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Save me from gods




In the year 1257, an elephant died in the Tower menagerie and was buried in a pit near the chapel.  But the following year he was dug up and his remains sent to Westminster Abbey.  Now, what did they want at Westminster Abbey, with the remains of an elephant?  If not to carve a ton of relics out of him, and make his animal bones into the bones of saints?

The above quote is taken from Hilary Mantel’s latest Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Bring Up the Bodies (page 69, Fourth Estate, London, 2012).

Mantel’s novel, which I’m still reading, thrusts before us a lot of questions without ever making it look like thrusting.  I like such novels.  Novels that tickle us into thinking, gently, slowly – quite unlike the fist-wielding street hooligans’ (ab-surd) ways.  I ordered this novel even before it was published in India because I knew it wouldn’t disappoint me.

I have lived for over 5 decades with people who claim to be religious, people who pretend to be good.  The people whom I dread most are the religious.  They can sell anything, kill anybody, and pretend to be holy after all that.  Worse, they can portray the most innocent person as the worst criminal. I have seen it.  I have lived with it.
 
I have begun to hate religion, much as I would hate to hate anything.

Atheist as I have become (I used to call myself an agnostic – but I would now rather be an atheist), my prayer to the teeming gods is: “Save me from your followers.”

Note 1: surd is slang for…?
Note 2: This is a wicked post.  
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Comments

  1. mandakolathurDecember 15, 2012 at 10:40 PM

    Becoming an atheist from an agnostic is but a natural progression of intelligence :) :) :)

    You say, "...pretend to be holy after all that". It may have been better said, "claiming to be holy doing all that"!

    I di dnot understand why you said this is a wicked post. Did you mean an evil post?

    RE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 15, 2012 at 10:47 PM

      Wicked, Raghuram. Evil is natural. Wickedness is intended.

      Delete
  2. umashankarDecember 16, 2012 at 8:37 AM

    1. I have started liking you sneak previews!

    2. Your professed wickedness is a surd!

    3. Now there, forgive my wickedness!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 16, 2012 at 6:38 PM

      Yeah, this is a much better way of letting out the steam, isn't it?

      Delete
  3. Indian SatireDecember 16, 2012 at 12:33 PM

    I dont know if God exists but his believers have done more to his creations than the non-believers not only because of the numbers but because they fight over whose God is the more powerful?

    Balu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 16, 2012 at 6:39 PM

      As Nietzsche said, gods must have died laughing seeing the way his followers fought for them.

      Delete
  4. PayojismDecember 16, 2012 at 4:52 PM

    Nice article...I have sligtly different views...
    http://payojism.blogspot.in/2010/07/i-hope-i-become-believer-again_9152.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 16, 2012 at 6:45 PM

      Yeah, I just read your blog and have posted my comment too.

      Delete
  5. PanchaliDecember 16, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    Oh, well, fancy that! To take steps towards oblivion, and draw final conclusions, is highly 'falsehood'...Isn't that neat, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  6. indu chhibberDecember 17, 2012 at 7:36 AM

    There are good & bad in every group or community.You came in touch with some bad ones but is it wise to paint all with a wide brush?
    If this is about unloading angst,i understand!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 17, 2012 at 3:04 PM

      Thanks for understanding. Writing has that function too: letting off steam. That's why I called it a "wicked post".

      Delete
  7. AmitAagDecember 17, 2012 at 11:12 AM

    The moral of the story "The people whom I dread most are the religious" is whole heartedly seconded by me, not against any particular sect or creed though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 17, 2012 at 3:05 PM

      That's a conclusion I drew from experience, Amit. If your experience also supports it, then ...

      Delete
  8. UnknownDecember 17, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    loved it!loved it!

    i am an indian and i earn 10$ per day from neobux
    You know the value of dollar to rupees!

    if you are interested you can sign up here www.neobux.com/?r=calicer1996

    all you need to do is click a few ads which takes only half an hour per day!


    ReplyDelete
  9. provoqdDecember 17, 2012 at 5:30 PM

    Hi,

    Quite a post you have written. The break-up of words aptly described in Ab-Surd. :)

    So, what made you turn into an Atheist?

    Regards

    Jay
    http://road-to-sanitarium.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownDecember 18, 2012 at 6:19 PM

    I've always been a great admirer of your blogs !!
    Yet again nice work ...
    Gotta read the left ones now

    Regards
    Raja

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 18, 2012 at 6:40 PM

      Nice to see you with a comment, Raja. Nicer to know that you were reading me earlier too. This particular post is a little out of my ordinary way - this had ulterior motives! Life makes us do such things sometimes; life makes us terrorists occasionally :) (My terrorism is harmless.)

      Delete
  11. www.wizardlegalblogs.comDecember 29, 2012 at 4:04 PM

    Being an atheist is far better than being a theist and doing all sorts of wretched and inhuman things against fellow humans and nature. I am also a staunch rationalist and believe in "Service to a fellow human being is equal to service(read worship God) to
    God" dictum.

    Ms.Nirmala Rao
    Hyderabad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 29, 2012 at 10:28 PM

      Being anything that is genuine all that matters Ms Nirmala, as far as I'm concerned. I'm right now battling with a fraud who bears a turban.

      Delete

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