Religions have tamed man in the wild. But they have also misguided men. No questions were raised, for religions were treated as sacred.
In this article, I’ll take up two such cases where they have misguided their followers—One Hindu, the other Semitic. The Hindus, on their part, have made two great mistakes:
1) the caste system and 2) neglect of State and society.
It is the claim of Christianity that it is a great religion. It too has made two serious errors: 1) By accepting the genesis as a veritable truth, although it has been dismissed as a fairy tale by the best minds of the West. And (2) it gave its blessings to African slave trade, the genocide of the Red Indians and the Jews, the burning of those who disagree—all these caused the greatest damage to humanity.
But let us begin at the start.
What is it that became an outlook of life? The answer to this question is to be found in the answer to another question: what is the purpose of life? There can be two answers to this question: 1) To make life on earth happier. This is the Chinese position. 2) The other purpose of life is to prepare oneself for life beyond death.
The Hindus are a highly speculative people. So they explored the universe to know more about God and man and the meaning of life. The Hindu was so involved in this quest that he forgot his life on earth. He said that life was a mere sojourn on earth. This became the outlook of the Hindu. With what result? Life on earth became secondary and they neglected the State and society.
What of the Semitic faiths? They have done the greatest damage to humanity and brought upon themselves ridicule. The tragedy of the Semitic faiths is that they cannot give up their errors with inviting total rejection of their faith. What is more, they will not be able to hold on to many of their pet dogmas, which is why the “New Age” movement in America rejected the Judeo-Christian traditions.
The Chinese, the practical people that they are, were neither interested in the universe nor in the mysteries of life and death. They too asked the question: what is it that we can expect from life? They said: a happier life. This became the Chinese outlook on life. So the Chinese give the greatest importance to society and State, for the State alone could ensure a happier life.
I am, however, more concerned here with the consequences of our beliefs. Neglect of life led to neglect of States and neglect of State led to foreign invasion and subjection to alien peoples.
Just think of it: India produced the first and greatest political scientist and military strategist—Kautilya. But no other Kautilya was born in this country, while China produced dozens of political and military experts. Why? Because Hindu outlook had already changed. The boisterous Aryan had become a recluse, preoccupied with death.
But what is one to make of the fate of man in the Semitic tradition? Here, God created Adam and Eve, but refused to part with knowledge to the couple. Did he want them to live like other animals in the Garden? But Adam ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge and brought upon himself and his progeny sin for ever. Adam was cursed by God to live by the sweat of his brow and Eve in pain for ever.
Then, again, look at the absurdity of “one life” in an eternity! The Semitic faiths say that a man is born only once in the world. The rest of the eternity he will live either in hell fire or in heaven.
Dear Reader, what kind of justice is this: That a man should burn in hell fire for eternity for the common offences he made in life! The very idea of a hell run by God is repugnant to our sense of justice. It is simply barbaric. And yet there are illiterate Hindus and others who condemn Manu for his harsh punishments!
Dear Reader, the purpose of the makers of the Semitic religions and their churches was to gain control of men through terror. Recall the Inquisition! It is said that it perfected torture into an art! But a religion which is designed to terrorise men into submission is no religion.
