By Barnes Mawri
In my previous article I had discussed at length on the necessity of religion for man and the danger of emphasizing on religious cultural variations. In this present article, I would like to discuss further on another important aspect concerning religion and religious affiliations.
Religion is both a physical and a spiritual reality. It is physical in as much as it implies living persons who adhere to it, physical spaces for worship (churches, temples or mosques), tangible laws and regulations to be obeyed and concrete liturgy and rituals which are being performed etc. It is a spiritual reality in as much as it related to the God and other spiritual beings and their relationship with human beings, it is concerned with salvation of the soul and spiritual well-being of the believer. Both aspects are essential to constitute a religion. When religion becomes a mere physical reality, it is not different from any secular organization and when it tends to be totally spiritual, religion becomes a mere ideology, an abstract concept. The physical dimension of religion makes it relevant for man while the spiritual dimension makes it salvific.
Religion is also both cognitive and affective. It is cognitive in the sense that a person learns and acquires knowledge about it before he pledges allegiance to it. In this sense, there is intellectual formation and information about religion which enables a person to know and understand the basic doctrines and beliefs of a particular religion before that person could assent to it. So the study of scriptures, traditions, laws and regulations and other related sources are important before an individual can fully grasp the essence of a religion and be attracted to it. It was St. Anselm who said “fides quaerens intellectum” (faith seeking understanding) in connection with the concept of religion. Without adequate cognitive understanding, religion runs the risk of being a blind pursuit. There is no such a thing as “blind faith” because blind faith is no faith at all. Faith that is based on a clear understanding is what every religion should seek to promote. It is for this reason that religious education and instruction are part and parcel of any religion – the Christians have their catechism class, the Muslims have their madrasas and the Hindus have their ashrams etc where such religious education is imparted to their followers. Religion also has an affective dimension which is connected to sentiments of the heart. It is said that in education “the intellect must form the heart.” So too in religion, the cognitive learning is meant to induce fundamental sentiments in the heart of a believer, sentiments of joy, compassion and love.
In recent years, we have seen a dangerous development in many religions wherein the adherents tend to emphasize on the affective aspect of religion. This means that they are led more by sentiments rather than by reason. When religious sentiments supersede human reason, then religious fundamentalism takes over. It happened to Christianity during the era of the crusades and colonization and it is happening today in Islam and Hinduism. The Islamic or the Hindu radicals are those who take religion at the level of emotions and so they are often led by instincts of violence and terror. When religion is taken at the affective level, there cannot be any dialogue with other religions for dialogue implies reason and intellect. A religious fanatic is one who is sentimentally fired by a sense of loyalty to his/her religion and therefore he/she perceives as an enemy anyone who does not share his/her religious convictions. What is happening in India today is a concrete demonstration of this whereby Hindu radicals become passionate about their religion and so they display disrespect and intolerance towards other religions. These days the news is focussed on the violent protests of the Dera Sacha Sauda followers against the conviction of their leader Guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The fact that his followers are going berserk even after knowing full well that he is guilty of a crime, is a clear example of how sentimentalism can dictate religion. Unfortunately, many religious leaders are exploiting this dimension of religion. The ISIS and the Talibans are doing this, so too the RSS and other Hindu radicals in India. Often it is the hoi polloi (crowd) who becomes an easy victim of such manipulations. This is the reason why we see RSS karsevaks (crowd) are the ones who are easily influenced by a sentimental approach to religion and they become the militia of religion.
The Catholic Church has learnt a hard lesson from the past and today it does not encourage sentimentalism in religion. This is the reason why the Church after Vatican II, has always encouraged ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and dialogue with cultures. This means that the Church considers the cognitive dimension very essential in the practice of one’s religious creed. In fact, there is a lot of scholarship and academic pursuit within the Church in order to promote this dimension. This is also the reason why the Church is often sceptical about certain charismatic movements which give undue emphasis to sentimentalism.
History has taught us that when religion is translated into sentimentalism, there can be only one outcome, namely, radicalism which leads to intolerance and violence. I hope that adherents of whatever religion in India, will understand the importance of maintaining a balance between the cognitive and the affective dimensions in their religious faith. It is only by avoiding an extreme position that all religions can become true to what they should be, “God-given institutions for the well-being and salvation of mankind.”