Religion and Politics

Why has religion remained a force in the secular world?

(The following is an essay I wrote for the Cambridge Rethink Essay Competition)

At the cusp of an exponential phase of development, humanity grows strongly into the rational world of science and logic, yet the roots of every civilisation lay prominent in our way of thought and society, eventually leading to the concept of religion. What is the reason that every civilisation has and continues to walk the path of religion? And why does this path hold the roots of the scepticism that arises towards the unquestioned belief of God, allowing for the movement of society to the secular ideology?

A child may wonder in their innocence at the seemingly miraculous history of how almost every major culture or civilisation in the world simultaneously or independently developed the concept of religion in some form or the other, with the earliest dating back to nearly 4000 years ago (2000BCE) in ancient India in the Sindh region (more prominently known as the Indus Valley civilisation). Similar examples of Buddhism and Confucianism which both developed around 500BCE show that countries entirely cut off from and unrelated to each other somehow all developed the same concept of a higher divine power. Based on this data, the child in question may ask a reasonable question – are humans instinctively religious?

To answer this, one must identify that the very question has a seemingly powerful flaw. Although the mind is successful in reaching such a conclusion based on the repetition of a pattern seen through centuries of human development, the true concept of the origin of religion is lost in the ignorance of the innocent and curious mind. Ironically, it is this same curiosity which is the innate nature that all humans arrive in this world with, allowing us to conclude that humans are not instinctively religious, but innately curious. Curiosity is the force which allows humans to doubt the nature of their existence and allows them to care enough to find the truth behind it. And this force is the birthplace of both worlds of the rational, logical scientific realm and the world of a supernatural and post-metaphysical thought, ultimately leading to a decision in faith, or fight.

One might wonder what I mean by faith and fight in relation to religion. My belief is, that following the development of a culture, and the formation of a structured religion, people have two choices, either to believe in these stories that captivate the masses, and fight to prove their existence, or simply believe in the story and attribute faith to it, thus allowing it to be a personal matter. A third choice lies in a sceptical viewpoint towards the stories, epics or material which we attribute as religious, and to instead make the decision to believe in complete rationality and material proof. For the sake of simplicity and humour, let us consider everything in between as a state of confusion. While it's easy to put these states of thought into boxes (orthodoxic and atheistic point of view), I urge you to reflect on the fact that all these options have the word 'believe' in them.

Humans believe in stuff. We need something to attribute our strength towards, so that we can make goals and do things that are meaningful to us. Therefore, finally I would like to define religion as a structure or construct of society tailored by individuals to create a better functioning world, providing the meaning and reason to grow and develop, thus serving the same function as curiosity (its parent thought). In addition, I believe secularism is just another road in this path.

As seen in numerous cultures that have walked the path of religion, once the meaning of the revered rituals, religious practices and symbols is convoluted by the passing of time, people begin to question if the methods really work. It is only proper to introduce change. Taking the vague example of a garden to represent our society – The grasses planted a 100 years ago will be long gone, with new species of flowers and plants occupying more space and having different requirements than that of the past. If the requirements are not updated over time, the garden will fall into chaos, with certain species overpowering others. This example, although crude, allows us to see that the society too is an organic structure, that grows and changes over time and must be tended to in modern ways in order to sustain itself. This is a probable explanation of why secularism arises. Thus, the secular world is born, emerging from the rebellious nature of mind, bringing together a world of reason and truth.

Today, we can go as far as saying we live in a dominantly secular world, where religion is declining rapidly and where people have adopted the scientific method in their daily lives, or merely stray away from religion, with reasons of either mistrust or active ignorance. But in the midst of these contrasts of thoughts and the black and white extremes that we see, is it possible that we are losing out on something? That in our rebellion, we are forgetting to accept the knowledge and wisdom that the past centuries offer?

Formally defined, secularism is any movement in society directed away from otherworldliness to life on earth. It is believed to have developed in the early stages of the Renaissance period in Europe and was considered to be an anti-religious movement. Secularistic philosophy provided a universal ethical code for many countries, but proved to hold a major flaw — like the orthodox side of religion, secularism provided strict boundaries of right and wrong, negating any space for abstract or hopeful ideas of the universe. By questioning the ideology of religious folk, it further questioned the identity of many, invoking anger, thus, leading to cultural wars, leaving no scope for wonder.

And this is why despite all these reasons, people still hold onto religion. While religion offers its benefits, it not only provides people with meaning but also plays a major social role in the everyday lives of people. It allows for the creation of a group providing the sought after belonging humans need (like it's been said a million times — we are social animals) but also promotes morality and ethics in numerous cases. Religions such as Hinduism, Confucianism, Jainism, Buddhism and multiple others promote a peaceful way of life, supporting truthfulness, patience, decency, honesty and other virtues which are associated with goodness.

The ideas of religion or secularism both start off with an aim to help humanity live in peace and prosper. To conclude, I would like to offer my interpretation of this paradox of humanism. All questions arise from doubt, doubt fosters curiosity, and curiosity leads to action. It is not whether religion must be followed, or we must adopt secular values, but rather look within to see which ideology will serve us. To connect back to our roots is to connect back to our curiosity — the stem from which all science, all religion, all reason and all thought emerges even today. When one comes to think of it this way, it becomes apparent that these ideas that we separate so proudly are really not so different after all. In fact, in the true essence, they are exactly the same. One may call them two sides of the same coin, but I call them synonyms of the same word – humanity.

A beautiful belief from my religion goes like this – we all arise as drops from the ocean of dharma (the flow of truth) and one day will return to the same ocean. In between we will be born and reborn in unceasing cycles until we fulfil our destiny and duty to the world, and soon become whole again with the ocean. I share this because it shares a unique perspective that no matter which path we walk, our journey converges into the same eternal truth at its end, allowing us to become whole, one with nature, and thus one with this world – the same world we started from.

Free our minds from our anger, and we shall find peace within.