Problems associated with "blind faith"

"Faith" has been always a very interesting subject for me. Mostly, "faith" in a general sense is used to describe religious beleifs of a person or group. People can have faith in anything without verifying the truthfulness of that thing. Faith is an emotion and like other emotions and can manifest in various forms and it can play a major role in developing the personality of many of us. For many people, their 'faith' is an integral part of the day to day life. It helps them in many ways and for many it has become a necessary thing for their survival, it offers them the reasons for their existence. Like many other emotions faith also is being heavily commercialized emotion and there are various products in the market of faith to fulfill various needs of people who are interested in faith and its related aspects. Religion is one of the oldest and the most popular product which is ruling the market of faith for the longest time. Faith helps people to get over many difficult situations and offers some answers to many of their questions. Whether these answers are true or false, logical or illogical is not a matter of concern for all those who put all their faith in those answers. So it seems that this phenomenon called 'faith' can do wonders in some cases. We can see many people doing admirable social work or philanthropic work inspired by their faith. This is all good and desirable side of faith, but at the same time we can also see people killing innocents in the name of their faith. This is another extreme where people are so blinded by their faith that they don't hesitate to engage in heinous and gruesome acts.

Why do people react so differently while following the same faith? Why some are extremely kind and some extremely violent, but they both claim to have faith in the same ideology? What makes some perform extreme noble acts and some take the path of gruesome violence while claiming to follow the same faith? One can only say that maybe the problem lies in the inherent blindness associated with faith. Any product used without knowing about all its effects and side effects is bound to produce undesirable side effects. Some of its side effects can be bad or even fatal and this is the main reason why blind faith in holy books or religions produces such an extreme response exposing the good as well as bad side of the human behavior. Someone might argue that faith is always blind, as whenever people put their faith in something they generally don't question it. Maybe this was true in the past but in today's world we are trained to question everything, and we should question as many things as possible, including our faith. Questioning is the only way to move forward, inquiry is the first step in the direction of solving any puzzle or problem, no matter how complicated it is. If any faith or discipline forbids questioning beyond a certain point, then it means that it doesn't have answers to those questions, and the worst part is, it doesn't even want to seek answers to those questions. This attitude is the main reason for the inherent blindness associated with faith. Any discipline or religion that can allow questioning can cultivate what I call a 'rational or logical faith,' which is exactly the opposite of 'blind faith.' The difference between 'rational faith' and 'blind faith' is that in one case people believe in something by recognizing the fact that their beliefs can be questioned, and challenged and there can be some problems associated with that which they should try to resolve. This system is much less dangerous than the system which commands 'blind faith' in anything.

I don't have to go into more detail to describe the problems we are facing today because of blind faith in today's world, issue of terrorism is just one of them. Many of these problems can be resolved or at least their impact can be minimized if people from the same 'faith system' take the initiative to reform their faith to stop such a blatant misuse of their faith. Emotions like faith are here to stay, as humans we cannot get rid of these things as they play the role of support system for many, but we all can definitely work to make these things better and I think the time has come where we all need to challenge the system of 'blind faith,' no matter which discipline or which religion. We need to challenge it as misuse of this system has the potential to harm entire humanity.

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

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

Dangers of being a "fan"

Let me start this post by mentioning that I know how it feels to be a fan of someone as I was also one such fan. I am not just talking about some casual fan or admirer who just likes someone and is not crazy about them, but about a 'die-hard' fan, for whom their idols are above everything. These fans have blind faith in their idols, just like a religious devotee. According to them their idols are perfect and can do nothing wrong. Such fans worship people who they adore and can do anything for them. I was one such die-hard fan of two very celebrated artists from India, actor Amitabh Bachchan, and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. I adored them so much that no matter what I tried to watch each and every movie in which they contributed anything, also tried to read whatever I could about their work and their lives. At the same time, I disliked anything written against them, I despised anyone who said anything even remotely criticizing them, and I hated and tried to criticize or demean any competitor who posed any challenge to their position. According to me, they were the best, no one was even close to them, there was no doubt in my mind that these two people were legends and no one could replace them ever. When I look back today I realize how stupid and ignorant I was at that time. This is why I totally understand the behavior of many ardent followers or fans of any political leader or artist. I don't get annoyed, frustrated, or angry at these people as I understand their situation and only hope that they come out of that mental state soon.

It is not a very desirable situation to be a fanatic fan of anyone. Rather, it is a very dangerous situation because as a fan, you tend to shut your logic and rationale completely when you deal with anything related to your idol. Fan's opinions about their own idols or people who talk or compete against their idols are devoid of any logic and rationale. To take my own example, I admired Amitabh and Lata so much that I hated their competitors without even watching or evaluating their work. For me, Amitabh was the ultimate hero, the one and the only angry young man and no one came even close to him. I disliked movies of Anil Kapoor who was an upcoming star at that time only because he was threatening the position of Amitabh as an angry young man. Similarly, I also disliked the songs of Anuradha Paudwal who was again an upcoming singer with the help of the music company T-series without even considering the merits and demerits of her performance just because she was getting more popular than Lata. I didn't care that these other artists also had an equal right to display their talent and compete for that top space. I was just angry with them because they challenged my idols and according to me, it was the biggest crime anyone could do.

Any celebrity loves to have as many fans as possible. These fans create the buzz and euphoria about that celebrity. These celebrities get fame, money, and great careers because of their fans, but as fans, we don't get much except the joy of watching someone perform. It is not a bad thing at all to like some actor, politician, or any other person and learn good things from them. It is not bad to read about them or try to follow their work and opinions. As humans, we are bound to have certain likes and dislikes. But to take that like or dislike to a level where there is no scope for any discussion or debate is what differentiates a die-hard fan from the rest of the admirers. Today also I like Amitabh and Lata Mangeshkar, I love to watch and listen to them, but I am not a die-hard fan of them or anyone now. I know that someone will replace these artists today or tomorrow. I understand that there are people who are as good or may be better than them. I don't get angry if anyone starts to criticize them or point out some flaws in their performance or says anything bad about them. I am very glad that I came out of my "fan mode" sooner than I expected. I wish all the fans behave with some sense and logic whenever their dear idol is criticized or defeated. It is natural to feel disappointed, but our outrage should also be expressed appropriately. If you support any particular political party, then please remember that other political groups also have an equal right to propagate their views. If you support any political leader or any artist then please remember that as a public figure, these people are open to criticism from anyone. Please don't react like a fanatic if anyone says anything about your dear idol. If possible, please don't become a die-hard fan of anyone, believe me, you won't regret it.

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

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

Science is NOT my religion

I have written quite a few posts about science and religion. I know some people who call science their religion, and whereas I do understand their intention behind saying this, I don't subscribe to that idea, for me it is very clear that science is NOT my religion. I say so because of one basic fundamental difference, religion demands total surrender and requires complete faith (blind faith), it allows questions but only to a certain limit and there are certain areas in almost all religions that are unquestionable and their authority is considered as supreme, but science has none of these things. Science is not my faith, I don't believe anything that comes from that field blindly, I need data to accept or reject anything no matter who is the scientist behind that theory or experiment. This basic difference is the key to understanding why both of these disciplines are poles apart from each other.

So, when someone says that science is their religion, they might mean that they believe in science in the same way people believe in religion. But then there is one basic problem in this argument, science does not demand any belief or faith, rather it teaches us to be skeptical about everything. One of the basic requisites for being a good scientist is the ability to question things around us and challenge well-established facts to test if they are still right or if we need to update them. There is nothing in science that demands any belief or surrender, experiments and data collected from those experiments supersede any rules or theories. Anything can be proven right or wrong by experimental evidence. Scientists don't believe in the validity of one of the most famous scientific equations, E=MC2, just because a great scientist like Albert Einstein proposed it, they accepted it because it was proven to be true by experimental data. The same is true for theories proposed by Newton, Galileo, or any other scientist of any era. Certain statements or theories might get some recognition in the beginning just because some famous or successful scientist proposed it but eventually, it has to pass the test of experimental validity. Someone needs to produce the data to prove or disprove them and this can be done by anyone without being threatened or heckled by supporters of that theory. Any such effort where a certain theory is proven right or wrong by experimental evidence is welcomed by the entire scientific community, even students of the scientist whose theory is proven wrong welcome any such effort as it improves their knowledge. This is the basic reason why there is no enmity between different branches of science. There is competition between various branches but at the same time, there is a vast amount of inter-disciplinary collaborations.

Challenging well-established theories, questioning hypotheses, and demanding data to prove any claim are some of the basic things that people learn in science but it is exactly the opposite in religion where one is taught to accept the supremacy of some entity and then asked to follow certain book (or set of books). Questioning is highly restricted and often sensitivities of followers of that religion get hurt if anyone questions their beliefs beyond a certain point. At the same time, there is tremendous tension between various religions. Human history is full of gory violent incidents because of communal conflicts between two or more religions. I do understand the need to have religion for many people, as many of us need some emotional support and religion acts as a pillar of strength for many. Maybe science partly does that job for me as it answers many questions that I get from time to time. Actually, science is a very useful tool for me to navigate through my life but nothing more than that, it can never become a religion for me just because I don't agree with the way religion is practiced in today's world. Even today religion fails to come any close to science as far as openness and tolerance are concerned. Because of this tolerance which I learned during my training as a scientist, I don't mind people questioning whatever I say or write, they have the freedom and right to do that. My sensitivities and beliefs are my problem, and people don't have to worry about them while questioning me or criticizing me. That is why I can categorically say that science is not my religion.

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

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

Asaram Bapu devotee syndrome

The title of today's blog proposes a new syndrome. I named this syndrome to explain people's reactions during my discussions related to one recent incident in India, the arrest of self-styled Godman Asaram Bapu for rape and sexual harassment charges (he is one of many who are in this business of selling spirituality, religion, and God). Some of his devotees protested against his arrest and demanded his immediate release. I think they did this because they all sincerely believe that their guru or God (most of them consider him God or incarnation of God) is wrongly framed for this crime. They also believe he is actually innocent and that is why he should be released immediately. Some of them might even believe that as a God or incarnation of God, he is entitled to do whatever he wants and laws framed for common people don't apply to him. They also expect police and others should show some respect to their guru because of his godly nature. Many of my friends and family members criticized this attitude of these devotees, they were particularly surprised that even after knowing what type of crime Asaram did all these people are still supporting him. They also asked the question that how come these people are following him so blindly that they cannot see his obvious mistakes or crimes. 

I agree with them that whatever Asaram did was disgusting and criminal and he should be punished by law for his crimes. I also agree with them that many of Asaram's devotees are behaving like devotees and because of that they are not willing to listen to anything against their guru or even not willing to accept the reality that is right there in front of their eyes. Despite all the evidence and proof, they all chose to turn a blind eye to everything and continue their devotion and worship of their guru, this is why the name Asaram Bapu devotee syndrome (ABDS). Actually, one can put any famous controversial name with a huge fan following, I just use this name because of I thought about it after Asaram's arrest. But, when I discussed with many people that this syndrome is more or less present in everyone who is a devotee of any sect, religion, God cult movement, or person; as usual, they disagreed with me. They all think that their devotion has logic, it is rational and reasonable, but Asaram's devotees are morons. Now, we can call this an anti-ABDS, in this condition, people feel whatever they do is legitimate, thoughtful, and rational but if similar things are done by others then they are foolish, irrational, or thoughtless.

This type of behavior is very common everywhere in the world. Many people think that their beliefs, their God, their scriptures, their gurus, and their leaders are all great, pious, legitimate, authentic, and above any criticism, no one should criticize them or even question them. Whatever their God did was all need of that time and legitimate (ABDS) but at the same time they don't hesitate to question others' scriptures, criticize other's beliefs, make fun of them, object to similar actions of others' gods, gurus or leaders (anti-ABDS). Many times, both symptoms are displayed by the same person or group. Actually, we all become victims of these syndromes sometime in our lives. I try hard not to become a victim of both these syndromes, but you never know, it is not easy, so we need to be careful. When I offer criticism about anything (even if it's constructive criticism), I have to be ready to receive criticism directed toward me and my views, this is what I try to follow on my blog. Any counter-view or other side of the story is always welcomed as long as it's related to the topic. Blind faith in anything is dangerous, and we need to challenge it and question it, but we should also remember that when we question others, they have the right to question us, and we should be prepared to answer those questions if they are related to the subject of discussion. Only such healthy debates, discussions, and confrontations will induce any desirable change, there is no better option than this.

Devotees of Asaram are wrong in supporting him even after knowing about his crime. Their demand to release him is irrational and illegal, but these devotees are the product of the same system which has created millions of other devotees who behave similarly. Devotees who are ready to kill their fellow citizens in communal riots to protect their religion and are ready to justify any action or statement of their beloved leader. The only difference is that some devotees believe in something that happened thousands of years ago and some place their faith in something current, but both don't see anything wrong with their idol because they all think their idol is divine. Asaram's followers also think that he is divine and can not do anything wrong or maybe even worse they might be thinking whatever he did was not wrong at all, as a divine person he is entitled to behave in whatever way he wants, after all, he is a god. This attitude is a result of the same system that makes people believe that our idols or leaders are above everything and can not be questioned. This system is equally at fault along with the devotees who follow anything blindly. Let's fight with this system and then these types of devotees with irrational demands and attitudes will automatically disappear. This behavior is similar to crazy fans of some celebrities who display a similar attitude. I also like many artists or writers, but none of them I worship or follow blindly. ABDS and anti-ABDS are not different they are different sides of the same coin, let's get rid of that coin itself. Praise or criticize someone or something based on merit, not based on who they are or what is their status in society. Be aware of both of these syndromes, because many who are suffering from these don't even know that they are affected by them.

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. Asaram Bapu raped teen, aides helped organise the crime, says police

2. Girl has disease that draws her to men: Asaram's lawyer

3. Asaram Bapu supporters want FIR quashed, attack media person

4. Asaram Bapu supporters block tracks