TROUBLED TIMES

A WIDE CANVAS

TROUBLED TIMES

We live in troubled times- times when both body and mind are subject to endless, unidentified troubles from every quarter. It is so bad, considering that we are supposed to be so advanced in almost all spheres. And it is so sad, considering that this need not be so- the solution is so simple, but humanity has lost faith in simplicity. It seems to relish its troubles, for they make money for someone, and make the GDP grow!

In earlier times, when we had some worldly problems, religion offered solace, if not solution. Today, religions themselves are in trouble and have become the source of trouble. Muslims are fighting among themselves and other people in every country where they are present. The Catholic church is soaked in corruption and the misbehaviour and sexual deviation and misdemeanour of its clergy. The evangelical crusaders are fooling the people, promising everyone practically everything, if only they would close their eyes and have 'faith'. Unfortunately, even the normally  non-violent Buddhists of some orders are turning violent, though this is in self-defence, provoked by conversion efforts of Muslims and Christians.

People placed faith in science to solve our problems and turn the earth into a paradise, but every advance in science marks  a step closer to global catastrophe, and uncertainty. All science ends in nihilism- where everything loses its meaning, purpose and value-including human existence.

 People believed in political organisation and economic reform but these have become the resorts of scoundrels. Every day brings news of more politicians joining the ranks of knaves and rascals, who swindle their own people.

Yet, it is religion which still offers us any hope of relief from our troubles- not by a miraculous cure or end to all problems, but by teaching us how to avoid these troubles in the first place, and then how to cope with them when they come. But the way religions are preached, and practised by its adherents are not such as to inspire confidence, and more and more people are drifting away from organised religion. While Christianity is under attack in the West, they are aggressively pursuing conversion in Asia and Africa. They are ridiculing other religions, while they themselves are vilified in their own land! Apart from vilification, serious thinkers have pointed out the limitations of their sacred books, their theology and seriously undermined the confidence of thinking people in the soundness of Christianity. On the one hand, they are getting kicked by the Muslims; on another, educated people leave the Church in the lurch; but they themselves are busy destroying the faith of other people in their native religion. 

This poses a serious problem for a genuine student of comparative religion. (All religions are NOT equal, and they need not be, since each one arose to meet specific historical needs of different societies. But this need not blind us to the truth contained in them. This is how we understand comparative religion- not to compare them and judge and rank them.) If we study the scriptures  of the major religions, we can discover a core truth which is simple but which has been distorted by the followers- especially the clergy in organised Christianity. It is only in the Quran that we come across open hatred for other people, and open advocacy of violence as the authorised means to convert or kill them.The Muslims have taken this literally. The Quran preaches political theology- the two cannot be separated.  The Christians too have indulged in terrible violence both among themselves and against other people- as when they destroyed millions of native people in America in the name of their God and Christ. But it was not in terms of anything written in their scripture- it was due to the ambition and greed of the adventurers , their kings and Popes who, like the Devil, quoted the scripture to justify their ends.With education, most Westerners today would not approve of such conduct. It is the narrow minded, or mindless and begotted clergy and their fanatic followers and leaders ( Pope is the chief among them) who still believe in organised conversion. 

We should distinguish the core value of the religion from the theology developed by the Church hierarchy. The core value is contained in the teachings of Christ, which any one can understand. But theology prevents direct understanding, as it substitutes human cunning for the Truth. There are as many theologies as groups, and they keep fighting each other. The two world wars were fought mainly among Christians themselves!

There is a way of understanding a religion without theology. Religion basically teaches one how to treat oneself and how to relate to the world. If you believe, as Christians are supposed to believe, that you are made in the image of God, can you afford to make yourself base? Or inhuman? Can you do anything below your dignity? So, all our ideas of basic morality and decency flow from this one idea- that man is made in the image of God. Can one then be mean to another? or cheat or kill another? This again is the basis of how we relate to others: how can society function if the neighbour cannot be trusted in respect of one's wealth or wife? So, we see the justification for the Ten Commandments- especially its negative ones: 

Thou shalt Not-

• murder
• commit adultery
• steal
• bear false witness
• covet (neighbour's house, wife, servants, animals,etc)

Moses breaking the tables with the Commandments he first received from God.

Rembrandt. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

One need not be a Jew or Christian to believe and observe them. These form the core of ethics in all religions- what we call common dharma or plain morality. And one does not become a true Jew or Christian merely by joining a Church or attending a Synagogue if these Commandments are not kept. These are universal values and are common to all religions (except Islam). These are the basis of what any decent person will understand as 'Virtue', and at the base of what we call 'culture', no matter where one lives, what he eats, how he dresses,and what language he speaks. This is the basis of our humanity.

And there is a basis for even this. Why should we be honest or nice with our neighbour?  First because, anything else is less than our nature as in the image of God! And second,because we expect him to be nice to us, be honest with us! Mosaic law prescribed:"Whatever is hurtful to you, do not do to any other person."  Jesus put it in his own words in the Sermon on the Mount:

All things whatever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them , for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

 Matthew,7.12. See also Luke  6.81

These words are important:"this sums up the Law and the Prophets".  Jesus is laying this down as the basis of all religious law and tradition(practice).

This is naturally famous as the "golden rule". If we think deeply, we understand that this is the basis of the core of the pre-Christian, Eastern 'Dharma' based religions: the Law of Karma! It goes a step further: you should be good to others for what you do to others will come back to you ie in the end , what you do to others, you do to yourself. For the Self is one! This is the practical ethics of Vedanta.

The point is, once we give up looking at a religion through its theology and clergy-inspired interpretation,( which is convoluted jargon) we can appreciate its core values and essential ideas. These are usually misinterpreted by the loony fringe and fanatic followers and advocates in course of time. But there have always been well-meaning advocates who have at all times focused on the core values and interpreted them ably . In the last century, G.K.Chesterton and C.S.Lewis did this in respect of Christianity. We should turn to such writers for a clear understanding, and not to the mainstream clergy. 

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, in 1909.
By Ernest Herbert Mills. National Portraits Gallery.
His 1908 book 'Orthodoxy' is an excellent example of religious apologetics, in the context of modern doubts. It steers clear of organised theology, and shows religion as arising from and meeting an essential human need, a part indeed of human nature. Though written from the Christian angle, the general arguments hold for all religions, except perhaps Islam.

Today, when decency and faith are under attack all over the world, there is need for people to assert their basic religious values, and not mere denominational affiliations. This was the message C.S.Lewis conveyed through his broadcasts during World War II, later on developed in his book "Mere Christianity". It explained the common areas shared by all Christian denominations based on some 7 core values which really formed the foundation of Western Civilisation:

Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude- these Lewis called the 'cardinal virtues'. Three others: Faith, Hope, Charity, he called theological.


We can clearly see that these form the core of all decent religions and can unite all mankind, if sections of it will only give up their ambitions of global hegemony! How I wish someone comes up with a book like "Mere Religion"! (No theology, please!)

C.S.Lewis
Illustration:  Dave Stevenson
Photo:Norman Parkinson/Corbis
Shared publicly 8 May 2013
http:://www.cslewis.com. Acknowledged with gratitude.
Chesterton was first an Anglican, then became a Catholic, while Lewis was Anglican.

Note:

Theological disputes are rampant among Hindu sects too even today, as also philosophical hair-splitting and vain arguments in endless circles. However, we have the words and works of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo to guide us. Thank God, we need no theology or philosophical verbal garbage. And we have modern writers like Rajiv Malhotra to bring us to our senses.