Ethical Deficit in Religion

 

Ethical Deficit in Religion

Dr M. D. Thomas

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Religion is a universal phenomenon. It is a significant reality inthe lives of the humans on the whole. It existed, exists and will exist all over the world in some form or other. It is subject to undergo change under a variety of circumstances. Well, it has to keep changing according to place and times, lest it goes irrelevant and futile.

It is often said that God created human beings and human beings created religion. All the same, God is mostly the central component in religion, in all religions for that matter, although the degree of God-talk in them may vary. At any rate, human beings are definitely the beneficiaries of the religious engagement.

The word ‘religion’ derives from the Latin root ‘religare’ or ‘religio’, meaning ‘to bind, to bind or fasten together and to tie fast’. It would also mean ‘obligation, bond, reverence’, and the like. Even though religion reflects much of the sense that emerges from the root words, religions smack of several negativities that are characteristic of the temporal world, blatantly so.

Religion is a large and complex system of beliefs, myths, stories, theological theories, stipulations, rituals and other observances. It motivates the respective believers to engage with them on a regular basis. No wonder, illiterate and poor people become all the more victims of superstitions and blind beliefs that are profusely found in religions.

Custodians of the religious systemsare accustomed to domesticate the believers in such a way that the followers become addicted to the religious observances. The believers tend to or are forced to contribute to the custodians by way of gold, silver, cash and kind, in the name of the deity in question, too. The guardians are obviously the beneficiaries of the political and economic engagement.

More often than not, religion and faith are synonymously used. Religion has faith as its essence. But faith is not strictly bound by the stipulations of religion. Religion cannot exist without faith. Faith can exist even outside the purview of religion. Religion is closely knit as very much a self-contained system. Faith is open-ended, inclusive, interactive and qualitative in its character.

At any rate, ethics is the core of religion. In other words, the best part of religion is its ethical values. But for ethical values religion amounts to be an idiotic system of blind beliefs and silly practices. The ethical values are supposed to motivate and elevate its subscribers to a higher morale of life. In principle, the religious provisions are oriented to boost up the ethical fibre of the believers, as well.

But, in point of fact, religion often appears to do a reverse and contradictory job. Religion seems to have been part of all the major and minor wars of the world, in some form or other. When it has not instigated or supported it, it has been at least a passive spectator. A lot of misunderstandings, tensions, conflicts and enmities of the world have religion as a culprit or solicitor, as well.

Besides, lots of criminals and offenders seem to perform a lot of religious rituals or make huge contributions to religious centres and persons. Ethical behaviour seems to be far from most people who scrupulously perform religious rites. In other words, the religious observances often do not produce the intended human quality. Human goodness and religious practices do not seem to have a necessary connection, as well.

Besides, it is not difficult to find villains and scoundrels among those who are professed to be religionists. In other words, there are lots of irreligious and inhuman persons within the layers of the religious system. A considerable number of evil people are very regular to places of worship, especially before they engage in their evil ways, like murder or rape as well as inhuman behaviours.

Even among those who are on the higher ranks of religion, there is a lot of ill feeling, hatred, jealousy, manipulation, rivalry, discrimination, injustice, violation of rights, and the like, in high doses. One would tend to doubt whether they have a conscience at all. When the curators of religion and those who pretend to be highly religious behave in worldly ways, it is nothing but a Himalayan scandal. 

Religion is professed to be the custodian of all that is good in the world. But unfortunately, it is not difficult to see that it accommodates even the worst of the evils of the world. While preaching values on the top of the voice, it fails to live them, miserably so. Disagreement between theory and practice remains the biggest problem in religion.

There are lots of structured evils flourishing in civilizations and communities for ages in the name of or in spite of religion, like caste system and gender discrimination. Human sacrifices are done in certain superstitious traditions. Dowry, slavery, apartheid, sexual mutilation, bribery, tax evasion, administrative corruption, and the like, are rampant, too, though in more or less degrees. The fact that religion accommodates such things is an anomaly.

Further, the foul nexus of religion with politics is a matter of grave concern. Religion has always thrived with the patronage of politics, from time immemorial. Politics uses religion like a ladder to climb up the rungs of power. Religion takes the support of politics for its advancement, too. Both together run the show of life, like the dictum ‘I scratch your back, you scratch my back’. In point of fact, the link between religion and politics is distasteful and objectionable.

The play of money and power within the religious systems is worse still. Often, money wins over power and power commands money. Both together can manage anything in life. When the game is played in the name of God, nothing is impossible. While it is true that secular power can degenerate to any level, religious power can corrupt to any extent, too. 

It has to be accepted that there is no hundred percent in this world. Everything is limited. That would make one state that human frailties are to be granted. Even religion is created and managed by fragile human beings. Religion has not to be understood as a perfect system either. No one can practice the ideals and values of religion perfectly well, as well.  

Even so, question arises that how could such a high volume of deficit in ethical values be justified with the foolproof and infallible claims of religion. Why aren’t the highly expensive and ceremonial rituals producing even the minimum ethical effect? The ethical fibre of religion has to be strengthened by all means, lest religion lose its basic credibility or be rendered an eternal scandal.

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The author is Director of Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and has been committed to cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, interfaith relations, social ethics, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for the past nearly 45 years. He pursues the above mission through lectures, articles, books, messages, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, and the like. He could be contacted at ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’.