J. Krishnamurti, the renowned Indian philosopher is said to have remarked,” Man invented God out of Fear & Despair”! The relationship between our Creator and Man was supposed to be very personal or individual. The Vedas were a direct interaction between Man and his Creator, between Man and forces of Nature! The Upanishads, direct commentaries and treatises on the Vedas, were storehouses of knowledge, discussion and dialogue. The Bhagwad Gita speaks of the INDIVIDUAL and his quest for attaining unification with Paramatma (God). Moses is said to have had direct interaction with God as did Jesus and later Mohammad (through Gabriel). Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak Dev had their revelations directly, individually! Strictly speaking, it is difficult to classify Hinduism in the same league as say Buddhism, Christianity or Islam insofar as its origin cannot be attributed to one single person; nor does it depend on one single book as the source of its authority, as we find in Islam, Christianity or Sikhism.

Organized religions, particularly those based on a single book, turned the concept on its head - Salvation became a social/ group/ community responsibility and the strong/ powerful could always twist things to their advantage, in connivance with clergy. In the Bible, was it not Cain who, after killing Abel asked God,” Am I my brother’s keeper,”? Bible also refers to Aaron, older brother of Moses who was anointed as a priest; soon after Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God, Aaron crafted an idol for the Jews to worship, much to the annoyance of Moses (and God)! The Abrahamic God, unfortunately, is easily displeased and wreaks vengeance on those who annoy Him! The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) was the first major attempt of Organized Religion to come between Man & his Creator by introducing censorship – Clergy decided what would constitute the Official Version of the Story of Christ and what was to be hidden/ banned! The so-called dark ages began in Europe about AD 500 and lasted for around 500 years. The cause of the dark ages was the rejection of reason – barbarians (Huns, Goths, Bulgars, Vandals, etc) destroying stored knowledge and the church outlawed reason as the means to knowledge, to be replaced by revelation, which they had the monopoly on. Till 1966, Roman Catholic Church had an official List of Forbidden Books, banned because those were thought to be dangerous to the Faith. Religions (in particular of Abrahamic origin) have had a choking effect on free thinking/ reason. Book based religions developed/ needed a strong priestly class for interpreting the Holy Books and over the years, this led to misuse of authority. The tyranny suffered by Galileo and others of his ilk just goes on to highlight the stranglehold of religion over free thinking or the concept of scientific thinking. This iron-clad grip is visible in the youngest of Abrahamic religions – Islam as well! Mansoor Hallaj was publicly beheaded in year 922 on the banks of River Tigris (Iraq) for his concept of Spirituality. Ahmadis, a sub-sect of Islam are persecuted by hard core Islam for their ‘deviation’ from the book! In fact, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has declared Ahmadis( a reformist movement in Islam) as ‘non-Muslims’!

Whenever rituals ‘associated’ with religion, have taken the upper hand at the cost of spiritual essence, whenever Church/ Pulpit/ Temple/ Rituals became the ONLY ‘official’ route to salvation, the spirit of religion suffered and tyranny thrived. As the ‘Priestly Class” gained monopoly over the right to interpret religion/ religious books, rituals gained primacy. It opened gates for charlatans – from the Pope Alexander VI (with 100 odd illegitimate children) to the Rasputin/ Chandraswamy ilk for misuse of power of religion. A study of various priestly classes reveals that whenever the livelihood of the priestly class got linked to their ‘spirituo-religious’ functioning, religion and the common man have suffered. Over the time, rituals simply took over, at the cost of the real spirit of religion. Sanatan Dharma/ Hinduism became an early victim as the priest class gained undue importance in society. This also led to the social marginalisation/ exploitation of the so-called ‘lower castes’ in society. Buddhism and Jainism were essentially reformist movements, attempting to purge Hinduism of the ‘ritualistic impurities’ that had taken control of the ‘Dharma’, yet, in course of time, both borrowed heavily from Hinduism’s rituals and tantra. This, in turn led to divisions and subdivisions within both dharmas. Christianity and Islam had their Popes, priests and Moulvis with elaborate rituals.

Communism – a godless Religion:
Communism/ Marxism presented itself as a ‘godless socio-political philosophy’ to the world in the 19th century; it tasted power in the twentieth century with wide swaths of land and population coming under its influence. Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the people. Interesting to note that all communist ‘revolutions’ were violent and led to huge massacres within the society. Bolshevik Revolution (1917-1923) is said to have caused 7 to 12 million deaths in Russia, mostly civilians. The Communist revolution in China (1949) was equally violent and brutal. Chairman Mao was candid in admitting that ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’. The lofty ideals and gilt-edged words of Marx and his followers only produced misery for the populations of countries involved. As per certain estimates, the state induced famine of 1932-33 killed about 60L people in USSR. During the Stalin era, over 33L people are estimated to have been killed, mostly in punishments and purges. In China, over 3 Crore people are said to have died of starvation during the Great Leap Forward (1958-62); another 2 Cr are said to have died during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The Communist/ Socialist philosophy produced mostly autocrats and dictators – Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot (Cambodia), Marshal Tito (Yugoslavia), Fidel Castro (Cuba), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) and a host of other names in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Korea and South-East Asia. The Soviet Union started crumbling in 1988 -1991 under the weight of its internal contradictions. Its decline led to the crumbling down of the entire socialist structure in Eastern Europe. China also gave up the Communist ideology in economic sectors in 1990s. Communism backed Dictatorial regimes exist today in a few pockets like North Korea, China, Laos, Vietnam and Cuba only.

Power and the Pulpit:
Power and Religion make a Heady Cocktail. Political power (Kings and rulers) historically found in Clergy a trusted ally; both groups alas were open to manipulation by the other one! Both thrived while supporting each other. Church played a most powerful political role in Europe during medieval times and the Pope claimed the right to depose the Catholic kings of Western Europe. Following the demise of Hazrat Mohammad, the internecine war between his family members and followers of the Caliphs was, in simple terms, a fight for supremacy and power. Power coming from the ‘divine right’ to interpret the book’ has made religion or at least the religious leaders a handmaiden of the corrupt political/ ruling classes. Such people have a Rasputin like grip on the rulers and often egg them towards committing huge crimes against humanity. Sikandar Butshikan (1389-1413 AD) singlehandedly decimated all Hindu/ Buddhist temples in Kashmir at the behest of his ‘godman’, Mir Mohammad Hamadan. The infamous Baba Ram Rahim of Sirsa is ‘cultivated’ by the political class for his clout over votes.

Misuse of religion for political ends is an age-old story, being played out even today. The rise of Ayatollahs in Iran (1979) has impacted the entire world immensely, particularly in the Middle -East, resulting in immense bloodshed. We had the bizarre spectacle of clergy in both Iran and Iraq referring to the same book (Koran) in extolling young boys and girls to sacrifice themselves for sake of the religion. Today, the Shia- Sunni divide led by Iran v/s Saudi rivalry has spilled over to Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and its neighbourhood, all in the name of one-upmanship, cloaked in religious beliefs. Sikhism, barely 300 years old and essentially a reformist movement in Hinduism, has seen the rise of spectre of Khalistan; the ghost of its High Priest Bhindrawale refuses to die almost 4 decades after his violent death. The Khalistan movement was essentially a political ploy to drive a wedge in the society by giving it a religious colour; a move that burnt Punjab for over 2 decades with bloodshed and social divide between Hindus and Sikhs.

Religion as a cause of conflict:
Clash of Religions have caused a high number of wars and immense damage, over the years. Christianity had its Crusades against Islam (1095-1291); dozens of Crusades were fought across Europe for political reasons till well into the 16th century. With disintegration of the Ottoman Empire (1922) and emergence of Israel in 1948, Palestine and Middle East have become the new flash points with ‘Throw the Jews into the sea” slogan raised by the Muslim countries surrounding Israel. As a historian has put it, Jerusalem is a Holy City but its people are not; they have suffered immensely over last 10-12 odd centuries, all in the name of religion!

Islam spread on the strength of the Sword, so proudly described by the High Priest of Jihadi Islam in the Indian Subcontinent –Mohammad Iqbal. In his classic poem Shikwa, he describes the conquests of Africa, Europe & Asia by the armies of Islam and proudly proclaims that before the advent of Islam, nobody knew Allah and people became aware of Him only due to the prowess of Islamic Jihadis. He admits that the warriors of Islam destroyed the Fire Towers of Iran, converted Christian Cathedrals/ Churches into mosques in Europe, crushed the idols of Hindu temples and massacred Kafirs(non-believers), all in the name of Allah! India was divided in the name of Religion in 1947, causing almost 2 million deaths. We are seeing the revival of such regressive mindsets in several parts if the world again. Al-Qaida and ISIS in Middle East and Afghanistan, Boko Haram in Nigeria (now spread to Cameroon, Chad, Mali, and Niger) have been using terror to neutralize what they call ‘anti-Islamic’ forces. The religious fight between Islamists and the Buddhist majority in Myanmar has given rise to Rohingya refugee crisis that has affected even India. Sri Lanka blasts in 2019 created another religious hotspot in Asia. Pakistan has practically decimated its minorities in the last 40 years with notorious Blasphemy Laws in place to harass non-Muslims. India today is seeing the revival of the pre-partition mindset in its Muslim minority; demand for unfettered use of loudspeaker in mosques, right to Namaz on the road, use of Burqa in colleges are manufactured controversies - a deliberate attempt at giving religion a political colour and vice-versa.

Need for reform:
Change is the first characteristic of progress. Innovations of science have transformed our world in the last one century. There is serious need to relook at religion linked practices, thought and behaviour. It took Christianity several centuries to accept that Earth is round and that it moves around the Sun. Martin Luther of Germany (16th century) can be credited at having thrown the first stone at the Mighty Roman Catholic Church that ultimately led to the weakening of its grip on political and social lives. Some of the dogmatic thinking of the Church (in its various avatars and forms) has undergone reform though it continues to hold on to many more including its agenda of ‘reclaiming’ the souls of heretics and non-believers in Church, particularly children of lesser gods like the tribals, the socially supressed and economically weak segments of Indian society (Dalits/ SC/ST/ OBC) etc. In the process Church has decimated indigenous culture, traditions and demography. The price paid by such societies has been brilliantly acknowledged by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

Islamic clergy steadfastly refuses to introspect or accept that the world has changed since Islamic laws were written down in stone in the 6th century. The Islamic Theologists of the Ottoman Empire refused to accept Gutenberg’s printing press (1485) and several thinkers today blame this as the beginning of the decline in fresh thinking in Islam. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was one of the visionary progressive Muslims of 19th century in India who advocated adapting to changing times – he was roundly berated and hounded in his time; religious schools and clerics called for his decapitation. As late as 1986, when a young, educated Muslim Minister Arif Mohammed Khan fought for changes in divorce rules for women, he was physically attacked. In fact, a large number of Islamic seminaries still teach that the Earth is round and moves around the Sun! The dichotomy is bizarre –Islamic Clergy uses telescopes (an invention of modern science) to confirm moonrise before declaring when Eid and yet they refuse to accept what the same telescope reveals about Earth and the Universe! A theology/ society that bans photography, that prohibits travel for unaccompanied ladies, those very clerics are happy to figure in debates on TV – something that did not exist in the 6th century. Islam just refuses to introspect and inculcate a scientific temperament, particularly in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan). Overall, Islamic Ummah remains transfixed in the 6th century mindset and not much can be expected of them. Besides, most of the Muslim countries are autocracies, ruled by kings/ dictators – social reforms are the last thing on their agenda!

Hinduism, in comparison, can be termed as the most ‘catholic’ of religions. For one, it is not based on a single book. There is diversity of thought and practices; questioning concepts has traditionally been encouraged, debate-discussion about religious activities is part of Hindu philosophy. Most important, Hindu thought gives primacy to exploration by the individual, not a group/ herd activity. Over the last several centuries, Hinduism has seen several major reformers – from Adi Shankaracharya in the 9th century, Ramanujacharya in the 11th, to poets of the Bhakti movement (15-16th century), Guru Nanak Dev, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Phule, Narayan Guru & Swami Vivekanand in 19th century, to name a few, all have played an important role in the reform of Hindu community.

As interdependence grows amongst countries, the world is realizing the need for increased tolerance of each other. We can’t have a view that comforts of heaven are reserved for adherents of one religious thought and all others are destined for hell and purgatory. A very positive sign is that the Wahabi mindset of Saudi Arabia and the UAE appears to be cracking as these countries are preparing for transition to an Oil free economy. We need to realize that religion needs to be private, strictly a matter between a man and his maker. The philosophy of the separation of the church/ mosque/ temple/ pulpit from the affairs of civil state needs to be affirmed with acceptance and practice of religious liberty and religious pluralism, including a common law irrespective of religious beliefs to ensure equality in the eyes of law.