In this episode of Nature, Naskar & Neurons, Abhijit Naskar sheds light on the psychological elements that make religion an obstruction in human progress.

Further Reading: https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Religion-Treatise-Religious-Fundamentalism/dp/154704540X/

Transcript:

Religion - this is the term that every human being is very deeply acquainted with, and it has a lot of significance in the human society. More importantly, to some humans this term induces feelings of comfort and serenity, whereas to some others, it induces a sense of violence and stupidity. So in this episode of Nature, Naskar & Neurons I, Abhijit Naskar, will mention five psychological elements that make religion an obstruction in human progress not an aid in human development. In the next episode I shall mention the elements that make religion an aid in individual life.



Number 1

Fundamentalism - this is the biggest threat to the human society and in today's world this term is associated more with the so-called realm of religion than with any other system of the society. Fundamentalism means literal interpretation of every word of a scripture and accepting those words with utmost obedience. And that leads to chaos in the world, because scriptures not only have good teachings, they also have evil instructions, originally meant for the spreading of the exclusive authority of their corresponding religions. And this leads to nothing but bloodshed.



Number 2

Bigotry - my God is the only God and yours is false, and if you don't believe in my God then you are doomed. You'll burn in hell after you die for eternity. This kind of mentality requires medical attention. Never engage i a conversation or debate with such an individual, because it won't get you anywhere. You'll only waste precious time of yours.



Number 3

Indoctrination of children - indoctrinating children from a very age to believe in imaginary stories such as the biblical story of creation is only an obstruction in the path of human progress.



Number 4

Unwillinglness to evolve - as I have said in one of my books "any religion that does not evolve with time, either gets destroyed or destroys the world". And that's exactly where most of today's so-called religions fall short. They don't wanna evolve, although they are evolving through their people, because the human mind cannot stay rigid, it has to evolve on its own in order to be suitable with the time and environment. And that's the only way that today's religions are evolving, quite unwillingly. That's why the process is happening in the speed of a turtle. But if humanity is to progress then turtle speed won't do.



Number 5

Obedience to scriptures - in order to become effective, healthy and progressive, religions of the world have to break free from their innate obedience towards their scriptures. Religion cannot bring progress, like Science does, unless it breaks free from its ancestral bondage with the scriptures. Books of the dead people cannot be instruction manual for religion in a civilized human society. The human heart and the human behavior are to be the guiding elements in religion, not scriptures.



We are scientists and philosophers, and we bring progress in the human world, not because we are smart, but because the sole purpose behind our endeavors is to be better in our thinking than we were yesterday. We are changing. We are evolving, with every single step that we take. We never hold on to one book and say that everything written in that book is irrefutable, unless such statement can be backed up with robust evidence. And the moment, the religions of the human society adapts this simple characteristic of progress, that will be the moment when every single scientist and philosopher will salute religion with respect not due to fear of being beheaded.





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