We All Need To Develop a Rational and Scientific Temperament

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 20 February 2023 "What differentiates the Europeans from us is precisely that they have moved beyond religion. Religion is no longer a cradle to the grave arrangement for them. In conducting their daily lives, they have made religion largely redundant and irrelevant. For an average Muslim though, this is far from comprehensible. We are yet to evolve intellectually in order to realize that one can lead a perfectly normal life without the aid of any religion." -Arshad Alam “All religions are fake. The children should be taught Darwin's Theory of Evolution.........." Ashok Kumar Sharma (Comments section) I say the same but it ruffles a few feathers. I'm not here to promote atheism on this site. I'm here to proclaim the truth without fear. An editor knows his business. So let him do that. All experienced editors know their onions. I've been writing for a Persian website for nearly two decades and its editor is a London-based Shia Muslim. His site is devoted to Islam but he never rejected a single polemic piece of mine, though he carries my intrepid articles under a pseudonym for my safety. There're two Christian websites in Europe belonging to two different denominations of Christianity. They're far from being atheistic in their approach to Christianity. But they carry my articles in French and Dutch without changing a word. They even carried my article that Jesus never existed. A dispassionate editor knows what to carry and what not to. He's not swayed by the readers having perforated brains. We all need to develop a scientific temperament when it comes to religion and divinity. Since humans are still not evolved enough to be able to live without religions, scriptures and gods, it’s okay if they follow a certain god or a specific faith. But rationality is required for all the followers. I urge people to be rational. See what happened during Rudraksha Distribution at Kubereshwar Dham, Sehore in MP. One fraud godman Pradeep Mishra gathered a sea of devotees with a false promise of distributing Ekmukhi Rudraksha. Scores of morons rushed to his ashram that caused a stampede in which a few Hindus died. The same happened in Poona where I live. Science has proven that rudraksha (literally, the tears of Rudra: Shiv: Rudra+Aksha-tears) has no medicinal or divine powers. Yet, people believe in all these things. A few years ago, a friendly priest at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu gifted me eleven 'genuine' Ekmukhi Rudraksha. I accepted them without any euphoria. Nothing good or bad happened to me. I gave away those Rudraksh to superstitious Hindu friends of mine. So far all religions created a Placebo Effect (rooted in the Latin plac “eb” o, “I shall please ") on the followers. But new neurological studies at Cornell and Emory Universities in the States have revealed that a Nocebo Effect (from the Latin noc " eb " o" : I'll HARM) is perceptible on the followers of all faiths. Instead of a subjective feel good feeling, a sort of a harmful disposition is being noticed among the followers of all faiths. That's why, we all need to develop a scientific temperament to counter the nefarious and nocebo influence of religions. Continue to believe in your Allah/god/Quran or any other book, but with a semblance of sanity and rationality. I or you may not see but mark my words, all religions with their retinue of gods will be wiped out after 500 years or so. My London-based Shia Muslim editor friend of the abovementioned portal fully agrees with me on this count. ------- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/rational-scientific-temperament/d/129149 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism