The question has been on my mind for a long time. A very long time, in fact. In this essay, I would like to reason out my rationality. And at the very outset, I would like to say my argument is with the God, as perceived by most people in this world. Overwhelming majority of the population, irrespective of the religion they belong to, see God as someone who created this whole universe, including our planet, all forms of life and has absolute control over what happens in our lives, oversees our deeds (good or bad), answers to our prayers and defines our destinies, all absolutely for no apparent reason!
The question of belief in God has been discussed by so many great people, both theist and atheist. Most of the atheists, at least most of who I have read have been westerners. There have been a few exceptions. A brilliantly reasoned out essay by the great Indian freedom fighter revolutionary Bhagath Singh and another superbly thought out Kannada book titled “Devaru” by an English professor, who lived all of 102 years and remained a happy atheist till the very end, are some that I have read.
Let me start by contemplating, briefly, what I could have otherwise become – a Hindu, lingayat by caste and a believer. And that would have been only because my parents are exactly that. That has never been a strong enough reason for me to do anything, not just being religious.
So, what god to believe in - Hindu (one or other of the innumerable gods of the Hindu pantheon) or Buddha or Jesus or Yahweh or Allah or some other? All of them, in the way perceived by most people in the world, are mutually exclusive. Not withstanding what a few magnanimously claim – that those are the various paths to that same destination, you cannot believe in one and also truly believe in another. If one is true, other has to be lesser truth, if not completely false.
Let's for a moment assume that there is one (whatever religion) God, who has absolute control over what happens in the universe and more so in our lives on earth. Even an ardent super religious person accepts that not all is well on the face of the earth. There is abject poverty, human suffering, exploitation and injustice. Why is the omnipotent almighty not doing a thing about it? By sheer will, it should be easy for the God to set right everything that is wrong on this planet. We often get to hear that we don't understand the ways of God. That argument (that we don't understand the ways of God) should only be as much valid or true, if not less, as perhaps there are no set ways of God at all! Isn't it just a logical extension that people are scared to make?
While I was young, when I used to visit temples with my parents, I used to wonder, what do I do, closing my eyes? What was I supposed to say while praying? If I said thanks for all the comforts that I had in my life, am I not being unreasonable? For, I knew there were many without two square meals a day? And favor is one thing I could never ask for from anybody, let alone God!!
Let's look at religions and God from yet another angle. What is the view of all the religions on the cosmos? Why is that none of the religions of the world talk about size of the universe or the number of galaxies? It is about 20 years since Hubble telescope was launched and it has already made ground breaking discoveries such as - black holes existence and defining the age of the universe. It has also proved (or theorized?) the existence of something no one has seen and yet is verifiable by means of science - dark energy! In comparison, all that the religions of the world are actively concerned about is - building worship places, breaking others', battling homosexuality, protesting abortion rights and when free, indulging in meaningless rituals.
Most recently, with the advances in the field of quantum physics, many experts claim that science and God (in abstract form) have moved closer. But, it should be noted that advancements in science are a result of years of research and subject to repeatable verifications. So, even if mysticism of religion appears (to people who see everything in jaundiced eyes of religion) like abstract quantum physics, the path taken by science is truly transparent and honest. Science can reveal the mysteries of life to anyone who is willing to question even the axioms, unlike religion which appears to reveal only to the chosen people - seers and priestly class!
And finally, if one wants to define God as a destination of a quest to explain how things work in this universe, it is evident that all the religious paths are at an equidistant, light years away from the truth and are not even oriented in the direction of truth! Only science has the highest probability of reaching that goal. And that's why I am a rational atheist!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Code Name God!?
Just about to finish reading Code Name God, a sort of autobiography by Mani Bhaumik. It is a fascinating story of rags to riches and of great professional success. I obviously don't agree with his views on religions of the world and spirituality. At some point in the book, Mani makes his argument that science has answers to 'what', but does not answer 'why'. In reality, the religions of the world utterly fail to answer 'what' and provide some mythical allegories as answers for 'why'. That's my view of course. Incidentally, Mani Bhaumik is the inventor of technology behind LASIK eye surgery and the book is a very interesting one to read, even to an atheist!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Indian traffic sense - one bitter taste in the mouth...
I feel compelled to write about what happened in the morning today. I was passing through a traffic junction on Bannerghatta road, Bangalore. It is a T junction, and I was going straight and it was 'Green' for going straight. Suddenly, I see a biker making a right turn, when it is 'Red' and land right in front of my car. Seeing me behind, he moves to the right and gives me way. I rolled down my window and said "You should not have crossed, it was Red for you". His reply "I was not in your way". I said "But, you violated the traffic law, you should not do that". His reply - "does not matter, I was not in your way". Here I lost cool, yelled at him "but rule is a rule, you look like educated and but behave like an idiot". He scooted off fast and after being away at a safe distance showed his left hand middle finger. I felt frustrated because of the helpless situation that I was in. No, I have no hope for this country. I am sorry that I have to live here.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Rationalism - a way of life
I am back to blogging after a gap of about three months. In this period, there were times when I wanted to write, mostly to blurt out my frustrations at various things in life. But, again, I thought, what is the point, things are not going to change here. So, I had or I have gone into a cynical mood about various things such a traffic, lawlessness, chaos in public places, lack of civic sense, caste, religion and irrationality. I am back to writing however, without having to force myself, thanks to something that happened over the weekend.
I attended the First Meeting Of The Karnataka Rationalist Association in Bangalore on the 14th of March, 2010, held at Makkala Koota. I usually don't associate myself with any social groups or activists for various reasons, my introvert nature being one. So much so that many of my close family members call me an anti-social! But, being a rationalist, I could not resist myself going to this meeting. I consider myself a rational atheist. And, it is not too often that we get a chance to be amongst rationalists in a overly religious society like ours.
I was there, along with my friend Sumanth (who happens to be my daughter's college mate) about 11:00 am. The meeting had already started. There were delegates from other states and also from various districts of karnataka. Quickly we understood that the purpose of the meet was to discuss about founding a state wide umbrella organization to include all the rationalist movements. And, one of the agenda was to collect views and opinions from the delegates as to what should be the activities (apart from exposing miracles) that the organization should involve in to promote rationality and scientific temper.
Firstly I was pleasantly surprised to see so many rationalists and that too from districts and small towns. I say surprised because, it is not very easy to be a rationalist. We are surrounded by faiths in various forms. Worshiping of ant hills to automobiles and anything in between is considered a scared ritual. Self proclaimed religious gurus are dime a dozen and what is amazing is they all do brisk business with millions of clients. Any kind of questioning is vehemently discouraged by giving such illogical reasons as "our elders have done this for a reason" or "how can you question the very belief system". I would guess situation is probably even tougher for a rationalist living in small towns.
Secondly, I was a little disappointed to see so few youngsters and women in the meet. Does it mean the youngsters are too busy worrying about their careers and women about their house hold work!? When I was young, I had an urge to rebel and question things. And I expect it to be natural for youngsters to be rebels or am I worng?
Coming to think of it, I have broken all traditions. I was born and grew up in small towns of Karnataka. I must have been either 14 or 15 when I started questioning everything. I must say, my high school teacher M N Shadakshari was greatly responsible for setting me on the path of questioning every premise and presumption. Reading some great authors such as Kuvempu,UR Anathamurthy and later on Bertrand Russell made me realize that morality and religion have nothing do with each other. Slowly and surely, I realized that I was incapable of praying and worship. And by the time I graduated and moved out of my parents home, I had totally given up on religion and god. Since then, I have lived a rationalist life without ever feeling a need for either religion or god in my life.
One thing that made me think a lot about was what one of the delegates ( I think it was Ramesh) said. He said something like (not exactly the same words) - "we tend to compromise some times on our rationalism, with the fear of hurting sentiments of others. We should not. No change can be brought about in the society with out hurting sentiments." And I am sure I have hurt many a people in my quest for rationalism. To all those, including my parents, I say - I am sorry, but I had no choice and it is my life anyway.
And finally, I really enjoyed listening to so many delegates speak passionately about rationality. And to listen to them putting their views across in Kannada was really great. I felt as if my spirit of independence was rekindled.
I attended the First Meeting Of The Karnataka Rationalist Association in Bangalore on the 14th of March, 2010, held at Makkala Koota. I usually don't associate myself with any social groups or activists for various reasons, my introvert nature being one. So much so that many of my close family members call me an anti-social! But, being a rationalist, I could not resist myself going to this meeting. I consider myself a rational atheist. And, it is not too often that we get a chance to be amongst rationalists in a overly religious society like ours.
I was there, along with my friend Sumanth (who happens to be my daughter's college mate) about 11:00 am. The meeting had already started. There were delegates from other states and also from various districts of karnataka. Quickly we understood that the purpose of the meet was to discuss about founding a state wide umbrella organization to include all the rationalist movements. And, one of the agenda was to collect views and opinions from the delegates as to what should be the activities (apart from exposing miracles) that the organization should involve in to promote rationality and scientific temper.
Firstly I was pleasantly surprised to see so many rationalists and that too from districts and small towns. I say surprised because, it is not very easy to be a rationalist. We are surrounded by faiths in various forms. Worshiping of ant hills to automobiles and anything in between is considered a scared ritual. Self proclaimed religious gurus are dime a dozen and what is amazing is they all do brisk business with millions of clients. Any kind of questioning is vehemently discouraged by giving such illogical reasons as "our elders have done this for a reason" or "how can you question the very belief system". I would guess situation is probably even tougher for a rationalist living in small towns.
Secondly, I was a little disappointed to see so few youngsters and women in the meet. Does it mean the youngsters are too busy worrying about their careers and women about their house hold work!? When I was young, I had an urge to rebel and question things. And I expect it to be natural for youngsters to be rebels or am I worng?
Coming to think of it, I have broken all traditions. I was born and grew up in small towns of Karnataka. I must have been either 14 or 15 when I started questioning everything. I must say, my high school teacher M N Shadakshari was greatly responsible for setting me on the path of questioning every premise and presumption. Reading some great authors such as Kuvempu,UR Anathamurthy and later on Bertrand Russell made me realize that morality and religion have nothing do with each other. Slowly and surely, I realized that I was incapable of praying and worship. And by the time I graduated and moved out of my parents home, I had totally given up on religion and god. Since then, I have lived a rationalist life without ever feeling a need for either religion or god in my life.
One thing that made me think a lot about was what one of the delegates ( I think it was Ramesh) said. He said something like (not exactly the same words) - "we tend to compromise some times on our rationalism, with the fear of hurting sentiments of others. We should not. No change can be brought about in the society with out hurting sentiments." And I am sure I have hurt many a people in my quest for rationalism. To all those, including my parents, I say - I am sorry, but I had no choice and it is my life anyway.
And finally, I really enjoyed listening to so many delegates speak passionately about rationality. And to listen to them putting their views across in Kannada was really great. I felt as if my spirit of independence was rekindled.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Mankuthimmana Kagga and rationality!
I am sure for Kannada literature loving people, there is no need of an introduction to DVG's epic Mankuthimmana Kagga, which is often called 'kannadada Bhagavadgeethe'. I have enjoyed reading Kagga thoroughly and many times loudly as well! There is also an English translation of it titled Dim Tim's Muses, but kagga is best read in the original Kannada version.
The very first verse of the Kagga is, for me the most intriguing of all, because it seems to throw light on DVG's deep understanding of life and analysis of it from a rational stand point. Here is the verse that I am talking about.
Sri vishu is the the beginning, the end and reason of existence of the universe, the god head, the master and so do believe people with out being able to even see that (aavudanu kaanadoda - with out an iota of proof) and believe they do with all the devotion (malthi means bhakthi)..to that supernatural miracle (loose translation of vichitra) you bow down your head..mankuthimma!!
Two expressions are of great interest to me - aavudanu kaanadoda which I interpret as 'not having any proof' and vichitra, which I guess is unbelievable and magical or almost irrational. I could be wrong. But, never the less, it is such a beautiful expression. All I can say is, DVG is just too brilliant with his thoughts and with his words.
For those who have not read the Kagga, I strongly recommend it. Read it and read it loudly. I bet you will enjoy it.
The very first verse of the Kagga is, for me the most intriguing of all, because it seems to throw light on DVG's deep understanding of life and analysis of it from a rational stand point. Here is the verse that I am talking about.
Sri vishu is the the beginning, the end and reason of existence of the universe, the god head, the master and so do believe people with out being able to even see that (aavudanu kaanadoda - with out an iota of proof) and believe they do with all the devotion (malthi means bhakthi)..to that supernatural miracle (loose translation of vichitra) you bow down your head..mankuthimma!!
Two expressions are of great interest to me - aavudanu kaanadoda which I interpret as 'not having any proof' and vichitra, which I guess is unbelievable and magical or almost irrational. I could be wrong. But, never the less, it is such a beautiful expression. All I can say is, DVG is just too brilliant with his thoughts and with his words.
For those who have not read the Kagga, I strongly recommend it. Read it and read it loudly. I bet you will enjoy it.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Astrology - fortune lying!
Other day my sister called me up to let me know that her daughter, my niece, had found a job. For obvious reasons I was very happy. And it was her dream job as well, being related to her area of interest. Everyone in the family was delighted and wished her the very best! There was yet another reason for me to be overjoyed on this happy occasion and that is going to be the subject of this blog entry.
A few weeks before, my parents being orthodox and having faith in astrology, had consulted a guru with my niece's horoscope. Looking at the horoscope and after doing all the celestial calculations, the guru had spoken. According to him, my niece had no chance what so ever of landing a job in 2009! I think this astrologer must be cursing him self for making such 'precise' prediction, rather than making some ambiguous harmless indisputable statements such as 'good times will come, you will find a job after a little struggle' as most of the seasoned professional astrologers do! And my niece finding a job and a dream job at that, and there by proving her horoscope and the astrologer wrong was in deed a double joy for me!
Most certainly, I did not really need any proof and I would obviously have not changed my opinion about astrology even if this prediction about my niece not getting job in 2009 had come true! Astrology and various other similar so called fortune telling (or lying) systems have been debunked before. How can the planets or the time of birth or place of birth or even random lines on your hand decide or provide an indication of your future!? There are a number of people who will say 'it is true, I have experienced it my self', but they are just anecdotal and purely coincidental! There is no scientific and verifiable proof and hence it is to be taken just for it's entertainment value and nothing more. I rest my case!
A few weeks before, my parents being orthodox and having faith in astrology, had consulted a guru with my niece's horoscope. Looking at the horoscope and after doing all the celestial calculations, the guru had spoken. According to him, my niece had no chance what so ever of landing a job in 2009! I think this astrologer must be cursing him self for making such 'precise' prediction, rather than making some ambiguous harmless indisputable statements such as 'good times will come, you will find a job after a little struggle' as most of the seasoned professional astrologers do! And my niece finding a job and a dream job at that, and there by proving her horoscope and the astrologer wrong was in deed a double joy for me!
Most certainly, I did not really need any proof and I would obviously have not changed my opinion about astrology even if this prediction about my niece not getting job in 2009 had come true! Astrology and various other similar so called fortune telling (or lying) systems have been debunked before. How can the planets or the time of birth or place of birth or even random lines on your hand decide or provide an indication of your future!? There are a number of people who will say 'it is true, I have experienced it my self', but they are just anecdotal and purely coincidental! There is no scientific and verifiable proof and hence it is to be taken just for it's entertainment value and nothing more. I rest my case!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Diwali - festival of pollution
Yet another Diwali has passed us. As I was driving today morning to office, and I start quite early, I could see the havoc caused by the firecrackers. In addition to the normal Indian street squalor, there was debris of the firecrackers strewn all over the place. I just cannot understand what right do we have to treat our roads and environment with such utter callousness? In what scripture is it mentioned that Diwali is to be celebrated in such a way?
According to the authorities, in Delhi there was more air and noise pollution than last year, as people preferred colorful and noisy firecrackers then ever before. Times of India Bangalore edition, dated 19th Oct, reported more than 25 eye injuries caused by firecrackers and quite a few of them resulting in permanent loss of sight. It is very hard to justify what goes on in the name of festival of lights, even if you are overly religious. It is not as if people don't know the problems of air and noise pollution. There have been numerous campaigns and awareness programs driven by NGOs requesting people to celebrate Diwali as festival of just lights. Even the central and state governments have exhorted Indians not to pollute the environment in the name of Diwali festivals. But, as it always happens in India when it comes to good civic sense, it is just ignored. Self pleasure and celebration always prevail over public good.
According to the authorities, in Delhi there was more air and noise pollution than last year, as people preferred colorful and noisy firecrackers then ever before. Times of India Bangalore edition, dated 19th Oct, reported more than 25 eye injuries caused by firecrackers and quite a few of them resulting in permanent loss of sight. It is very hard to justify what goes on in the name of festival of lights, even if you are overly religious. It is not as if people don't know the problems of air and noise pollution. There have been numerous campaigns and awareness programs driven by NGOs requesting people to celebrate Diwali as festival of just lights. Even the central and state governments have exhorted Indians not to pollute the environment in the name of Diwali festivals. But, as it always happens in India when it comes to good civic sense, it is just ignored. Self pleasure and celebration always prevail over public good.
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