Scientific Religion to eliminate the religious threats to the mankind and for the sustained advancement of the civilisation
Thirupalu
Jan 07, 2021 07:30 AM
Human society can not be imagined without religion as long as the human intelligence fails to prove that "God does not exist". Under strong control and regulation of state, religion, not science, adds meaning to human life and supports the sustained advancement of human civiliastion.
Abstract
Religion is an important organ of any civilization. Its beliefs and ways of thinking only and majorly have been establishing order in the human society either directly or indirectly from the times immemorial. In ancient and medieval times, no permanent state existed to establish social order in the society. The world people are misunderstanding that religion is a threat to civilization. It is not true. In fact, religion is an asset to the civilization.
Religion has been establishing social order in the society either directly or indirectly from the times immemorial. Whatever the negative effects we see, are due to the weak states which are unable to put the negative religious activities under strong control and to check the misuse of it for selfish ends. Religion is a part and parcel of civilization. It is for the advancement of civilization.
States should become strong to control religion and to convert religion as an asset to civilization. Religious threats such as Terrorism can successfully be eliminated by religion only. The need of the hour is to form a World Body of Scientific Religion, a common platform of all religions in the world. This common platform can facilitate the mingling of the divesified systems of faith (religions). This mingling will do away with the rigidity and conservativeness in the systems of faith of people. This will pave the way to the universal brotherhood, the religious tolerance, the totality of humanity, the peaceful coexistence, the equality of humans, the equality of religions, etc. These are the immediate needs of the hour to save the human civilisation from its early extinction.
The World Body of Scientific Religion will become an important organ of World Civilisations' Management Organisation (WCMO) along with the other organs such as World Body of Economists, World Body of Scientists, World Body of Social Scientists, etc. This body can successfully s all tettle he problems related to religion and support the advancement of civilization.
Article
The history of Religion and its definition
In the early times, humans started living in small groups. These groups were mainly of tribal in nature. They were mainly hunters and foragers. At times, these groups used to fight among themselves for the supremacy over the regions to exploit the resources. At this stage, human did not question or try to find the reason behind the phenomenon taking place in nature around him/her.
As human went on becoming intelligent, he/she tried to understand, question and tried to find the reasons behind the phenomena taking place around him/her in nature. His/her interaction with nature had become conscious. He/she could understand some phenomena and the reasons behind them. But he/she could not understand some.
After all his/her efforts when he/she could not understand some, he/she left them to their fate by thinking that there was some super natural power/some supreme beings/deities was/ were behind these phenomena by whom these phenomena were monitored and regulated. They believed that even they (tribal gods) were the reason for their birth on the earth and their life was regulated by them only.
An example picture of tribal gods and godesses in ancient times
They believed that their well being depended purely on the mercy of those gods only. So humans started performing pujas for them. As the time went on, these groups grew in number and spread to new areas in search of food for them and for their animals. Wherever they found a suitable environment, water, climate, plane lands, etc, they settled there and started cultivating the land by deforestation.
But they continued their beliefs, traditions, customs, etc and added new ones as they exposed to a new experience in new areas. In course of time, a particular system of faith belonging to a particular group of people consisting of their beliefs, traditions, customs, dress codes, conceptions, etc, revolving around a particular god or group of gods, is evolved. This system of faith is called Religion. There are hundreds of religions around the world such as Hinduism, Muslimism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.
How Religion has been establishing order in the society either directly or indirectly from the times immemorial
The following are the common beliefs shared by almost all the religions in the world
- The people of all the religions believe that God is one. But they call him/her with different names. All the religions are different ways to reach him/her,
- Fear of committing sin, an action against the will of God,
- Help the needy/weak to make God happy and so that God dissolves all his/her sins,
- Help the poor. Donate to them in cash or in kind,
- Troubling the weak is a sin,
- Every human is equal in the eyes of God, because of every human is the creation of God,
- If one wishes for the good of others, then the good thing will happen to him/her,
- Serve human to serve God,
- Every human has his/her life on the mercy of God,
- Robbery, theft, looting, mental or physical harassment, murder, etc either directly or indirectly are sins, for that he/she has to pay greater than that, in course of time,
- Human birth is the gift of God,
- Respect the beliefs, customs, traditions, etc of others.
13. If one does good things and make God happy, in return God will do good things to him/her,
14. Earning money/wealth through illegal means is a sin,
and many more.
The major portion of the world human population is religious belonging to one or the other religion. Would not all the beliefs mentioned above lead to such behaviour of a human which can establish order in the society? The logical answer should be yes.
When this is the fact would there be any doubt that religion has been establishing order either directly or indirectly in the society? Certainly not.
The main reasons for the chriminalised world society in spite of religious beliefs
1. The primary responsibilities of social security, educatioon, employment, health, food security, individual pension, etc, should be shouldered by any modern state. But all these liabilities of state, in the world, majorly, are thrown on to the shoulders of the subjects (people) only. The compulsions of struggle in obtaining all these, naturally, will lead to a jungle law like situation in which the big fish tries to eat the small fish. In the process of this, people are misusing the religion, caste, etc also for their selfish ends. States are observing all this struggle just like helpless spectators. Every one has the right to live. In the path of obtaining this right, if religion also comes, it is not cared. They do not get a second thought not to dishnour the religious beliefs or the rules of state. They are not wrong even. If one gives score scientifically, to the present states in the world, on the 0 to 10 scale, hardly they will get the score of 2. One can imagine the gravity of the situation. Still whatever the social order existing in the world has the effect of religion either directly or indirectly.
2. The unlimited nature of wants of humans, is, either directly or indirectly, chriminasing the society. It is the responsibility of state, to control and regulate this nature of humans. When this nature crosses certain limits, religion alone, also can not do any thing.
3. Social disorders like jealousy, ego, untouchability, racism, sex discrimination, communalism, blind beliefs regarding sex, domestic violence, discrimination based on skin coour, regional and language feelings, social status, blind religious, caste, etc beliefs and barriers, blind social customs, the religious intolerence, psychological disorders like stress, anxiety, depression, etc are also responsible for the chriminalised human society. Religion alone can not do any thing in this respect without the active interference of state because of the increased complextiy of human society in modern times. The incorporation of inter-religious education in the education system is badly needed. This will alleviate the above mentioned social and psychological disorders to a major extent.
Practical examples where religion established order in the society either directly or indirectly
In Ancient and Medieval times
In ancient and medieval times, there were no permanent states. The kings and kingdoms used to be changed more often. Not only that in most of the cases, the kings were busy either in expanding their kingdoms or in protecting them from other kings. They were mainly concerned about the collection of taxes and filling their exchequers to meet the expenditure in the above purposes and for their royal life. They have little time for the problems of their subjects. In such cases, one can easily conclude that the developmental work and the order in the civil society must have been seriously neglected except in some rare cases. This way there was the least impact of kings and kingdoms on the civil life of people except in paying taxes. But, to the major extent, there was order in the society. More or less, people lived a peaceful life. The state was not fully responsible for this social order. To the major extent, religion with the above mentioned religious beliefs was responsible for that.
In Modern times
A major portion of the world is governed by either democracy or the hybrid form of it. Democracy is the most scientific form of government.
But, Democracy is the ideal and impractical form of government as long as its citizens are not educated and use their franchise consciously beyond religion, caste, creed, etc.
Right from the oldest democracy in America to the largest democracy in India, no country has the true power of democracy in the world. Because of these weak democracies, weak states are derived. These weak states have no guts either to have complete control on the business activities of the capitalists or to establish proper order in the society. In ancient and medieval times most of the states were strong, but they were engaged in battles and not permanent. So they could not focus much on social order in the society. In modern times, states are permanent but not strong enough to establish complete order in the society. Their stakeholders are busy in saving their chairs (offices) at the cost of human values. They are only concerned about the taxes from the subjects to meet the waste, unnecessary, lavish and luxurious spending of them and government machinery. The democratic institutions have become much porous to corruption. The democratic system, especially in India, has become faulty and rotten. If anyone/ any group of people/party wants to put the system on the right path also, it will be a herculean task for them. What they can do is just diverting the focus of the citizens from the main issues for their comfortable stay in the office. This way there is no change in the fate of the common man in ancient, medieval and modern times. What happened is the old wine is kept in a new bottle. Even we can go to the extent of saying that the fate of common man is worsened in modern times when compared to the ancient and medieval times. Weak democratic states are leading to extreme irregularities in the even distribution of wealth and labor. The jungle law of eating of small fish by big fish is prevailing in the society. In this state of affairs of the world also, a major portion of the order prevailing in the society is due to religion and its beliefs/institutions only, either directly or indirectly. The state has a minimum stake in this aspect. Imagine a human society without religion. In that society, how much ever the strong the state may be, it is impossible to establish order in the society. The state may frame billions or trillions or quadrillions or quintillions of number of rules to control human brain, then also it can not put human brain under its control. The reason is the infinitesimal power of human brain. But religion can easily control it due to the concept of God. This can be observed in religious functions/places. There will be no well defined rules framed and their enforcement to maintain discipline at these places. But you can observe incredible discipline and the incredible feeling of responsibility in performing the assigned tasks at the religious places and in the religious functions.
Merits of Religion
- Religion provides social security to humans,
- Religion establishes order in the society and can work in the way of supporting the civilization,
- Religion adds meaning to human life. Without it, human life is just like machine life.
- Religion enforces equality in humans.
- On the basis of religion, caste, creed, etc, people can be united easily and in no time, for the common causes.
Demerits of Religion
No system is absolute so the system of religion.
The following are the demerits of religion.
- Religious thinking usually has rigidity and conservativeness. It does not readily accept scientific facts.
- Religious people think that they are only right and the others are wrong. They expect the others to believe in what they believe. At times, this will happen forcibly also. Forcible or wilful religious conversions with rewards are the best examples for this fact.
- Some religious beliefs which were valid some time ago due to some temporary special social circumstances and needs are blindly carried forward. Terrorism is one example for this. This aspect makes religion unscientific and invites serious criticism from intellectuals.
- On the basis of religion, caste, creed, etc, people can easily be united and be exploited in weak democracies. India is the best example for this for its religious and caste politics.
Service to mankind in day to day life of different religions
Sikhism
Langar (is the way of providing food to people round the clock) in Gurudwaras, is one of the many ways of Sikhism in serving mankind. If one visits Gurudwara and observes all the activities there, one can realise the facts that, money, wealth, social positions, earthly pleasures, etc are worthless and all the humans are equal in the eyes of God. Discipline, cleanliness, beauty, peace, silence, prohibition of smoking, liquor, Gutka, etc are the remarkable features of the Gurudwara premises. All these are the central points of the teachings of Sikh Guru. If some minor corrections are brought about in Langar system, starvation and malnutrition deaths can be completely done away with in the world.
Langar in Gurudwara
Hinduism
Bhandaras, Prasadams, donating cloths, money, food, etc in the name of God to the poor people, are some of the activities in the service of mankind in the Hindu religion.
The peaceful atmosphere, the beautiful environment, the perfumes of dhoop batty, incense sticks in pujas, flowers, etc at temple places, discipline in religious functions which is not possible at places other than religious ones, etc, are the heart touching features of the Hindu religion. Yoga and meditation are the boons given by the Hindu religion to the human civilisation. With some minor corrections, the Hindu religion can prove to be an asset to the human civilisation in alleviating the poverty, malnutrition and starvation deaths, etc.
Yoga, the science of body and mind
Meditation, the science of Mind
Muslimism
Donations of money, cloths, shelter, wealth, etc to the poor at the time of festivals, functions, etc is one of the key feature of the Islam. Islam has the second highest population in the world. Their strict adherence to five times namaz praying and fasting once in a year are the remarkable features of Islam. The body postures in praying namaz are scientific in promoting good health. Islam believes in the doctrine of service to humanity is the service to God as all the other religions do. Some miscomprehensions, misinterpretations and misconceptions on the holy book Quran, led to conflicts. Basically, the religion of Islam is the promising one in establishing peace in the world. Through discussions on the common platform like World Body of Religions, the religious global issues can easily be settled. Islam can play a promising role in that, especially in containing terrorism.
Different postures in Namaz praying
Christianity
Christian nuns, fathers, brothers, etc enter the houses of poorest of the poor. They perform the prayers for them, help them, establish a lovely and generous rapport with them. Even they go to the houses of people who are ostracised from the society due to reasons of either untouchability or contact diseases like lepracy, Tuberculosis, etc or non contact diseases like AIDS, etc. Mother Teresa, as a nun, made an indelible mark in the history of service to mankind. The purpose may be any thing, but they flash light in the dark lives of the down trodden, ostracised sections of human society which is a noble service. This is the true potential of religion. This is not possible in the cases, other than religion. Christianity, with some corrections, alongwith all the other religions, on a common platform, can do wonders in promoting universal brotherhood, oneness in humanity, equality of humans, etc.
Prayers in christianity
Mother Teresa, a legend in the service to mankind
Similarly, in all other religions also, service to humanity, establishing peace in the world, equality of humans, etc are reflected in all their activities
The ways and means to do away with the demerits of Religion and make it support human civilization.
Religion is the inseparable organ of human civilization as far as the concept of God exists in human thinking. The concept of God may vanish only when a human becomes to know the Truth, the reason/rationale behind every phenomenon taking place in the universe/universes, behind the formation of the universe/universes, etc. But human intelligence is far behind to reach that stage. It may take at least some lakhs of years for human intelligence to reach that stage. Caste, creed, etc, are also the inseparable organs of human civilization. These are not threats to the civilization, but assets to it. The demerits of religion, caste, creed, etc, dominate, only when the state is weak. It can be easily be explained with an example. When the boss in any organization becomes weak and unable to control his/her subordinates, the state of affairs of the organization will be at sixes and sevens. Every subordinate will act according to his/her will. Then how much ever talented manpower may be there in the organization, it will be of no use. The productivity of the organization will come down due to the lacking of the streamlining of the energies of the employees. That is done only by the leader i.e the boss in any organization. Religion, caste, creed, democratic institutions, social systems, etc, are the helping tools, as employees in any organization, for humans for the progress of the civilization. The powers of these systems are to be streamlined for the betterment of the human society. If the state is strong enough to have control on religious, caste, creed, etc, activities, all the demerits of these social institutions, can be done away with and they can work for the progress of human civilization. The present negative effects of religion are just due to the weak and religious states existing in the world.
But, in the present times, it is not enough to a state, to be strong enough to do away with the negative effects of religion. The globe has become closer and closer, to solve the global religious issues and to establish harmony and peace in the world, all the religions in the world should come onto a single platform. For that, a global body with its affiliates in each country is needed to be set up. Then only religious issues can be completely rooted out to establish peace in the world. This body will be similar to the parliament of religions whose memorable the first convention was held in the year 1893 in Chicago, U.S.A. Swamy Vivekananda represented the Hindu Religion from India in that convention. By his extraordinary lectures, he made an indelible mark in the history of world religions. This body will come onto the center stage whenever a religious issue arises in the world and settle it in a time bound and responsible manner. This global body will be the part of WCMO (World Civilisations’ Management Organisation), a global body with ultimate power and knowledge whose primitive form is UNO (United Nations Organisation).
Swami Vivekananda, a legendary Inidan Hindu monk in the pariliament of religions at Chicago, U.S.A, in 1893
The historical speech of Swami Vivekananda in the Parliament of Religions in 1893 at Chicago, U.S.A
The specific advantages of bringing the world religions onto a single platform
- Every system of faith will get an opportunity to understand the others. The people of different faiths will come out of the boundaries of the worlds of their faiths and see the worlds of other faiths. This will lead to the religious tolerance and flexibility in thinking. This is important for the peaceful coexistence in the diversified human world.
- The thinking of the people of one faith that “We are right and the others are wrong, so others at any cost should follow our path” will slowly fade away,
- Conservativeness, blind faiths, rigidity, etc in any religion will see a downtrend.
- The concepts of religion, caste, creed, etc will become difficult to be used for selfish ends especially in weak democratic states.
Conclusion
Human world is diversified so their systems of faith (religions). No system of faith or school of thought is superior to any other. No single religion or school of thought can save the human world. The human civilisation can be saved only by strong states with the help of their tools such as religion, human intelligence, different schools of thought, etc. The present needs of the world are, universal brotherhood, the religious tolerance, the totality of humanity, the peaceful coexistence, the equality of humans, the equality of religions, etc. These needs can easily be achieved by strong states with the help of the coordinated activities of world religions on a common platform called "The World Body of Sciientific Religion", an organ of WCMO (World Civilisations' Management Organisation), an ultimate powerful body just like world government. In addition to this, if unemployment is solved, terrorism can no longer exist in the world.
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