keep thinkin

RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF MASSES- KARL MARX
The well-worn and well known cliché goes- religion is the opium of the masses. And how true it is!! Majority of the billions of inhabitants on this planet get their ultimate high from religion. They chant and pray, pray and chant. But I wonder for what? The ultimate goal lies in the fact that they want God to intercede on their behalf and somehow make their sorrows melt away and make their wildest yearnings come true. But despite all the chanting and praying, the sorrows still remain, yearnings still remain unfulfilled. So what do they do then? Of course, they chant some more, pray some more. And so on and so forth. Yet the wild dreams remain just that wild, desires still remain unfulfilled but the chanting and praying goes on and on, till one day they die, devolving the responsibility of appeasing that forgetful supreme authority called God on the next generation. It must be realized that the lynchpin of faith is the concept of miracle, that has been the driving force behind every religion. No religion would not be tempting enough to its practitioners unless it could dangle the carrot of a ‘miracle’ being conjured out of nowhere and improving the circumstance of every devotee.

Opium was an important medicine. It was used as a painkiller, and to cure a variety of ailments including cholera. Seen in this light, religion has been taken as a sedative too. People who have seen difficulties in their life, who have learnt to accept the challenges as a result of their ‘karma’ fall back on their religion, on their religious leaders and on their God for giving them the courage to live easy. I go for a chant session almost every week upon the insistence of my mother. I hear ever leader there, say there regularly revised line to every new devotee who is introduced to this chant. ‘oh is life too difficult for you to live? Just come into the fold of the religious leader, sureender your soul and your mind (and your wallet too because your payment is for the shortcut key) and feel the portals of a soothing new world where miracles are always round the corner. Even if the miracles don’t happen, the hope is always there, lingering in the background, like the soothing miasma of opium smoke.’ The most sordid aspect of this culture of prayers, however is that if miracles are what make a religion attractive, they do so only at the cost of making a scathing or an insulting attack on the very mortality of God. I say this not to discourage people from becoming religious. Religion, God, worship and faith have always been an important part of the Indian lifestyle. Much emphasis has been laid upon this and rightly so. One must not become an atheist. Belief in God is essential but that must not divert anyone from the course of action. It should not be a deterrent towards delivery of what is expected of you. The English proverb ‘God helps those who helps themselves’ fits well here.

God made the universe, And if God made the world he must also have made its laws. Not the laws. Not the laws of politics, but the laws of natural science, which control the physical properties of everything contained in this universe. Now a miracle, would be something against the laws of Natural Science. Men cannot walk on water, but if some sage or seer walks across the water it’s a miracle. If a disease gets cured through medical science it wont be a miracle but if it gets cured by the touch of a so called holy man it world surely be a miracle But if God as made the laws of nature why would he allow them to be broken? How can he let a seer walk on water, a holy man cure diseases by mere touch or by fulfilling dreams and desires of every devotee who chants a hym? The concept of miracles is by itself the worst insult heaped upon God,and this is a crime of which all religions are guilty of.
In another context, Opium was a keyword for widespread social conflict, particularly the Opium Wars. People are obsessive and possessive about their religion. There have been social conflicts where people have ended in the same with just a moment’s conversation. Religion has been a sensitive issue especially in a country like ours. It has been taken in as an important political agenda and vote bank politics. Like I wrote earlier- being religious is not bad, but being so sensitive about it helps no one. Religion was made to unite people, to get them closer to each other. To unite them with God, to help them understand Him better. But today religion makes one man stand against another. Brothers fight not for each other but fight each other.
It has always been emphasized that Indians have lived in peace and harmony, despite the different religions, and so has been the case. But it is undeniable that the potential of rising to conflicts is also immense. Pure incidences of these have been like the case of Babri Masjid, or the Gujarat Riots.

In today’s world, religions race against each other. It has been used to divide not to unite. One must understand the deeper meaning of every religion. It doesn’t matter which religion you pray. Which god u believe in. All religions are one, all God are one. What matters is your inner self. The religions are two. One that teaches love and one that teaches hate. Believe in the first. Be the worshipper of unity, love and understanding.