Religion And Reason Cannot Co-Exist

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 25 January 2023 The Overwhelming Tsunami Of Spiralling Religiosity And Ascending Zealotry Has Swept Away Our Rationality And The Fundamental Ethics Of Life ------ "Mere Haathon Ke Tarashe Hue Patthar Ke Sanam/ Aaj Bhagwan Bane Baithe Hain Butkhanon Mein " (The idols I sculpted with my own hands/Have been installed as gods in shrines) In 2016, Yuval Noah Harari visited Bombay to deliver a lecture. After the lecture, a columnist friend of mine, who's now an ex-Muslim, asked Harari, " Can religion and reason co-exist? " Harari, who's a sceptic, replied, " Just the way an imaginary Semitic god cannot live with its own creation Satan, religion and reason also can't live together." He further added that increasing religiosity paves the way for erosion of rationality. It's what we're seeing right now. Religion has hijacked reason. Muslims, whom I used to teach calligraphy, are no longer interested to learn from a Kafir, a complete atheist at that, like me. " Why should an Ilhadi (atheist) touch our Quran? "There's no exaggeration in it. My fanatic Hindu friends have begun to provoke Muslims by saying, Jay Shankar, Jay Shri Ram or Jay Shri Krishna. They insist that Muslims should also say Jay Shri Ram/Jay Shri Krishna or else leave this country. If any reader has any doubt that I'm exaggerating, come to Poona or visit Maharashtra. A couple of days ago, I was at Ahmednagar which's a small town near Poona and pretty infamous for Hindu-Muslim skirmishes. Most of the Hindus in the town use religious benedictions while wishing you and Muslims will not say Namaskar. They also don't say Khuda Hafiz (it's Allah Hafiz) and I, therefore, avoid saying Khuda Hafiz to Sunnis. I saw Muslim youth in skull caps, ankle high trousers, sporting a beard sans moustaches (what a disgusting sight!) and young Tilakdhari Hindus. I went there after 4 years and the palpable changes in people's religiosity surprised me. I was pained to see the blatant display of increasing religiosity and dwindling rationality. Today is Ganesh Jayanti and everywhere in Poona, you can see the Ganesh Pandals and blaring music. Until a couple of years ago, religiosity was not so open and uncouth. Where's reason? It seems to me that moral and ethical behaviour has gone to dogs and religion has taken over. People of all faiths are behaving in a collectively irrational manner. Deluded and absolutely brainless believers believe that Adam, Eve, even that Serpent (it's a phallic symbol, the prototype of Genesis and mark of the beginning of human race; read Umberto Eco's Semiotics; the science of signs and symbols) were dropped on earth by Allah just like a fighter plane drops bombs! Hindus believe that Hanuman, demons, deities, Ravan, among others did exist. The overwhelming tsunami of spiralling religiosity and ascending zealotry has swept away our rationality and the fundamental ethics of life. All these concocted monotheistic and polytheistic gods have de-rationalized (Karl Jaspers' phrase) humans. In my brief piece ' Live life ethically ' in today's Economic Times, I've emphasised that it's not god or religion but your ethical and conscientious behaviour that's of paramount importance. Leave god and religion for Neanderthals. Remember, you're a human, endowed with prudence and Aql-e-Saleem provided by nature. Let me translate Omar Khayyam's Persian quatrain for you, ' Fools believe fools/ Wise admire wise/ Nature has certain rules/ That don't go otherwise. ' True. Fools will continue to believe in absolutely foolish things and unfortunately, they're in a majority. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/religion-reason-coexist/d/128962 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism