Problems with Religion


Power corrupts, History divides, Religion consumes and the Shrewd thrive.

Religion has consumed humanity and has turned humans against humans. However, religion was supposed to protect and to promote humanity and therefore many are even of the view that religion as we see today and religion which is being followed today, isn’t religion in the real sense it is in fact a highly distorted and a highly radical form of it and thus it is not the ‘religion’ that is creating problems but the misinterpretation of religion by the people.

The above stated safeguard of religion is an acceptable one and to great an extent we can blame humans for radicalizing religion, which in its true sense is much an innocent concept whose mere object is to promote and to uplift humans and humanity. Thus the fundamental problem is not with ‘Religion’ but with psyche of human beings which has been unable to absorb and imbibe religion in its true form but in a highly adulterated form.

I, on personal and on logical grounds, deny accepting the above stated defense of religion. My denial is an outcome of the following two logical points which completely shatter the above stated defense. These two points are:

1.      Blaming humans for being unable to comprehend the true meaning of religion and being unable to digest/imbibe religion in its true form is wrong. 

Let us consider a simple example to understand how.

When chemists and scientists invent (I am not sure if ‘invent’ is the right term) medicines or upgrade an already existing one, they in their process make sure that the medicine would cope up with the anomalies of a normal human body.

Now imagine what would happen if they simply start inventing new medicines and they just leave it on human bodies to cope up with the anomalies of their medicine.
Let us now replace doctors/chemists with God/messengers, who brought this medicine of religion in the world.

Since they were gods/messengers they were supposed to have knowledge and an understanding of humans and therefore their creation (religion) should have been durable, consumable and fitting to the humans and their society (can be equated to the human body).

We do not blame the human body for being unable to digest the medicine; we instead blame the doctor for creating such a medicine which is not fit for human consumption. Hence, we shouldn’t blame humans for not comprehending religion in its true sense but should blame gods and messengers for creating such an inconsumable version of religion.

2.      It is wrong to say that religions do not promote violence and war. And violence to religion has been added on by humans.

To those who say that religions and religious texts do not promote war and violence, it must be pointed out that almost all major religions and the respective religious texts have episodes of war and violence. Be it a war at Karbala or that of Rama against Ravan.

Religious texts do talk of an inevitable war of good against evil and of gods against demons. They do talk of annihilating those who stand against our unity and our salvation. Even Prophet Mohammad went on a war and even Lord Rama went on war.

Today, all the religious tensions and atrocities are but an extension of those wars which have been talked of in the holy texts. Be it by the ISIS or by the Al Qaeda. 

At this point, religion may be defended by saying that those wars were good and those wars were just while today’s wars are neither just nor good and such wars are neither discussed nor supported in religious texts. But those who defend religion by such a stand, they probably fail to realize the absence of a Judge who would tell us what is right and what is not because what is right for one may not be right for another person but that does not makes either of the two wrong. They both are right but in their own ways. And since there is no judge to tell which right is a greater right and which right should be pursued, there will always be extremities of action, division of opinions and conflicts.

Thus, it is but naïve and conservative to say that religions and religious texts neither talk of war nor promotes it.


Knowledge of such and so many defects that prevail in religion as an institution and which makes religion vulnerable to misuse, has made me quite skeptical of the entire concept of religion and has sent me searching for alternatives and replacements to this universal concept of religion.

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