To me it seems that at the time of Karl Marx, religion did act as sedative. But even now, you can see thousands of people worshiping different kinds of gods and animals; they even worship totems more than they love their children. Christians still believe that one day Jesus Christ will come down to Earth and save the people who believe in him. Is this statement rational? Is it justified? From an orthodox point of view it may be correct as nothing can subdue an orthodox’s vision and belief. For example, the Hindu Cow, it is a totem in form of an animal, with which people associate themselves as it is a useful animal. But in Benares you find thousands of them roaming freely, why? Just, because people unnecessarily feel too much attached to them, cows are useless, but people are still sentimental towards them. Is this not a primitive attitude? Indeed if these animals were taken care of, then i have a very strong beleif that it would have been beneficial not only for the humans but also for the animal. We know by science that it is just an animal, that’s all it is.
In Anthropology and in social sciences when we study Human Beings, we do not include their biases, their personal attachments, and their beliefs and sometimes their perspectives are also ignored. But we actually investigate that what is the root which is causing them. Once we identify, our policy makers take actions based on the research to shape a rational-legal policy, so that everyone could benefit from it; weather he is a poor man a farmer or a wallet filled I.A.S.
Now please let me take you back in time, we will travel through time and reach the year 10,000 B.C. When you were in school you were taught in history and sciences that man actually was an ape and has evolved by the process of evolution. At that time man was a primate, it had many other competitors of alike and there was a rigorous competition among each ape like species. You were basically taught that man lived in caves. But this Cave scenario came much later when man had grown a sense that living inside something like a Cave or on top of a high Tree can provide shelter to its infants and women. When this sense had grown prominence in homo-sapiens, formation of a very primate civil society at that time was unavoidable.
Let me tell you about what happened to other apes that were of the great ape family. They became extinct as they could not develop tools and their physical structure could not compete, (Ex. They had very small thumbs and thumbs are required to peel, hold something and eat)…it was less mobile as compared to us; in all at that time we were progressing far more rapidly than our relatives.
Let us now arrive at the time when primitive men of earth entered the era of civil society. It was 6,000 years ago from now in the land of SUMER near ‘Euphrates’ that is the oldest known civilization according to archeological & anthropological findings. However there are two more of them which again are associated to religion known as SODOM & GOMORRAH, about which nothing is known, and I believe nothing can be known unless we have a Time Machine. People of Sumer and others who lived close to other naïve societies were basically traders, this shows that intelligence was prevailing at that time. They also engaged in war, this again shows a civil sense, however negative it may be, but still when it comes to food and fodder war is the only option for people who are primitive with least civic acumen.
Let us now arrive at Indus Valley Civilization…..Heard of it? Those people only had two rivers ‘Saraswati ‘and the other was ‘Indus ‘. River Saraswati dried long time back. Indus people were highly scientific people, not as mythical as we are today; they had a proper drainage system, a swimming pool and what you may call a ‘Civic Sense’. This civilization lasted for nearly 1500 years. Hindu Goddess Saraswati originated from Indus Valley Civilization. Now it is a prominent figure as a goddess in 2011.
Now regarding Hinduism I classify it into three. One is ancient, second is Medieval and the third is Post-Modern. Hinduism has been deteriorating since ancient times. Some say that Albert Einstein read Bhagvad Geeta, if he read it; he did it because Geeta says good things. And if you know Albert Einstein’s aim was to UNIFY the universe into just one simple equation Ex:E = mc2, he tried and tried to UNIFY the whole cosmos, but unfortunately he died in sleep, not reading Geeta, but continuing with his ambition of unification.
The world is a very big place ……I will like to comment that “science never originated from religion”. You tell me one thing. Did Sir, Michael Faraday invented electromagnetism by studying religion? Did Sir Isaac Newton discover Gravity by religion? And one other fantastic example is that ‘Copernicus’ claimed Earth was round not flat; was it due to religion or human intelligence? …
Since ages human beings on planet earth have been evolving, evolving socially, evolving technologically and information technology is the latest example of the intelligence which human’s posses at the present time. We at the present times have reached the nuclear age. Our Sun is also a nuclear reactor; I can say that human intelligence, human intellect, human creativity & human consciousness are super. Religion is something which was invented, by our own genius abilities, and has evolved as something Invisile.
“Believing in self; is better than beleiving a delusion”
Ojas Johri
21/2/2011
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