Our gods must have died laughing

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 50^th 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