestions

• Science is now poised to encroach upon domains of humanities so I feel there is a need of serious dialogue between these two cultures.
• As many hints are emerging from disciplines of neuro-biology and ethological studies of mammals and specifically primate and apes, personal religiosity may result of faulty hardware and buggy software that we have got. We might need to be cured if a medicine could be discovered!
• Pseudo secularism of ‘sarva dharma sambhaava’, should be replaced with ‘sarva dharma door bhaava’.
• Education strongly needs to be secularised. Public and government schools should have no place for promotion of any and all the religion. Prayer and religious functions should have no place in above mentioned schools.
• Every child should have the right and access to compulsory secular education.
• Religious schools should be not allowed to teach a minor.
• Religious indoctrination of a minor in family should be discouraged.
• Politically interference of religious institution in social life has to be curbed and religious political parties are to be banned in a secular and democratic nation. Fundamentalist and religious nation states are to be treated like apartheid-fascist countries.

It shames me that in free and secular India religion is free to misguide us, blind us, free to fill us with fear, free fill us with hatred and it is even free to destroy lives, rape and kill, but ‘reason’ has to think twice before opening its mouth; be carefull ‘some one’s sentiment might get hurt.