Throughout the history of mankind if there has been one factor that has dominated every

society and culture it is mysticism or religion. Cultures which have evolved independently
and separately have nevertheless eerie similarities when it comes to religion. Early
civilizations be it Roman, Greek or the ancient Hindu civilizations; each had their Sun, Rain
and Sea Gods. And directly across the spectrum, we have the 21 st century where religious
beliefs are still as integral a part of life as technology. Strangely enough, no other animal
has this obsession with mysticism, religion and Gods. No other animal performs rituals,
pays tributes or bows its head in obeisance to the Almighty. Then what is it about the
human race and religion? Are we alone gifted with that special connection to the Divine or
is it something else?

Humans are different from animals in the manner they adapt and modify their
surroundings and nature to their need. Ever since humans settled and had some sort of a
secure and stable life, the animals and immediate nature ceased to be a major problem. But
the vagaries of the nature in the form of floods and famines still posed as great a threat as
ever, perhaps even more so as early or late rains destroyed whole crops. So while the
control over the more earthly aspects improved, they still found themselves at the mercy of
the sun and the rain.

So in tune with human nature, they decided they needed more control over the devastating
mood swings of the powers that were. Not knowing how to effectively rein them in, they
did the next best thing. They started appeasing them. Actions which seemed to have
preceded good tidings were repeated and took the form of rituals. As fire was equated with
Sun, things precious to humans were immolated in a bid to appease the Sun God. Similar
offerings in the sea came to be believed to positively affect the rain and water Gods. Every
clan had a head, so obviously the Gods too must have a supreme commander and hence the
Almighty. The concept having being established was extended to all perceivable fields, love,
war, life, death etc. Death in particular seemed an inconvenient and insurmountable barrier
and a life ending at death seemed too trivial and meaningless. Hence, afterlife and rebirth.
After all who wanted to be just mud and ashes after 80 odd years (much lesser at that time)
on Earth. Each of these were logical manifestations of human tendencies, fear of the
unknown, and the desire for an explanation and control. Similarly good men needed to be
differentiated from bad ones and it was quite evident that the time on earth didn’t always
give a fair reward. Thus were born heaven and hell. Antisocial and evil elements after all
had to be reined in.

No civilization has ever professed ignorance about anything. They all knew what the sun
and the moon were, the same about the space and the stars, the place of human beings in
the grand scheme, how the universe came into being and everything else. The countless
stars were thus the countless ancestors looking upon us, the Earth was the centre of
everything, humans were made in the image of God and each civilization was the favorite of
the Almighty. Ignorance was the realm of the likes of scientists like Aryabhatta and Galileo
who floated theories based on their observations and ignorance about the rest. But the
society as such under the auspices of the zealots had answers to every question. Lacking a
rational explanation which could be validated by the five senses, the ingenuity and
creativity of the human mind was put into motion.

Mysticism though added another dimension with the advent of the priests and the kings.
The king was in charge of the earthly matters and the priest divine. The priests especially
were in a tricky situation.. They were supposed to appease the Almighty and to tilt the
weights in the clan's favor. They performed the rituals and the like but things didn’t always
work the way they were supposed to and explanations were sought. They needed to appear
above question and reproach, as possessing all secrets. Thus they resorted to voodoos and
rituals, lofty words and extravagant gestures. No one can question something one doesn’t
understand. Besides anyone with too many questions and doubts was labeled as lacking
faith and as harbinger of bad omen. Thus they were either silenced, made an automatic
convert or disposed away with. Any persistent disaster was seemingly caused by the lack of
faith of the people and thereby more faith was demanded. The trend and the result was
though not wholly negative. The people also needed faith and assurances in these hard
times and the belief that God will make everything better has in fact helped humans sustain
mind and body through many hard times. So a priest aware of the Godly affairs, strong of
the faith and spirit indeed lent belief and sustenance to the group.

The kings meanwhile discovered that earthly affairs too were very arduous to keep in rein.
He had to at all times be the strongest and the smartest or risk being disposed off by a more
capable adversary within or outside the clan or being overthrown by popular opinion in
times of peril. Dependency on just brawn and brains has indeed led to only small reigns.
Besides whether right or wrong, he was answerable to any and everyone on any matter
under the sun. Every wrong decision or unfavorable time spelled doom. Clearly some
important ingredient to longevity of power was missing. The answer was apparent enough
and soon discovered.

The kings were made the direct descendants of the Gods. Their rule was in one stroke made
independent of any ability, for questioning the actions and capabilities of the progenies of
God was surely extreme blasphemy. Loyalty now no longer needed to be earned; it was
made a birthright of the kings. The internal wars of the crown grew largely limited to
warring brothers. When kings died, the throne passed on the sons, whether in their teens,
in infancy or even in the womb. This was surely not based on the future ability of the
prince, it was the divine right to rule that made this possible. The priests and the kings,
owing their power to the same basic tenet, mostly worked in tandem. Important decisions
were seldom made without the advocacy of the high priest.

However to claim that mysticism, worship and divinity was a deliberate scheme concocted
and sustained by successive generations over millennias around the world would be very
naïve. Surely there would have been persons who knew exactly what they were doing and
the implications, positive and negative. But the basic fact is that certain theories and beliefs,
especially those which adhere to the moral requirements of the time, once promulgated
develop a life of their own. Religion has had a fundamental position in every society and it
has served a very essential purpose. When all hope has seemed lost, when people have
found themselves in extreme depravity, some have survived based on their inner steel,
resolve and stubbornness not to give up, but most have survived on prayers, faith and the
belief that God will make everything fine. Kings did not just proclaim their divinity, they
sincerely believed it. Always having been surrounded by fawning courtiers, they can hardly
be blamed for believing in such a convenient concept. Surrounded by seemingly infinite
wealth and power, it was easy to feel divine. Another thing that is underestimated is the
power of repetition. Anything repeated loudly and long enough, if not contradicted equally
strongly, has the potential to become an unquestionable given. In no society have people,
en masse, not believed in God. And that is primarily because since childhood they are
taught unquestioned obeisance and faith and versed in the manners of worship. Logic and
reasoning faculty which can alone guide rational behavior is pronounced limited and futile,
especially in the matters of God. The combinations of societal influence and the strength
and pull of faith ensure that the few atheists that exist never get a substantial following.

In fact, faith is religion’s strongest point. It can never survive unbiased reasoning. Religious
scriptures from Quran and Bible to the Puranas professed concepts that have been
conclusively proven wrong by science. Galileo’s being announced a heretic because the
Church refused to accept that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the other way
round and that Earth was not the centre of the Solar System is just one example. No
religious scripture and all of these supposedly contain the actual word of God, have any
startling revelation which Science of the age was light years away from proving but has
been verified ever since. In fact, most of theories from the Universe being created in 6 days,
to the beginnings of man from Adam and Eve have been as irrevocably refuted as can be.
The fact that still religion commands such an unflinching and unquestioning adherence,
both among the educated and the ignorant, is miraculous. The reason obviously is that the
point that existence here is by random chance and that the roll of the dice plays an
important role in our life is a disturbing concept. Also, law alone can never keep the people
in line. It’s the concept of a universal watchdog in the form of the Almighty that keeps
societies functioning. Humans need an internal moral code to live by. But it demands a lot
of mental effort and understanding to develop it. Religion offers a ready and easy
substitute. The undying faith in scriptures serve fine as long as their teachings are confined
to basic wisdom like good actions, a benevolent and optimistic view of life etc, etc. But it is
when faith is divorced from rationality that the otherwise benevolent chants become
rallying voices for riots and brutality. Also the more any society in the modern era sticks to
an orthodox interpretation of Scriptures the more backward it is. Religious divisions are
also exploited by buccaneers for their own personal gains. Selected paragraphs of
scriptures, hardly relevant in the middle ages when they were written, are conveniently
interpreted in the 21st century to justify the unjustifiable. And faith and rational logic are by
definition opposites. A man’s life can either be governed by one or the other. A supposed
adherence to both can only result in a confused morality and code. For when the religious
sayings go against the rationale of a modern mind, one or the other has to be shelved. While
only a few today are on either side of the bridge of faith and logic, most are in between
some closer to the end of one some closer to the other. But there are also people whose
twisted moral code results in middle of the path actions. Taking India’s problems today,
Uniform Civil Code would be the demand of rationality devoid of religious baggage.
Separate code for each religion would be the requirement of faith. What we have is one
code based on Shariat for the Muslims and another applying to the rest. This has harmed
the Muslim community since economic growth is directly dependent of social growth.
When the laws are archaic and medieval, progress and growth is naturally hindered.
Similarly, Reservations for OBCs, SCs, STs or of any kind, devoid of economic considerations
cannot be defended in any debate. But that has not stopped it from becoming an
unquestionable method of progressive reforms today, never mind that the progress it has
brought in 60 years is abysmal. Even those who earlier demanded it conceded in private
that they never expected it to get actually enacted. But this is not the first time that a
concept has escaped the control of its creators to wreck havoc. Pakistan’s creation was a
case in point. There was no logic; I repeat NO logic in India’s division. Because the supposed
protection of Muslims which was demanded could in no ways be achieved by Pakistan. The
regions of Punjab, Sind and Bengal which became Pakistan already had Muslim majority so
no protection was needed. The regions with minority Muslim representation spread
around India, and which supposedly needed protection stayed with India even after
partition and remained as they were. So the whole concept was inherently flawed. Besides
all Muslim leaders even those within the Muslim League, except Jinnah believed Pakistan’s
creation would only harm the community. Even Jinnah had envisaged Pakistan as a
bargaining point rather than a future reality. But once the clamoring got loud enough, the
concept of Pakistan achieved a momentum of its own, no longer needing a Jinnah to propel
it, or rationalizing voices to justify it. Thus Jinnah, even if he had wanted, could only have
risked going back on the concept at personal obsoleteness.

The point is that most of the ills our society suffers from today is because unbiased rational
logic is not applied to issues. Masses especially respond to catchphrases and slogans.
Divisions based on religion, caste, region etc. still give those with vested interests fertile
terrain to exploit the issues. This all would not have been possible had a strict adherence to
rationality and logic been the norm of the society. But a deeply religious society can by
definition not have rationality as its primary code. This realignment in our moral premises,
en masse, is required. Today we have sacrificed the discipline of humanities on the altars of
science, but coexistence is needed. After all, the last great philosopher who captured India’s
attention was Gandhi. Science is needed for an action oriented society, but actions without
a moral code and inherent philosophy guiding them are untrained arrows equally capable
of good and harm. And this morality needs to stem from rationality rather than faith. There
is an urgent need to stem the decadence and rot in our society today, and scientific
progress can only serve as one leg. A moral awakening based on objective logic must serve
as the other.

But humans are not robots, and a readymade code cannot serve as integral internal beacon.
The guidelines that define our actions and decisions must come from a morality actively
and deliberately arrived at. It must come from rejecting the alternative paths and
ideologies. A tree has to shoot from ground upwards and similarly the code has to be
arrived at after debating the most basic premises. Thus, a questioning and curious
temperament needs to be encouraged. A child needs to be free to question anything and
everything.