Internet and religion

Various religions ruled this world for many centuries unanimously and without any serious threat or challenge (apart from conflicts between each other). The empire of religion grew as it became more and more organized. As it became organized, it also became very powerful, it associated itself with rulers and legitimized its prosecuting powers. It became so powerful that it was very easy for them to crush any opposition in the name of blasphemy. It became a big enterprise, more like today's cell phone market. As everyone needed this gadget called religion different versions of it became available depending on the time and needs of that particular place. Some survived and some perished as they couldn't compete. Very few philosophies survived who dared to challenge the concept of religion and God. The empire of religion has ruled the world unanimously for so many centuries. But it seems there is one thing that is threatening the empire of religion like no one ever did before, it is not any organization or any new philosophy but it is an open and free information source called the "internet." The Internet is a recent discovery but in the last 20 years or so it has changed the way people collect information and the way they communicate with each other. It has changed the way information is generated and shared. This has provided access to a vast amount of information to almost anyone with an internet connection on any electronic device. Ignorance and lack of access to reliable and verifiable information were the major reasons for the stronghold of all religions on people's minds. People had many questions but no answers and religion easily filled that vacuum by providing them some explanations that people couldn't verify but believed as there was no other alternative.

Today people can get answers to most of their queries by using any search engine on the internet. They can find different views and opinions about any given topic. Readers can choose how much information they want, they are no longer limited to only one-sided views or arguments about any topic. This has challenged the propaganda run by different religions for centuries. Many people with open minds and a lot of questions use the internet as a more reliable source of information. Before it was very difficult to get hold of a book or a person who could provide some reliable information about many questions because of limited resources in many parts of the world but now it is not that difficult to access reliable and verifiable information. I can say these things based on my own personal experience. I started questioning religious practices and concept of god when I was in college, but no one bothered to answer those questions rather I was told that it was wrong and insulting to ask such bad questions. But fortunately, I had access to libraries and I started reading books based on such subjects during my college days. I was lucky to have access to the library and I am glad that I utilized that, but not everyone is that lucky. Those books challenged my beliefs, questioned my faith, and forced me to rethink, they forced me to raise questions even though no one was willing to answer them. I found some of the answers in those books and others during my journey as a scientist. The next level was attained when I came across the phenomenon called the "internet." It gave me access to a lot of information and connected with many individuals. I used to think I was the only one who found many problems with the way religion is practiced but I realized that many are raising these types of questions. The Internet helped me to educate myself without help from anyone. I was able to read a lot and collect a lot of information, some was useful and some wasn't but it was my choice what to accept and what to reject. That information cleared a lot of my doubts and also provided me a platform to share that information with others, this blog is a result of that effort. In this amazing journey on the internet, I also got connected with many people whom I would not have met otherwise. It was a really great experience to interact with them and get to know their views. It enriched my thinking.

I have no doubt that the internet is going to be a major force to challenge the authority of all religions. After realizing its potential and reach all religions are also using the internet as a tool to propagate their faith and many of them are doing it very effectively but at the same time, it has provided a platform to all who always faced threats and intimidation from powerful religious institutes. Religions can't execute people on the internet for blasphemy, and they can't intimidate them like they used to do in the past, this is still not a level playing field, but at least there is a field for others to challenge religion, such a field never existed before. Many people are getting more vocal and assertive with their views against bad customs and rituals from every religion which was not possible without risking their own life just a few decades ago. I am glad to see that slowly but steadily this alternate voice is forcing religion to change its attitude and modify its stance on many issues. I am sure this is just the beginning and we are going to see more tolerant forms of religion in the coming years. Destruction of faith or religion should not be a motto but to make it more tolerant and flexible should be the purpose of challenging it. Religion has to realize that it has to change its intolerant attitude or perish slowly. I am sure it will prefer to change rather than to perish, after all, who would like to destroy such a vast empire built over centuries at the cost of defending a few lines from some ancient books. Thank you internet, for giving us the space to raise our voices.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Why the Internet is slowly strangling religion