We all need some basic ideas to build our principles and values. We strongly believe that our values and ideals are based on the truth and we base our entire value system on that perceived truth. In reality, the truth can change, and new evidence can counter or even prove them wrong, what is considered true today may not be true tomorrow in light of new evidence. This has happened in the past and may happen in the future too. Only religion can afford to have this rigid attitude and survive, most religions propagate things as eternal truths, things that cannot be questioned, and people believe them without any evidence. The interesting part is that people always want religions other than the one they follow to demonstrate their belief system with evidence but don't expect the same from their own religion. Another funny thing is that all religions claim that they are based on scientific facts without even providing any verifiable evidence about them. However, no matter what any religion says or what our belief system is, we should appreciate the fact that we may never know the real truth. We can only base our judgment on all the evidence and data we have today and be ready to accept new evidence if it counters our current set of values. This approach is what scientists take when they are performing their research, there is a hypothesis, but it may or may not be true based on the data collected after performing related experiments. Rigidity with our values causes polarization, hurt sentiments, and even communal riots. Why? Just because someone feels my belief system is better than someone else's, people kill each other just because of a difference of opinion. Humans are supposed to be intelligent and thinking creatures, and such acts challenge this notion. Whoever claims to know everything is the most ignorant person, no book on this planet has answers to all questions, there are many great books and many more will come, but they all are books, written by some human expressing their ideas or opinions, nothing more. Therefore, please accept the fact that we may never know the truth and be humble and kind. Be amenable to the fact that what we believe so passionately today may be proven wrong. This will be our greatest contribution towards preserving humanity and evolving our species one more step ahead of animals.
Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic.
©Vinay Thakur, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com
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