The critical mind.
The preposterous amount of news analysis we are bombarded with every day is greatly responsible for shaping our outlook and forming opinions about the world. I for example can be critical of many things that I witness, personally or from other’s experiences in certain matters. People might perceive it as pessimism since we are tuned to expect good things getting delivered to us without having to carry the responsibility of making things right. I believe it is we who as citizens should unflinchingly criticize the moves of those responsible to govern us or those who claim to provide for our welfare needs. Not because I have anything against the authorities, but because it helps to open new visions of doing the same thing differently which might yield people friendly results. Well this should be voluntarily done as long as there’s not a determined cop running behind us with a stick to give us a smack ☺
The other day I came across an article which fueled me to write this blog post. In an earlier blog post of mine (on Tumblr), I had mentioned that I do not believe in a targeted set of Gods rather I believe in the justice of Karma. There is no dearth to the end of the number of people who are religious in my family and I respect them for their choices. But you could wonder what could have led me to form an altering opinion since I have been subjected to ritualistic practices which is so predominant. There are many reasons that may have influenced me which I cannot recollect at the moment, however I will give you a few specifics. First, the idea of One Supreme God does not settle good with me. We live in a democracy and that means there should be separation and distribution of equal powers between different groups. People belonging to a particular region should have laws that concern to resolve their specific sets of problems and yet at the same time they must be obliged to follow the other “universal basic laws” that is framed for everyone’s wellbeing. This ensures a “non-discriminatory” society. In India however, you will find while people adhere to their own religious practices, they can be found to be insensitive towards other people’s choices and wishes. It is paramount to uphold our beliefs while accommodating other’s beliefs with respect. Just because you are born into a caste or religion does not mean you are entitled to the collective wealth of the society. A grown ass educated human being must have the self-respect to create his/her own space rather than being egoistic over something they did not fight to acquire. Since I am not very good with following popular opinions, I take the liberty to frame my own ideas after analyzing different views.
Secondly which I believe is the primary reason why I abstain from the idea of One Supreme God is due to the “misconceptions of donations” to the places of religious worships. The other day I was having a conversation with my mother about the omnipresent COVID-19 virus. She happened to mention a starkly unpopular opinion and that hit me hard and right. She said and it goes, “So many people are in need of food, clothing, shelter and other necessary items. The places of religious worships have Gods whom we worship to protect us from troubles. We show our devotion and gratitude by making grand gestures of huge donations. But at the times of troubles these places of religious worships do not step in to make donations and protect the devotees from whom they expect support in large numbers. Do we really need those large sums of money in the management of those places? What do they do with such amount of treasures? Should they not be among the firsts to protect us?” I was able to understand the state of people and religion very clearly. We have Gods to protect us but not priests who are willing to donate.
(I am forming a general opinion and writing from a general sense of the functioning of different establishments in the country. There might be many such exceptions to this who would have come forward to help in times of needs. Since I am only writing from a general perspective to what we witness around us widely, kindly do not hold me responsible for not mentioning the exceptions).
Everyone wants to see India as a developed nation in the near future. We want to travel in super-fast trains and flying cars. But do people not understand that it takes research and funding if we wish to be “self-reliant”? It takes great efforts to produce the best minds in the country who have the ability to think critically. Not only that, it also needs to be supplemented with establishing a conducive environment to sustain those people so that they can realize their potential and work towards achieving it without having to beg every now and then to be allocated with enough resources. We as a country clearly hold diminishing priority over strengthening our scientific prowess while we obsess over what should be the dominant religion. I have nothing against religious groups. In fact I believe in the existence of God as much as any theist believes in. But there must be a logical means to achieve an end. In today’s changing world you can at most should make efforts at preserving the ancient Indian heritage, not replicating it. If only we would think as rational human beings should, we will understand the most concerning facets of our society. What would happen if the large grants that we make to the religious institutions were transferred instead to the most intelligent minds of our country who commit themselves to make our lives more comfortable? A drastic change in the way of our living I presume. But again, maybe we have coddled our beliefs too closely and for too long to make the right choice.
Until next time, Readers :)
