Religions and Matters Non-Spiritual

What happens when religious institutions get involved in causes and issues that have nothing to do with religion? Like the anti-Wall Street protests in the West? Or the anti-nuclear power plant protests in Tamil Nadu?

Some churches, imams and rabbis supported the ongoing protests against Wall Street and “greedy bankers”. Those who favoured the involvement justified it saying that the underlying theme of the anti-Wall Street protests was equality, charity and justice, the same ideals that religions preach. Then it got messy (like all things in the real world): the Church of England decided to evict the anti-banker protesters camping in front of St.Paul’s Cathedral. Which is when the whispering started that the church was afraid of rubbing the bankers and the rich the wrong way for fear of having funds cut off.

As the protests against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu went on, police charged a bishop and four priests for using a place of worship to organize protests (something not allowed by law). Others questioned why the church needed to be involved on this issue. Was it because most of the protesters were Catholic fishermen, they asked? And why now, others asked? (The agreement to build this reactor was signed during, hold your breath, Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure! And the construction has been going on for years). Was the church protesting because this was a Russian plant? Would they have protested if this were a plant built by a Western (read Christian) nation, ask some on the Net?

There are others who ask what is wrong in religious institutions getting involved in non-religious matters? You can question their motives, they say, but why should they not voice their opinion? I guess it’s their track record that causes so many to question any religious involvement in matters that belong to this world as opposed to the next world. Alan Shore said it perfectly during one of his speeches in Boston Legal:

“When did religion get such a good name, anyway? Be it the Crusades, the Reformation genocides, the “troubles” in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, mass slaughters supposedly in the name of Allah, and then, of course, the obligatory reciprocal retribution. Hundreds of millions of people have died in religious conflicts. Hitler did his business in the name of his Creator. 9/11 was an act of religious extremism. It’s our greatest threat today—a Holy Jihad.”

Comments

  1. KumarDecember 3, 2011 at 4:29 PM

    This debate is an eternal one.

    There certainly seems to be something in the religions that make people believe in them - and then cling to them. How else could anyone explain the continuance of faith of so many major religions extending to centuries and even millenniums? There doesn't seem to be any means to wean people away from religions. It is an addiction of some kind surely! I am sure religions give comfort to people and some direction too.

    At the same time, the unmistakable evil side of the religion (I mean all the religions without exception) is also a reality. In the name of religion, the greatest atrocities have been done in this world. This is as eternal as the religions themselves.

    Therefore, it looks inevitable to me that people will play the religion card, as often as they feel the need to do so. Religion is often a means for asserting people's ego and gaining power. Religious followers need not necessarily be trusted to care either for truth or justice. Many religious followers are incapable of aligning with the eternal values and the universal principles of life. Many atheists and agnostics are better humans than the believers! Many faithfuls are satisfied with low-caliber religion. Though it doesn't mean that high-caliber religion is not there. What one chooses is due to one's own ability. And, what God one visualizes is also entirely based on one's paradigm. And then we start believing "God supports only my religion and surly your religion if invalid etc.", as if God is a favoritism-ridden politician of extraordinary subjective limitation! Nothing can be more absurd than that idea.

    It is perhaps pragmatic to live reasonably in this world of religious influence and conflicts without trying to find a solution to the problems that the religions create. When some problems get solved, some new problems emerge to take their place. This is the "law of constancy of religious problems"!

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