The Divine tragedy - Is religion losing its influence in the world?
By Kewal Ahluwalia
As the world becomes less ritualistic, with technological
marvels replacing the mysteries of ancient rituals, religion could slowly be
losing its allure. A Gallup
poll shows that the world has become less religious. A
small survey about Indians done by the Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism
has found that Indians are losing faith in religion. In 2005, 87 per cent of those polled were
believers; in 2013, it fell to 81 per cent. But even with this small
drop India is rather high on
the religiosity index, with only three per cent calling themselves “atheist”
against 47 per cent in China,
30 per cent in France and 29
per cent in Japan.
But the number of unbelievers is climbing. Though the exact
numbers of temples in India
are unknown. In a country of 638,000 villages, 5,000 towns and 400 metros
108,000 temples are on record and more and more are cropping up not only in
India but all over the world. It has to be significantly higher. Swaminarian
temples for their grandeur and architecture have
become a tourist attraction rather than a religious place. India has more
than 300,000 mosques and over 16,000 churches as counted. That does not include
Gurdwaras and other places of worship catering for other beliefs.
In India and in other countries most Hindu temples accrue
significant wealth and have billions of dollars worth of wealth donated by
devotees like gold and other precious objects and that has been the focus of
the foreigner who have formed organizations such as Hare Krishana which has
nothing to do with religion but is a front to take advantage of the tax free
cash flow and channel the money to other causes such as Christianity.
Considering the statistics, one would guess religion is
king. Apparently not. The number of unbelievers in the world itself
is up by 13 per cent. A previous poll revealed that 16 per cent of the world’s
population is non-religious. Religion is divine government. Faith doesn’t have
parameters. The opinion poll also records that those who call themselves
non-religious are not necessarily without faith—they believe in some God or the
other.
The Chinese top the atheist charts. Communism triumphed over
Confucius, only 14 per cent are religious. Americans seem to be giving up on
religion as well. In 2005, 73 per cent
were believers while in 2012 the number dropped to 60 per cent. In Pakistan, where
the Taliban is knocking on the door 84 per cent are religious. Only 74 per cent
of Muslims globally consider themselves religious, while 82 per cent of Hindus
do, though the numbers would be overwhelming. Strangely where woman are jailed
for driving, 25 per cent of Saudis do not believe in God.
Anxiety, desire for joy, or a fear of death rather than a
pure love of the truth drives the Christian belief in God. This is true of
other religions as well. The world is full of despair: thousands are getting
blown to bits by suicide bombers. Civil wars are raging through continents.
Epidemics are challenging modern science: 30 million have died of AIDS since
its beginning. India
tops the world murder list. Over 7,200 children are raped every year in the
country. Dishonesty and corruption prevail in politics and sport and is big
business. There are only two subsequent consequences to wavering faith—turn to
God or turn your back on Him. As man loses faith in mankind, he loses faith in
the power of rituals to save.
Original concept from Times of India June 1st
Om Tat Sat
(My
humble Thankfulness to Sri Kewal Ahluwalia ji
and Times of India for the
collection)
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