A friend forwarded a video clip this morning. It is an
extract from a speech that celebrated Malayalam movie actor Sreenivasan
delivered years ago. In the year 1984, Sreenivasan decided to marry the woman he
was in love with. But his career in movies had just started and so he hadn’t
made much money. Knowing his financial condition, another actor, Innocent, gave
him Rs 400. Innocent wasn’t doing well either in the profession. “Alice’s
bangle,” Innocent said. He had pawned or sold his wife’s bangle to get that
amount for his friend. Then Sreenivasan went to Mammootty, who eventually
became Malayalam’s superstar, to request for help. Mammootty gave him Rs 2000. Citing
the goodness of the two men, Sreenivasan said that the wedding necklace (mangalsutra)
he put ceremoniously around the neck of his Hindu wife was funded by a Christian
(Innocent) and a Muslim (Mammootty).
“What does religion matter?”
Sreenivasan asks in the video. “You either refuse to believe in any or believe
in all of them.” If you think that only your religion is true, then you haven’t
understood even the basics of religion.
Today, 27 Oct 2025, is the 50th
death anniversary of a poet who composed about 1300 songs for more than 250
Malayalam films until he died in 1975 at the young age of 45. I cited one of
his songs in a recent post, Helpless Gods.
Vayalar Ramavarma wrote scores of poems that questioned gods and religions. One
of the best was ‘Manushyan mathangale srushtichu,’ Man created
religions. The song written for a 1972 movie went on to say that religions
created gods. Then men and gods together divided the land, divided hearts.
The people of Kerala were made to
reflect on the worth of religions and gods by Vayalar’s songs. That was more than
half a century ago. The tragedy is that we have regressed from those days of
philosophical reflections to the jingoistic slogans of today, thanks to our
present political leaders.
Religion makes lunatic asylums of
societies, Vayalar wrote. The song has an explicit line: Bharat has become a
lunatic asylum. Written in 1972, the line holds more relevance today.
Do we need religion at all?
We witness umpteen incidents day
after day showing the regressive force wielded by religion over people. Dependence
on authority is the first limitation of religion. Doctrines, scriptures,
leaders – these become the sources of truth for a religious believer rather
than honest personal inquiry.
Belief systems provided by religions
can function as psychological crutches. People cling to religious
prayers and rituals instead of confronting their existential anxiety and
problems. Religion is merely a coping mechanism for most believers. A placebo.
Higher thinking implies openness to
change and complexity. Dogmatic religious adherence, on the other hand, hinders
intellectual growth by closing the mind to contradictory evidence or
alternative worldviews.
Worst of all, especially in today’s
Indian context, myths and symbols are taken literally rather than
metaphorically. In such a situation, religion indicates an early stage of
cognitive development: infantile. Hanuman becomes a real entity and a limestone
shoal becomes the creation of his army.
I don’t deny that religion has helped
many individuals to become better human beings. It can help us to perceive the
interconnectedness, meaning and transcendence in ways that rational thought
alone can never achieve. It can foster in us empathy, compassion and a deep
moral sense. It can work wonders. If we understand it properly and use it
wisely.
Unfortunately religion has become a political
tool today more than a spiritual vehicle.
Our gods must have died ages ago,
laughing themselves to death at the grotesque caricatures their devotees made
of them.
PS. This post is a part of Blogchatter Half
Marathon 2025
Is it possible that the idea of religion originated to measure our thoughts and behaviours, so that if not to any human we would be answerable to some external force or power for our actions?
ReplyDeleteThat's possible. And to some extent religion still fulfils that function today.
DeleteVayalar was great. During May, before I reached you and Maggie, I had to cross Vayalar and Punnapra, twice over, on my journey to Marthandam and back. Yesudas is seen singing this song, " Manushyan Mathangale Srushtichu.. Mathangal... Deivangale... " What a change of Kerala of 70s and now. From a Socialist Ethos to Neo-Liberal Narcissistic Overhauling..
ReplyDeleteAll this religious spirit of today has nothing to do with spirituality. It's all part of a particular variety of politics that is meant to alienate certain people from mainstream.
DeleteExactly..
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteQuite so... YAM xx
Sadly too...
DeleteWhen any ideology is institutionalized it is corrupted.
ReplyDeleteIndeed
DeleteAt one time society needed the explanations given through the religious stories to make sense of the world. If you don't know about the Big Bang, you need some explanation for how everything came to be. As we've learned more, we no longer need those stories. But they can still show us how to behave in a society. Unfortunately, those in power are using that as a way to take power and make money for themselves.
ReplyDeletePower craze is the real problem. Otherwise people would have made good use of religion. Today religion is not religion, at least in my country. It is politics.
DeleteAbsolutely right ! If one does not understand that all religions lead to that Single Super Power , then they have not understood the basics of it.
ReplyDelete