Are We Obliged To Challenge Religion As Unbelievers?

[singhbj singh]

Are we obliged to challenge religion as unbelievers?

26 May 2014, 10:32

Should unbelievers be actively challenging the religious and their ideas or should we take a more passive approach? Should unbelievers be working as hard as the religious, to promote knowledge over faith, reality over superstition?

Ive been accused all too often of being too open and aggressive with my views on religion and its lack of validity. Often being accused of being Just as bad as the evangelists, pushing my ideas whenever I can.

This is my take on the issue

It is our reasonability as unbelievers to point out the logical fallacies of religion whenever religion is presented or promoted. This should be done with the same vigor as the religious, to give young minds a chance to use all the information available in order to make informed choices. Simply leaving young minds unprotected from relentless religious brainwashing techniques that have been perfected over centuries is not an option, and quite frankly unforgivable.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that rationality demands more brain activity than the irrationality of faith. Religion has a default God did it, all you need is faith position that absolves us of our obligation to engage our brain and think. In fact the idea of surrendering your intellect in favor of faith is seen as a virtue - in my view a stupid idea.

Faith being the easy option, is easy to peddle, especially to the young. Once the belief system is entrenched, it takes a great deal of effort and mental anguish to break these belief systems and replace them with a system based on Knowledge and Logic. In my view it is better to compete with religion as early as primary school level (before indoctrination is successful) if not earlier.

This battle is basically an educational one. Kids need to be taught to be skeptical, to ask questions and to think for themselves. Our education system is far too fact regurgitation orientated and not critical thinking & problem solving orientated, causing students to be vulnerable to accepting false ideas as true, simply because someone in authority said it was.

The idea that religion has special privileges and cannot be questioned is false and students need to be taught that surrendering their decision making to someone or something else is a very dangerous, bad idea.

Its time to level the playing fields presenting all sides of the argument at all times using all the information available to us, so that we can move forward to a sane, rational society, free from superstitious woo woo.

Source - http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Are-we-obliged-to-challenge-religion-as-unbelievers-20140526

[harsharan000]

Religion is a word which comes from the latin word"religare". And this means, that which unites us with our origin....call it God, Lord, Supreme Being....Wahiguru , Akal Purukh or Satnam.

All these terms above refer to a conscious power, which is very well described by Dhan Dhan Guru Sachay Patshah Nanak Dev Maharaj in the Mool Mantar.

So then, what is it that, that unites us with our origin? Religion as stated above, is not a set of rituals, nor ceremonies, nor dogmas or rules of conduct.

Religion, thus is a path to be traveled, or worked upon, by whosoever wants to achieve that goal. Mere words, mere intentions will not do.

Each and everyone for that purpose, has to work for himself / herself.

The Bani beautifully sumarizes, which religion is true, which one unites us with our Wahiguru Akal Purukh:

Sarab Dhharam Mehi Sraesatt Dhharam,Har Ko Naam Jap Niramal Karam.

Of all religions, the best religion,Is to chant the Name of the Lord and maintain pure conduct.

Nanak, Nam jahaz hae.

Jin Har jaapiya, se Har Hoeeya

Our Guru Sahibans, have clearly stated, it is the Simran of Nam, which disentagles our subtle(astral, causal, and pure surtee) bodies from the physical one, through dimensions of different levels of consciousness, and that very Simran, makes possible our union with our objective Wahiguru Akal Purukh.

So religion, is as simple as explained by our Guru Sahibans. But it is we people, who have distorted, twisted and manipulated their teachings, and made a mess, to the extent that we have lost out of our sight, their real meaning, and we are like arrogant zombies, just wanting to create controversies, fight and kill in name of "our religion", "my religion"...when the truth is, our Guru Sahibans just mention Nam Simran as the remedy for all our maladies: Sarab rog ka aukhad Nam.

There is one more thing, mentioned by our Guru Sahibans, not everybody is ready to accept and believe, that is why the term "wadbhagee" is mentioned by them.

bin bhaagaa satsang na paa-ee-ai,

karam milai har naam haree.
Without good destiny, the Sadh Sangat, the True Congregation, is not obtained.
By the grace of one's good karma, the Lord's Name is received.

There may be some more factors which can be brought forward like(karmas, mind, maya, kal), but in the end, everything is in His hands, His will is supreme. And because of that, nobody can be forced to believe something, neither those who believe can not be stopped in doing so.

But in any case, as the Bani says: Bin Navai, nahee kou thau. Without Nam, there is no shore to lean and rest on.

Sat Sree Akal

[singhbj singh]

Religion is a word which comes from the latin word"religare". And this means, that which unites us with our origin....call it God, Lord, Supreme Being....Wahiguru , Akal Purukh or Satnam.

All these terms above refer to a conscious power, which is very well described by Dhan Dhan Guru Sachay Patshah Nanak Dev Maharaj in the Mool Mantar.

So then, what is it that, that unites us with our origin? Religion as stated above, is not a set of rituals, nor ceremonies, nor dogmas or rules of conduct.

Religion, thus is a path to be traveled, or worked upon, by whosoever wants to achieve that goal. Mere words, mere intentions will not do.

Each and everyone for that purpose, has to work for himself / herself.

The Bani beautifully sumarizes, which religion is true, which one unites us with our Wahiguru Akal Purukh:

Sarab Dhharam Mehi Sraesatt Dhharam,Har Ko Naam Jap Niramal Karam.

Of all religions, the best religion,Is to chant the Name of the Lord and maintain pure conduct.

Nanak, Nam jahaz hae.

Jin Har jaapiya, se Har Hoeeya

Our Guru Sahibans, have clearly stated, it is the Simran of Nam, which disentagles our subtle(astrl, causal, and pure surtee) bodies from the physical one, through dimensions of different levels of consciousness, and that very Simran, makes possible our union with our objective Wahiguru Akal Purukh.

So religion, is as simple as explained by our Guru Sahibans. But it is we people, who have distorted, twisted and manipulated their teachings, and made a mess, to the extent that we have lost out of our sight, their real meaning, and we are like arrogant zombies, just wanting to create controversies, fight and kill in name of "our religion", "my religion"...when the truth is, our Guru Sahibans just mention Nam Simran as the remedy for all our maladies: Sarab rog ka aukhad Nam.

There is one more thing, mentioned by our Guru Sahibans, not everybody is ready to accept and believe, that is why the term "wadbhagee" is mentioned by them.

bin bhaagaa satsang na paa-ee-ai,

karam milai har naam haree.

Without good destiny, the Sadh Sangat, the True Congregation, is not obtained.

By the grace of one's good karma, the Lord's Name is received.

There may be some more factors which can be brought forward like(karmas, mind, maya, kal), but in the end, everything is in His hands, His will is supreme. And because of that, nobody can be forced to believe something, neither those who believe can not be stopped in doing so.

But in any case, as the Bani says: Bin Navai, nahee kou thau. Without Nam, there is no shore to lean and rest on.

Sat Sree Akal

Excellent views Harsharan ji

[TjKaur]

Knowledge is paramount in our progression in life and as a society working to better ourselves and humanity. How we obtain knowledge is through questioning that around us. To question our own religion, break it down in our minds and still love and appreciate it arguably produces strong believers. The problem lies in the way in which we ask questions...If we ask questions in a negative manner invoking aggression and upset in others our questions are not helping us gain knowledge to help us or others. We should aim to take care in the way we ask questions remaining detached from the answers and appreciate and love all answers.