Religion and Superstition.

I am not here to criticize or blame any religion, but I would like to share my thoughts on superstitions as our new generation is getting more into it, especially our well educated IT generation. This is a question in front of us regarding what we have been studying. People are subject to superstitions since their birth; our society is responsible for it, especially parents, teachers and the media .Another element is the lack of reading; syllabus based education will make a person educated but not wise.

As I already mentioned, it’s not  my intention to blame or criticize any religion, but I would like to walk through some facts about religion as I strongly believe that religion has a major role in superstitions and superstitions are the by-products of religion. There are almost 7 billion people living in this world and they believe in 19 different religions (officially). Every religion has its own rituals and ceremonies; each one has its own justifications and claims that is the “path to God”. Most of these rituals are completely different from each other and some of them are opposites, and they fight on that principle .Isn’t it “Religious fundamentalism”? The concept of religion and God varies based on the geography where people live; a fine example of this is the common characteristics of Semitic religions. I believe behind every religion there is a visible or invisible human role involved. I always think that if religion is true and the aim is humanity and brotherhood, why does religion want to differentiate people based on it? Why do they want to work like an organization or group? Why are they against interfaith marriages?.

Astrology, I am very curious about it as most people are only interested in astrology and they neglect astronomy, which is a real scientific branch dealing with the universe. How can astrology affect only 800 million people on the earth? What about the other 6 billion people? Doesn’t it mean that all of these planets and stars matter only to these 800 million people? Why does it talk about only a few planets and starts in the universe? What happened to other stars and planets with in the universe? Does it have any special skill to differentiate you from your neighbor who believes in a different religion? How can sun become a planet?  We all know that our sun is a burning gas ball that contains hydrogen and helium. We know that the sun neither raises nor sets but that it’s just an illusion because the Earth rotates around the sun. Theories about our solar system are changing every day and now we can’t say that there are 9 planets. We all know there is nothing called sky, it’s just an illusion. We all know about this but still we want to follow it. In India many people are not married or their marriage was got delayed due to this stupid theory, and it’s really sad that only a few people are daring to question it.

Human Gods and Goddess are a new trend in India. I can’t imagine that how people can believe and follow someone who says that they have supernatural powers! Yes, we have the most ancient order of the monks in the world, who dedicated their entire lives for research and human welfare. They were philosophers and completely away from physical life.  What are these guys are doing? They are sitting in air-conditioned rooms, travelling in modern vehicles and enjoying everything available in this world and yet they proclaim themselves as God! It’s really a shame that people are still going to them for blessings. If they are doing charities they should dare to announce that they are social workers, and not God or Goddesses.

I have three slogans in my life,-: peace, humanity and brotherhood and I believe that to follow these I do not need any help of religion and its by-products. We need to get rid of superstitions and promote interfaith marriage, which is the only way to build a humanitarian society.