Long ago, when our
ancestors descended from the tree and started walking on the earth, we allowed
religion to hijack everything from our entertainment to our morality, from our
pains and joys to our gods and devils.
When the immensity of the cosmic mystery overwhelmed those primitive
creatures, it was understandable that they sought solace in superstitions and rituals. Today, when science has broken through most of the
mysteries, revealing the principles of gravitation and quantum mechanics,
unseating gods from their celestial thrones, replacing heaven and hell with black
holes and stellar bodies, why does religion continue to inflict us with
tragedies?
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| For details: The Hindu |
The latest tragedy in a
Kerala temple, like most other such tragedies in places of worship, is a
man-made one. The organisers and
operators of the fireworks display flung all norms to the cosmic winds for the
sake of enhancing the impressiveness of the show. It’s a kind of competition. Our temple festival must be more ostentatious
than the festival of all other religious institutions in the
neighbourhood. The grander the display,
the greater the religion!
We have to liberate
ourselves from our snobbery first of all if such tragedies are to be
avoided. Not only firework displays, but
also religious processions, conventions and a lot of other means are employed
to show off that one’s own religion is capable of making more noise than the
neighbour’s. The greater the noise and
grander the display, the more attractive is the religion! In other words, religion is not really about
religion but about our pretentiousness and its satellite vices.
Secondly, we have to
liberate our gods from their bondage in our temples, churches and other such
places. When the gods are gone, perhaps
we will learn to look within. And
discover the delights of simple humaneness which doesn’t need temples and
fireworks.
very unfortunate incident..
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly. So many lives lost. So many wounded seriously. Houses destroyed.
DeleteIf the God is omnipresent, why look in temples? Never understood the concept, really.
ReplyDeleteThat's just the question. And the answer is that people are not looking for god really. It's about a lot of other things: social celebration, display of superiority, psychological comforts...
DeleteVery tragic... some the pics were tear jerking ones. Hope they get well and recover from this trauma soon.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I also hope that people learn the necessary lessons so that tragedy won't be repeated.
DeleteTragic indeed!
ReplyDelete'We have to liberate ourselves and our gods'..so wise and true!
Evolution is a painfully slow process, Amit ji. Mutual liberation is possible only through mutation.
DeleteTOTALLY with you on LIBERATE OUR GODs.. yes we need to I think its time we the people did something too ..
ReplyDeleteit is a tragedy such a incident happened..
Bikram's
I'm happy to find more and more people who think like me. I used to wonder whether I was an odd man out.
DeleteNo you are not, I am of the beleif that if we take religion out , people all over will be much more happier .. but then thats me ..
DeleteBikram's
Let our tribe increase, Bikram. Actually religion owes its popularity to herd mentality mostly. If the herd thinks secularism is superior to religionism we will be lucky.
DeleteWhen the roof of the Puttingal Devi temple fell down, hundreds of people died, hundreds of people were injured, but in this all, where was God? Did he die under that roof, was he injured in that chaos or did he ran away?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone try to find where God was?
Your comment reminds me of what Albert Camus said when he saw a car run over a child, "Look, the heavens are silent!"
DeleteYes, liberation is the only solution.
ReplyDeleteAnd liberation is a slow process!
DeleteI won't call it tragic or unfortunate. It's plain damned stupid! Brought on by bloody hypocrites! If it weren't for the lost lives, I'd have said that they were served right. But, do you think that they are going to learn from it? Of course not! There will be a bit of brouhaha, a few crocodile tears and everyone will gear up for a similar function on a grander stage. Bloody idiots!
ReplyDeleteOnly the Almighty will know when are we going to grow up! :(
They won't learn, no doubt. People never learn the real lessons.
DeleteI really agree with your last paragraph, 'to liberate' our gods from bondage. What a tragic incident!
ReplyDeleteJust imagine how helpless god must have felt sitting imprisoned in that temple while the tragedy unfolded.
Delete90% of the man made calamities are due to the disturbances by religious zealots. What a pathetic state that people somewhere follow similar teachings and talk about same similar God who has made everything on earth and then he fights over what exactly His real name is... He just can't stand others with different opinion... Tragedy across the Globe, religion today is everything what is wasn't meant to be!
ReplyDeleteReligion is the greatest cause of hatred, strife, violence, calamities... It's high time that mankind delivered itself from the nemesis called religion.
DeleteI like the coinage liberating our god Matheikal, it is such a shame that religion has become a matter of a societal pride than a personal thing. Kinda defeating the whole purpose of religion.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose has been defeated already in various forms. What good does religion do today? I wonder.
Deletethis festival happened because temple authorities neglected denial of permissions backing by some political masters which didn't bother to hurt religious sentiments in election time but are cool now to gain from this tragedy
ReplyDeleteThe election plays a vital role, you're right. Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi rushed to the spot because of the election.
DeleteThis was so sad, such a waste of life and all because of a lack of regard for safety.
ReplyDeleteWho is bothered about whose safety these days?
Delete