Religion: What Is vs What Ought To Be How can one derive peace from religion when they witness its exploitation right in front of their eyes?

By: Naisargi

We live in a time when finding faith is a luxury. The ideas that seem so obvious and simple at first glance—“don’t lie, don’t steal, treat everyone with respect”—now have abundant layers of meaning. The concept of religion is one of them.  It started with needing a code of conduct to follow in order to survive as a society. Ideally, following this set of moral codes would result in positive reinforcement. But conversely, the idea of a supernatural entity has made many people fearful. Something that was supposed to bring peace is now exploited and grossly misunderstood.

I have spent most of my life in India, a country that prides itself on housing people of multiple religions and faiths. One of the core principles that our country is based on, as stated in the preamble of the Indian Constitution, is secularism. Secularism promises three things: 1) separation of the state from religious institutions, 2) freedom to practice any faith or religion provided you don’t harm anyone, nor do you force them to change their beliefs, and 3) equality amongst all irrespective of their religious title. Such an attractive concept! When I learned about secularism in school, I thought, “Heck yes, sign me up!”

Sadly, as I grew up, I noticed that the ideals of secularism that I had based my value system on were rarely practiced in reality. This realization began when I learned more about the centuries-long fight between Hindus and Muslims in my home country. Until India gained freedom in the 20th century, it was divided into approximately 565 (oh, yes, that many) princely states. They were ruled by royals of various faiths. The norm during that time was that a powerful province would declare war on a less powerful one and whoever won would become the new king or queen. Therefore, historically, there has always been a religious divide in India. When the British colonizers took over India, they targeted this divide to turn Indian citizens against each other, making it easier for the colonizers to take over the country. India gained freedom in 1947. The colonizers left, but not before separating the country into India and Pakistan. This fuelled the flames of religious intolerance, eventually turning a fundamentally tolerant population into an aggressively intolerant one. Though my observations began in India, I gradually realized that this issue of intolerance was prevalent in other cultures as well. 

“It is better not to love, if loving your own people means hating everybody else.”

—Swami Vivekananda 

Every time people start to organize themselves into groups, they form a bias against out-group members. Religious institutions are no exception to this. However, we need to understand that being anti-A does not mean you are pro-B. I have noticed in many arguments that opposing one extreme is perceived as being in favor of the other extreme, especially in situations when you only have two major options (a lot of US citizens may relate to this, considering the presidential election is coming up). When there are only two options, more often than not, they represent two extremes. Extremes never work long-term. It’s like going into a hookup spree after a serious relationship; it dies as a phase. Hopefully, in the grand scheme of things, this system of extremes will break down and we will get a chance to rebuild a more sensible society. 

But you and me, we’re here. We exist right now, amidst this chaos. Believe me when I say that I know. I know it is difficult to keep your distance from the extreme. Doing that leads you outside the majority. You have to write blogs, speeches, and scripts in order to explain your position. The strictness of religious doctrine against doubt compels us to give in to this pre-decided set of values, be it a religion or a person that you blindly trust. It is difficult to take a step back and take advantage of the good parts of religion—believe in an entity greater than yourself in order to stabilize yourself when you feel like you are losing your sanity. How do you practice religion in its truest sense, open yourself to it, or derive peace from it when you can see it being exploited in front of your eyes?

I do not know. This stark contrast between the values that we are taught as children and those we learn as adults—I do not know how to comprehend, process, or react to it. As an individual, you have the choice of constructing your own value system or following a school of thought that you think will work for you. You can always imagine Sisyphus happy. At the same time, being an individual automatically makes you a member of society. And as a part of this less-than-ideal society, you are tainted by the religion you are born with. You can decide whether or not to practice it or identify with it. But in order to bring change in society, you have to look the devil in the eye. You have to understand the concept of religions to its core in order to dismantle the problematic aspects of it. And that, my friends, is not an easy journey.

We have faced these dilemmas for decades, if not centuries. I began writing this article hoping to provide you with a ray of hope. But honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I do not have an answer to the very complex question I have posed in this article—“how can one remain faithful when everything around them is attacking their beliefs?” In a hopeless attempt to make up for my lack of answers, I will leave you with two lines of a song that I love from an indie Indian band. These lines portray how we could be doing everything we ought to be, yet end up in tears. 

“Raat hindole pe baitha ek / Banda rota jhul gaya

Padhli aaj kuraan magar main / Aayaton ko bhul gaya”

Translation (as poetic as I can make it):

“Sitting on a swing at night one / Guy swayed on crying

Did today’s reading of the Quran* but I / Forgot the verses I prayed”

“Badshah in Jail” by Indian Ocean

*The Quran is the religious text central to the Islamic religion.