Musings on Religion

Religion can be considered as having two aspects, both of which are equally essential to it. These aspects are the spiritual side and the identity side.

The spiritual side of religion is concerned with attaining peace, fulfilment, well-being and enlightenment. To a great extent it is individual-based and individually practiced. The spirituality of religion is on the decline in modern times, and this can be attributed to two factors. One is that religion no longer has a monopoly over, or is the only way to, spiritual well-being. The second is the rise of the identity aspect.

The identity side is concerned with religion as the basis for identity groups and as a social division. It is about the sense of group belonging and identification. Religious identity has been growing in social significance over the past century or so, and this can be largely attributed to religious mobilization.

Based on the spirituality-identity aspects of religion, there are four groups of religious belief:

Group 3 people are the fully religious, those who show both belief in a higher power and identification with a religion or religious group. They regularly conduct their religion’s rituals and worship, and have knowledge of its texts and mythology. This group is reducing in number due to a general decline in religious belief.

Group 2 includes the people who seek spirituality through religion but have little or no identification. They believe in a god or power, but do not imagine it as dictated by religion. They also take different paths to spirituality than those of a particular religion, or combine various religions practices. This group is a recent addition to society; it was almost unheard of at the beginning of the 20th century.

Group 1 is the opposite of Group 2: low spirituality but high identification with their religion. I use the term Jetashosh for these people. This is by far the largest group with a majority of people falling into this category. The Jetashosh do not practice their religion regularly, but in an occasional manner. However their religious identity matters a lot to them. In fact many Jetashosh are atheists in practice who do not want to acknowledge to themselves or to society that they are ‘unbelievers’.

Group 0 consists of the atheists. They do not believe in a ‘god’ and hence have no religious affiliation. This category comprises of several hundred million people and is the fastest growing group of belief. The actual numbers are likely much higher as many atheists prefer not to ‘come out’ due to fear of society.

Atheism comes with many social pressures. Having no religious belief or identity makes it difficult to fit in culturally with society. Society recognizes different religions but often has trouble recognizing ‘no religion’. Atheists are expected to be respectful and tolerant towards religion.

But religion does not reciprocate this respect and tolerance. Rather, it considers atheists ‘unbelievers’ and treats them with disdain. Religion sees atheism as a threat; a decline in religious belief leads to the erosion of religion’s power as a social institution. And atheism is detrimental to the identity (and also the numbers) of religious groups.

Just as religion is associated with morality, atheism is commonly associated with low moral values. A significant fraction of the population believes that belief in a god is necessary to have moral values. But is religion correlated to morality?

Religion does indeed teach morals, and many religious institutions have done immense good for humanity. But there is no relation between an individual’s religious belief and their moral character. Worship and prayer do not constitute morals, and religious identity has even led people to commit inhuman acts. Moral values arise not from religion but from the individual. Religion can at best provide a mechanism for those morals to emerge, and at worst can lead people to commit atrocities.

Although religion is both a positive and negative influence on society, what is uncertain is its truth. The existence of God, the reality of mythology, and the relation between religion and science have long been the subject of debate.

The ultimate question—the cause for the creation of the universe and life—has not yet been answered by science. But religion’s explanation in terms of a god as the Creator is preposterous in and of itself. The overwhelming universality of religion has distorted the relationship between religion and science. The burden of proof should lie on religion to prove the existence of a god, not on science to disprove it. Human beings have fallen for religion’s version—but it is better to acknowledge that the mysteries of the universe are still unknown rather than create an outlandish, far-fetched story for them.