Since when did religion become a taboo subject? Especially my religion. The sanatana dharma. Hinduism if you like it that way. My country is and has always been largely populated by people who choose sanatana dharma. So since when did bad mouthing this way of life become the 'in' thing?
I know. I'm an atheist. Most people look at atheism as rejecting everything that has to do with the word 'god'. Religion. They believe is THE biggest thing associated with God.
One could not be farther from truth. I am an atheist. On some unfortunate days, I am an agnostic at best..... but every single day.... I follow the sanatana dharma. The oldest and the most mature compilation of leading ones life. I am a PROUD Hindu.
While I could talk about how religion and god and atheism are separate till the cows come home.... I choose to for now postpone that discussion for later.
My religion accords me the freedom to be an atheist. My walk of life doesn't threaten me with eternal damnation or promise me a certain number of nubile virgins in the afterlife.
Instead.... It tells me stories. Fairytales and grim bloody gory stories. Each charecter object or quest standing in for a metaphor. Stories about the black and the white and the grey. Stories that end differently in each retelling. Stories that have a different hero when looked at differently. Stories that lay down and at the same time give you the freedom to question,pick and choose the ways to lead life.
Such is my religion. All embracing. All loving. All tolerating and above all.... open to change.
A million deities exist. Because this religion is about charecter than the nomenclature. It is about the deed and not the doer. It is about respect accorded to every living and non living objects. It is about gratitude towards those who helped in times of need.
Hence a cow, a tree, a horse, a motorcycle even .... is accorded the elevated status of a diety alongside the others.
This religion is all encompassing. One cannot convert into this religion.... and this is because the sanatana dharma is not a club that preaches exclusivity. One is a Hindu merely by following 'dharma'- Righteousness.
Empathy tolerance peace justice equality generosity hardwork honesty trust and love are the hallmarks of this religion. Anyone can be a Hindu. Nowhere does it talk about 'spreading the word' and nowhere are we required to call the others who tread a different path as 'infidels'.
I have had people argue with me about superstitions. I have had people tell me about godmen. I have had to listen about lame traditions. And the biggest of all.... treatment of women and the caste system.
With them. I do not bother. They bring me down to their level and beat me with their foolishness.
To argue that superstitions and religion are two Venn diagrams that have nothing in common, or to say that cheats and charlatans owe their success to gullible people than to religion or to tell people that interpretation of texts and the texts themselves are two different things or to say that "janmane jaatah shudrah" is what our ancient stories tell us.... is immaturity.
Commenting on one of the world's oldest and most mature relationships is not an easy task.
Especially when confronted with 'secular' people who believe the word secular implies demeaning ones own religion.
Am I an advocate for hinduism? Am I a fanatic? Am I a right wing fundamentalist?
I don't think I am.
A religion as huge as hinduism doesn't need an advocate carrying placards on the roads. It doesn't need someone to kill and maim in its name.
What I do want, is the right for me to be offended when someone speaks ill. What I do want is the right to tell such people to actually understand the metaphors on the stories or better still read the stories first... before they denounce and decry my religion.
What I do want is freedom for me to be able to teach my next generation about my religion and not have them be frowned upon for knowing a 'dead' language or for giving way to a cow on the road while uttering thanks to the species for sustaining us. It might seem silly to you but my kids will grow up being far more respectful of the environment the world and everything in it than you or your kids ever hope to be.
And my religion taught me that.
