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.