Let's Call the Bluff Please

A lot has been seen, said and heard about the "cartoon" controversy. Some, like Suhail has, have taken stances of trying to place blame on both the sides. Some are the liberals and some side with the right to be "offended". Today I stumbled upon this article "The Silence of Liberal Muslims" by Vir Sanghvi. A very good point made here is this

It is instructive that the agitation against the Danish cartoons began three months after their publication. In many cases - dare one say, in nearly every case? - the outrage is manufactured by religious and political leaders who whip a frenzy among ignorant followers. Let's stick with The Satanic Verses. Ayatollah Khomeini placed the fatwa on Salman Rushdie's head only because he heard about demonstrations in the Indian subcontinent. He never read the book and nor did any of his assassins.

I couldn't agree more. To extend this argument a bit further if one takes a look at the MF Husain Saraswati paintings controversy it took not just months but years for the sensibilities of Hindus to be offended. And that too when nothing less than Hindu temples themselves have examples of sculptures of nude gods and goddesses. Look here for an example. * And god forbid if Mr Husain had painted a picture of what is described in the above link and which I quote below..

The women having problems with their puberty, menses, conceiving and child-birth take vow to worship Lajja-gowri with all dedication they can command. as part of this ritual they apply butter and kumkum and sometimes lick the yoni of the idol.

That would probably have been enough to ask for his head instead of just vandalism. So the point I am trying to make is that freedom of speech/expression should be absolute. Anybody (Suhail you are included here I guess :) ) who accepts that the cartoonists should have resisted from "provocation" should rethink. A protest today could turn into a murder tomorrow. Almost always there is no spontaneous perception of offence to religious sentiment. As we can see from the Saraswati painting case even in cases when a religious notion is really not offended, political forces or so called guardians of religion (even when they do not understand it fully) will make sure that they try and gain mileage from the incident. Please deny them a safe passage by calling their bluff.

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And while we are on cartoons depicting gods, take a look at the "Cahlo Lanka" animation on this page. Well the saffron brigade might find it offending, what with the crotch grabbing dance ala Michael Jackson :), but my take is that since Hanuman is supposed to be single and not ready to mingle it is but natural that he takes it on himselves to grab it every once in a while :)) (And I am not gonna apologise for saying this :))

*BTW Kamat's Potpourri is one heck of a site. Lots of content on ancient India.

Burn those holy books and save those lives.

This post by Adam Bosworth resonates pretty much with my views on religion. I have been a non-believer pretty much since my childhood. I remember incidents when my elders around me would threaten me "if you do X, god will punish you". As a curious kid I tried certain taboo things waiting for the wrath of god to break loose on me. Fortuantely that never happened :) That was the beginning of my journey against the flow. I have had countless number of arguments with my mother ever since. She hasn't given up and still feels that I will someday see the light. But all this is a digression into my personal life...what I really want to discuss is what is wrong with religion?

The public aspect of religion is very concerning. Religion has been effectively used as a garb for countless killings mostly for political, fascist and imperial reasons. The Christian crusades, Islamic jihads, 1984 anti-Sikh and Babri masjids riots closer to home, Al Qaeda, Ku Klux Klan, Bajrang Dal, Hamas are all shameful and unfortunate examples of these. However, it is arguable that in some cases this is mostly because men have misled others and mis-followed others and religion has just been "used" in the process. However, if one takes a closer look at the scriptures one can find the roots of why religion renders itself to be used so. There are inflamatory writings in the "holy books" which though not highlighted are enough for zealots. Refer "Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H Smith for some examples of the same in the Bible.

I had long held a view that public practice of religion is wrong but private tolerable. However, now I believe that private practice is also harmful for a person. The concept of sin is central to most religions and it is something that can only breed guilt and take away a person's self esteem if subscribed to. It has a numbing effect on the senses and decision making of a person. In the book "A World of Fatwas", Arun Shourie has put forward actual cases where people ask for advice from Islamic clerics about phenomenoly trivial aspects of their personal lives. I do not have the book handy right now so I will post examples later. A related argument that surfaces when this point of interference in trivialities of life is brought up is that some religions are a "way of life". In my opinion the only way of life is the law of the country you are in. Ignoring slow and dumb legislators, it atleast has a mechanism for change. With religion as ways of life one is bound by so called holy texts written, uttered by some individual in a completely different social context.

The above brings us to - how can one discourage the practice of religion? Inspite of the -ve psychological effects I have seen people who manage to lead seemingly balanced and happy lives. You will always find people around you, seemingly rational, analytically very smart, good at heart but when it comes to religion, still hanging on to the lies. There seems to be healthy reconciliation of science and religion in their minds even though such reconciliation is logically flawed. I wonder why? If these so-called educated and rational people do not get out of it who will. I urge all such people to re-think and take a look at history. The world that we inhabit has evolved through various ages which have consistently seen the power of religion decline. Most advanced nations today have legal systems that differ from religion as a way of life*. Througout history people have stood up for the sake of science and truth challenging religion-backed beliefs. This achievement of our ancestors is not a small one. Several people have paid with their lives for it. It is up to all of us to denounce religion and limit its effects on the generations to come.

*Unfortunately in India the law is still not common to all with religion specific if statements abounding in the law.

Burn that bra and save those breasts!!

Linking bras to breast cancer. Findings are striking even though preliminary. You might also want to read this article.