These days it has become commonplace to take offence at any critique of religion. The question then is whether religion is beyond the realm of criticism. While faith is a spiritual phenomenon, religion is a human portent that should evolve with time and not be a prisoner of obscurantism. Civilisation demands that humans develop and respect reason and debate with dignity on issues that have the potential to inflame passions. It is interesting to note that the founders of all faiths were themselves more liberal than their followers. Indeed, it is the followers who have turned religion into a rigid framework of do’s and don’ts and make claims that theirs is the only true faith and that those outside that fold are infidels or unbelievers. History is witness to the religious wars that were fought on account of claims over what is the true faith (religion).
All religions are founded on the principle of love and fellowship; of hating none and embracing all. Why then are people of different faiths in India quarrelling over symbols and are hell-bent on righting historical wrongs. How far back can a country travel in this endeavour and will this not be another misadventure when the demand of the present is to harness the progressive spirit and promote scientific enquiry. If the present generation are to be told to go back to the past rather than forging ahead and questioning every authority, every sacred doctrine and not take them as infallible, they will tend towards schizophrenia. The age of enlightenment also means keeping religion as a personal faith and not turning it into a public spectacle and a noisy affair. If one person practices his/her faith it should not be by inconveniencing another. This mutual respect is integral to the spirit of enlightenment.
Unfortunately, humans created the idea of religion and also the rituals that are embedded with each religion. Later they turned it into a sacrosanct idea that is beyond criticism on the plea that their respective gods/deities would be displeased. And their anointed prophets of yore who are as human as anyone else and are afflicted by the same human failings and predilections are suddenly turned into infallible humans. Is that even possible? Humans by nature are frail and subject to errors. But when what some humans say becomes absolutism and dogmatic, violence is the end result. It is this lack of critical thinking that leads to religious extremism. In this day and age to quarrel on prime time TV about whose god or prophet is being insulted is bizarre. This at a point in history when India is laying claim to being a superpower. This dichotomy must end.
