Skepticism

The Rigveda, one of the four Vedas in the literature of Hinduism, ends with some radical doubts on the creation of this world and the issue of existence of God- ‘Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?....perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not- the one who looks down on it, only he knows- or perhaps he does not know.’ Today, after approximately 3016 years, these questions are still unanswered. More importantly, over the course of time, these questions pertaining to religion and God have become increasingly pertinent.

The events over the past few years, both in India and rest of the world, have transformed me from a believer in God into an agnostic. I believe that this agnosticism is transforming gradually into atheism. I am a confused agnostic on some days and a firm atheist on others. I have an unflinching conviction that even if God exists, he/she/it is far from our current understanding of him/her/it; he/she/it is far from perfect and he/she/it couldn't possibly have created us. Here are some of the practical (let alone philosophical) questions that I seek answers to as an agnostic:

1. Is religion a man-made concept?

Many would agree that religion comes from the period of human pre-history where nobody had the smallest idea of what was going on. Epidemics prevailed, people died from diseases that are now curable and natural disasters only added to the anxiety and confusion. It would then be quite conceivable to believe that some homo sapiens, to explain the sad-state of things surrounding them introduced a concept of a divine being that was responsible for those circumstances and was merely punishing humanity for its immoral deeds. Hence, is religion really a man made phenomenon or does it contain the true message of a higher being?

More importantly, are the ‘founders’ or ‘messiahs’ of religion credible enough for their ideas to be followed by the masses? The Koran uses the word ‘ummi’ or illiterate to describe Prophet Muhammad. If the Prophet was himself illiterate, then he, in all probabilities, must have dictated the Holy Koran to his adherents which leaves a room for what we call in technical terms, a semantic error. Does that mean that the true message of the God, revealed to the Prophet by Gabriel (an archangel) and further dictated by the Prophet to one of his adherent never reached us due to a chain of semantic errors? More importantly, is it right for approximately 23% of the world’s population to follow the teachings that an illiterate merchant didn’t even write himself? Sikhism too owes its origin to, as some allege, a school dropout-Guru Nanak Dev. On the brighter side, both these religions have given way to charity funds and free meals which, at least within India, softens the impact of a capitalist economy. Is the unlettered founder/messiah really a problem then?

2. Are religion and politics inseparable?

It appears as if religion and politics have over time melted into each other across the world, including India. The Hindutva movement in the Indian politics is promoted by the ‘Sangh Parivar’ which is led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and comprises of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its violently energetic youth wing Bajrang Dal, among others. The Hindutva movement is only an example of how politics, by entering into the realm of religion and working as its ‘vanguard’, can intoxicate the pluralist setting of the society. The Bajrang Dal and many other members of the Sangh Parivar have been accused by the international Human Rights Watch of direct involvement in the killing of the Muslims in the Gujarat riots in 2002. Moreover, this piously belligerent army of Hindu politics has used Ramayana (a Hindu mythology parable) as a justification to tear down a place of worship of other people (the Babri Masjid) to build a temple to Rama, in celebration of his alleged birth exactly there.

Saddam Hussein, during the course of the Iran-Iraq war, launched a genocidal campaign on the Sunni Muslims of Kurdistan. He termed it ‘Operation Anfal’ and used Koranic justification- The Spoils of sura 8 which allows for destruction of the non-believers.

The barbarism extends to Sikhism as well. Operation Blue Star was a turning point for the Sikh history where Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, along with other Khalistani rebels, had smuggled arms and ammunition into the Golden Temple. The chain of events led to an army tank being brought into the temple premises and destruction of the Akal Takht, considered to be sacred by the Sikhs. This led to Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 and eventually to an anti-Sikh pogrom in Delhi. The clash in Sri-Lanka between Buddhists and Tamil Hindus (which resulted in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination) is also an example of similar nature.

The above instances indicate that religion has added poison to an already poisoned arena of politics. But is it the ‘ideology’ of religion which is at fault or the people who use it to justify their barbaric acts?

3. Does religion deprive people of their civilian rights and justice?

Historically, Zoroastrians have faced persecution in Persia, Catholics have suffered discrimination in Ireland, the Bosnian Muslims have suffered extermination in the Christian Balkans and more recently, people of various nationalities and religions have had to face death at the hands of the ISIS militants. None of them have had the political or legal system’s protection.

The Vatican and its diocese have been forced to admit complicity in a huge racket of child rape and torture. Not surprisingly, the alleged perpetrators of the heinous crime have not been brought to justice and Pope Francis has repeatedly asked the congregation and world at large to forgive the Vatican for its ‘sins’. Moving from Europe down to the Arab nations; these were (and in some cases, still are) deprived of the comforts of democracy. The people living in these countries do not enjoy the right to free speech, the right to freedom and so on. Does this imply that Islam, as an ideology, is inherently and implicitly opposed to the idea of democracy? At a deeper level, is it Islam that was responsible for the Arab Spring (which is not necessarily a bad thing)? If the above argument holds, then how do we explain the political system of China? The Communist Party of China is officially an atheist organization but still is opposed to the idea of democracy, much like the theocratic dictators of the Middle East. Does religion really deprive people of their civilian rights or is this cause-effect relation flawed?

4. Does religion treat women in a humane way?

The Old Testament says, “The woman is cloned from man for his use and comfort.” The New Testament has St. Paul expressing both fear and contempt for the female. This apologetic view of woman’s existence is not just limited to Christianity. The orthodox Jews, for instance, subject their women to ritual baths to cleanse the stain of menstruation. Does religion regard women at par with men? Are the above arguments cherry-picked, out of context versions of works that, in their very nature regard women as pious?

There are many other questions that need answers within the wide purview of the topic. Some of them are:

5. Is religion above criticism?

6. Does religion lead to stunted economic development of a nation?

7. Does religion spew intolerance?

Some may claim that such questions are irrelevant for the world which faces problems of a higher priority. But to them I ask- what if the answers to these questions are the solutions to those problems of higher priority?