42

Religion is quite a belligerent field, from the irrationally attention-mongering moral police of the Hindu extremists to the anti-western jihadists waging a crusade against modern civilisation. Throughout history, it has been the single most cause, and effect, in some of the cases, of brutal and utterly inhuman driver of mass destruction. From the mediaeval crusades against the Arabs, the Inquisition, witch-hunts till the holocaust and even today's religious fundamentalism, religion has made a very deep impact on human society. No other cause has had so many to die for, no other cause killed so many, and I'm sure no other cause has motivated man to do this much for this long. But what I don't understand is, is it all worth it? What do you stand to gain by killing someone who doesn't believe in the same God as you do? Why do we have this insufferable urge to make people believe that we are right, no matter how assailable we sound?
These questions don't really have an answer apart from the fact that man is a self-important, self-righteous, egregious brute who can't stand the thought that he, mind you, not she, but he, is not the centre of the universe, not the apple of God's eye, not the reason the universe itself was created, no matter how resoundingly rational, reasonable and indisputable the proof for such a proposition sounds. He is charged by his God, it is completely irrelevant whether such an entity exists or not, to cleanse the world of people who don't deprecate themselves in an attempt to please the Holy Lord who shall grant boons and reward only those who grovel under His feet and immolate themselves everyday in the name of virtuous living only sustained by a promise of eternal bliss in the distant future while the rest are condemned to eternal damnation through fire and brimstone in the deep flaming bowels of hell even though He loves us all unconditionally.
As I sit and contrive that particular ridiculously long sentence, I marvel at the inconsistency of organised religion, the scriptures that urge you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good, so that you may be the martyr of an obscure cause palpated only by more obscure catechisms lost in translation and misinterpretation for thousands of years. Metaphorical expressions are pettily quoted out of context, in most cases, literally, that end up with almost no water-tight vindication, the one answer given is He can do anything and a view that such an idea is controvertible is utterly blasphemous. Why is there such rigidity? Why can't we even think about the possibility that we might be wrong about how the universe works? After all, we were more wrong in issues much smaller in scale in the past, there is no reason why human intelligence should be infallible in this case alone. There surely must exist a reason more that just your rock solid conviction that you're right and he's wrong, before you kill somebody because he follows a different faith.
Is having a concrete view on religion that really necessary to win the approval of God, if he really exists? We have no way of knowing whether He exists or not, we have no way of knowing even if He cares about what we do, even if He exists, and here we are, fighting over His favour, snivelling under his Feet, killing millions over a mere argument over how our universe actually works. Should we really pray to Him and His scriptures to win his approval? What would happen if we don't? Will He get angry because you don't fawn over Him? If He really is that petty, He doesn't deserve all the attention, if He's as magnanimous as the scriptures quote, He doesn't want all the attention. Either way, organised religion is futile, it is inconsequential whether you have a religious view or not. Even if it is not so, how qualified are we to make an assessment? How does every Tom, Dick and Harry have a religious view, something that explains how the world works, when only few hundred years back the very same people were burning other people alive on the stake for suggesting, "Hey, how would it be if the Earth were not flat, but actually spherical?", with more proof for asserting the claim than all proof that all religions can muster up to back their claim.
So the next time someone asks me what my religious views are, I shall ask them what they feel about Bosonic String Theory and whether they really believe that a tachyon exists or not. So perhaps, if everyone believed, really, really believed, that it does, may be, just may be the universe might unravel and reveal all it's twenty six dimensions to those who do, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I shall acknowledge the power of belief over the truth when that happens. Till, then, no one is entitled to an opinion over how the universe works for we're no less ignorant than any munch-happy cow that ruminates in my college over life, the universe and everything and the significance of the number 42, among other things, while at the same time, complacently sitting about, strategically blocking my way through the shortest route to my class. One can opine only when they have the faintest idea, while we try to figure that out, try not to kill anyone on your way to eternal bliss.