By Saeed Qureshi
While
I contend that man can be moral and righteous without being religious, I am in
no way suggesting, that one should abandon practicing religion. Morality,
essentially, is a virtue that is personal and the human beings follow it out of
social or personal obligations or volition.
Let us put it like this, that even
in heathen and secular societies, the people, at the same time, tell lies and
speak truth. Truth is a component of virtue that one believes not because of
religious compulsions or motivation but because it is a positive social value
that is appreciated while its antonym is disliked.
When
we are speaking truthfully, we seldom think we are doing so because the religion
ordained so, but because this was right and commendable to do so. Same mindset
applies to other countless virtues and ethical values that we practice in our
daily lives.
To
be law abiding, to care for others, to be compassionate and considerate, to be
kind and humane, to treat aged and children with kindness, not to steal,
murder, or rape and so on, are
invariably considered as virtues that are cherished and commended equally in the irreligious and the rigidly
religious societies.
The
religious commandments or injunctions if vigorously and earnestly applied during
our social dealings, then of course, we may not err or indulge in immoral and
unethical pursuits either by word of mouth or by our actions and deeds. Yet in
our daily life and in social interactions, we make a mess of the moral codes
ordained by our religions.
Irrespective
whether we believe in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam or any other religion, countless
times we lie, swindle, weigh less, adulterate the foods, and charge more. We do
not keep our promises. We molest, kidnap, speak rough even use abusive jargon,
enter into fratricidal disputes, tamper with out utility services meters, evade
or do not pay our tax in full.
We solicit jobs through bribery or influential contacts;
prefer our relations and friends for jobs or contracts via nude and unabashed
nepotism and so on. We seldom think that all these vices and foul activities and
are forbidden by religions and despised by the society.
Therefore,
whether we are religious or not, we demonstrate outward social behavior without
keeping in mind all the time that these are do’s or don’ts contained in the
religious codes. If we still persist in good behavior as well as bad behavior
then certainly we are simultaneously complying and breaching the tenets of the
religion.
The claim or argument that religion fosters absolute morality would
look convincing if we can divide the human race into two clear sections, one
being wholly moral because of being religious and the other being entirely
immoral because of being irreligious. We know we cannot draw out such clear-cut
distinctions.
If
morality were entirely exclusive to religions then the human generations
existing before the advent of religious eras would have been immoral. In the
prehistoric ages when there was no ownership of land or property, the communities
would be knit into bonds of fraternity, work together, equitably divide their
food and resources, and share each other pains and pleasures. Those generations
might be believing in spirits, demons and souls but certainly, they were not
the adherents of traditional religions that sprang later.
Even
the wicked Pharaoh admonishes Prophet Abraham for falsifying his real
relationship with Sara, who was his wife but he faked her as his sister. In
this episode, the conduct of the heathen Pharaoh looks more moral as compared
to the religious apostle Abraham. If we accept the plea or ruse of Abraham as the
need of the hour, then we are tainting or bending the inviolable religious
canons with regard to the virtue of truth.
The
core aim and underlying purpose of any religion is absolute morality and piety.
In addition, it connects the creation that is human being with the creator that
is almighty God. In religion, there cannot be any compromise or modifications
on the belief in a super human power or God. Nevertheless, when the faith
pertains to the affairs of the societies or mutual interactions, the laws and
traditions of the religion mingle with the mundane laws of the society and thus
the people follow both of these.
The
Christian Orthodox Church is succumbing to the pressures and imperatives of the
modern societies to the extent that it now permits marriages for nuns and priest.
Of late, it has conceded to the use of condoms and even gay and same sex marriages.
Beyond the cardinal belief in God, the religions flourish and remain vibrant on
the strength of their customs and rituals, which are vigorously practiced. The
faithful relish, cherish, and draw bliss and spiritual elevation by observing
these countless religious chores that become an integral part of our social milieu.
They
feel that their bond of obedience with God is strengthened and the reverence
for the messengers is reinforced. The examples are Hindus converging on the
river Ganges every year and celebrating various festivals like Holli and Krishna
Janamashtami. Muslims celebrate religious days, pray, fast and perform pilgrimage.
The Jews go to Jerusalem and Roman Catholics go to Rome.
Every
religion has a pantheon of deities, an array of rituals and an assortment of customs
and innumerable taboos and shibboleths. In Christianity, there is a vast
plethora of symbols that are dutifully performed during the service. Some of
these are use of candles and rosaries, images of saints, chants ,incantations prayer books, incense, holy water, long robes,
everlasting light before the alters, serving of bread, the special architecture
of the church buildings and so on. As stated above, In Hinduism, there are
countless deities as symbols of various powers, the river Ganges as purifier of
sins, the temples, and the sacred books: Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads and Purana.
In
Jewish faith, there are countless symbols such as tabernacle, Star of David,
the holy books Torah and Talmud, Sabbath, festivals and circumcision and so on.
In Islam, the mosque, the minarets, the curved sword, the green color, the holy
house of God in Mecca, the sacrifice, the two sacred festivities: one after the
fasting and another on the eve of pilgrimage. The list is long. I shall leave
other smaller religions that are immersed in a sea of customs and rituals.
Arguably,
while these customs and traditions are fervently and zealously followed by all
the religions, yet this does not stop them from killing each other and occupying
each other’s lands and enslaving them. In history and even in present times, there
have been horrendous ethnic cleansing of the adherents of one religion by the
followers of the other religion such as between Jews and Christianity and Christianity
and Islam, Hindus and Muslims, Jews and Muslims etc.
Simultaneously,
the religious and secular, or irreligious societies profess principles, precepts,
and laws that are intrinsically moralistic. However, at the same time morality
could be variously interpreted and is relative in case of each society. In permissive
yet religious societies as in the West and the Far East, such pastimes as nightlife,
clubs, drinking and dancing are integral part of the social life. In dogmatic
Islamic countries, these social features are sins to be liable for harsh punishments.
Yet
in these glamorous and socially open societies, people respect each other, give
charities to the poor and downtrodden, take maximum care of the toddlers and
young children, and maintain nursing homes for the old people. They behave
politely and respectfully to each other. Any discrimination based on color,
ethnicity religion or gender is unlawful. Although, these and similar other
values are preached by religions, yet these are manifestly practiced in
religiously liberal societies. It means it is the culture or the law that
enforces these good traits. That eliminates the difference between being
religious and non-religious in order to be socially moral.
The
citizens of these religiously tolerant countries obey the civic rules, seldom
taint the food, or tamper with their meters. Their agitations and protests
rallies are orderly and peaceful. They maintain environmental cleanliness and respect
the rights of their neighbors. They are by and large peaceful and allow
religious freedom for all believers. Such societies are havens of civic
comforts and facilities.
These
are moral and human manifestations of such societies, which accord scant or customary
regard to religion. Nevertheless, they believe and practice the well-established
principles of morality, ethics, and good conduct. These serve their people well
and manifest good governance for the welfare of their people.
Temperamentally
humans when born, possess inbuilt good or bad traits with varying degrees.
These traits are not influenced by external factors and remain as the unalterable
part of one’s personality till the last breath. These may be suppressed under
peculiar conditions or circumstances but can never be eroded or rooted out from
the body. As such socially and temperamentally, some people tend to be highly
moral, less moral or conversely highly immoral or less immoral. A miser and greedy
man can never be generous, a brave person cannot turn coward and a cruel person
would be devoid of compassion, a timid would not be outspoken and an introvert
not to become an extrovert, et al.
Humans
tend to be hypocritical in posing as moral and religious by exhorting others to
be good while they would be wicked themselves. The religious clerics, clergy
and preachers though preach moral values, do not offer practical examples by
their own conduct. They ask others to be frugal and simple, while they themselves
gloat in wealth and lead lavish lives. They crusade against the moral evils and goad
reverence for God. Yet they exploit their adherents by using wrath and pleasure
of God. Many of them work as touts of the respective government .They are known
for hoarding money and eve caught in heinous rape of minors.
Such
a sermonized morality looks to be sham and mere humbug. As morality is
ingrained and very personal to an individual, my accent is on social and individual
moralities and not political. In politics, morality is nonexistent as the
interests of state supersede the moral contours set by religious movements and
gospels as well as the traditional social or individual morality. For this
reason an absolute religious government is hard to work for a longer period of
time. Secondly the religious doctrines and tenets are meant for a specific period
of human societies and become outdated and collide with the emerging conditions
in subsequent times.
In simple words, the societies are dynamic and
evolutionary while the religions are static. Thirdly
morality is a universal virtue and is not subservient exclusively to the religion.
Fourth, we have seen that the religious societies get infested with divisions, factionalism,
power struggle and disharmony because of irreconcilable sectarianism.
