DO WE NEED

RELIGION..?
Religion has been known to man since times
immemorial. It is something that is passed on from one
generation to another over a period of time. The main
motive of religion is to provide an ideological path to our
purpose. It helps to bind people with common faith into
one common cord, it teaches us an ethical way of life,
enables us to have self-control and makes us better
people. For e.g. it is prove by various researches that
fasting which is an integral part of Hindu culture enables
one to gain control over their senses and their body in a
better way and helps in purifying them.
People all over the world are sentimentally attached
to their religions and believes and have faith that their
religion is good and they will gain happiness by following
it. There is nothing wrong in it. Thinking that ones
religion and believes are the best builds self-confidence
and harms others in no way. Its only when this believe
crosses a thin line that the problems begin. Now, this thin
line can be understood by considering a common thought
process which goes through the mind of every person at
some point of time.
When all is well the person thinks:
Yes, my religion is good
But when he crosses the line he thinks:

Yes, my religion is good and others

are useless, they should not even exist
It is this crossing the line which creates a rub and we
reach the present scenario where we have organized
misinterpretation and misuse of religion.
This thought block has led to several disastrous
incidents in the past, right from the problem between the
Christians and Jews to the problem between Hindus and
Muslims which continues to be one of the most sensitive
issues of the day. One of the most amazing things about
this line is that it continues to mount frustration inside
oneself and then ultimately explodes into a mass-riot as
was evident in Uttar Pradesh. But if me look at it carefully
and ask ourselves why do we hold religion responsible for
this? What has religion done? We get no answer.
Whatever wrong that happened and that should not have
happened was all because of the mindset of the people. If
they cross the line it is their mind-set which is responsible
but it is sadly given the name of religion for political
purposes. It is this mindset which needs a revision and
how would leaving religion serve the cause?
Suppose we take religion out of the equation
momentarily but you still have that rottening mindset
which will find some point to build frustration amongst us.
The history of the world is filled with examples where
people belonging to the same religion have not lived in
peace e.g. Catholics and Protestants, Shias and Sunnis
[the conflict between them led to the partition of
Pakistan]. By the evidence of history we know that people

have even discriminated on the basis of skin color, even

this led to mass riots and killings. How was religion
responsible for this? It is just a faulty mindset which has
been given the name of religion.
After all, the role of religion in todays round the clock
lifestyle is even more indispensable. If it was not for
Diwali or Holi or Eid or Christmas would we ever be able
to spend time with our families and relatives? If it was not
for the tranquility and peace of a temple would we ever
find a place to reflect upon ourselves? If it was not for
that divine power than would we approach when we are
down and dusted? How would we give a purpose and
ideology to our lives? How would we build our
conscience? How would we understand ourselves and
others well? If there is an alternative other than religion
to these questions then probably we dont need religion
otherwise there should not be any questions raised
regarding the existence or need of religion..