Vinay Kumaran

I must admit I have trouble understanding the appeal of religions. When I was a child, I was told the tales of Hindu religion. The stories were enormously entertaining.  Hindu Gods were like the Avengers or the X-Men. Different Gods had different superpowers. Ram and Arjun were great shots with the bow and arrow. Bhim was like ' The Thing' from the Fantastic Four, immensely strong but not very intelligent.  Hanuman was like Superman, he could fly and lift mountains and swallow the sun accidentally. However, it soon became evident that the world of the Gods was a fantasy world. In the real world, people were good or bad on a spectrum and there were not necessarily consequences to either being good or being bad. Good people and even children not yet old enough to decide whether to be good or bad could suffer and die. Bad people could prosper and enjoy the fruits of their evil through long luxurious lives and nothing supernatural ever happened. Prayer, no matter how sincere, (a...

Discussions with a couple of my friends on Facebook persuaded me to write down my thoughts about religion and why I think most religions are doing more harm than good. Denial of Death. A factor which seems common to all religions is the denial of the finality of death. Practically all the religions seem to have the concept of a soul, something that continues after we die. The soul may be reincarnated (as in Hinduism and Buddhism), rewarded (Heaven in Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Moksh in Buddhism and Hinduism) or punished (Hell, Purgatory, an unpleasant reincarnation etc). In any case, the soul apparently retains the memory of actions performed in life (what would be the point of punishing someone for a crime they do not know they committed?), retains the ability to suffer (Hell) or enjoy pleasures (Heaven, Valhalla). There is, of course, no reason to believe that anything like this occurs. One can imagine ancestors, intelligent enough to recognize that death is inevitable but no...

Sometimes when I contemplate a visit to the US, I am reminded of the many things we do better in India. Some of these might be surprises. Couriers. Indian couriers are much more economical and quicker than the monoliths in the US. Competition, lower labour costs etc contribute I assume. Advertisements. Most American ads are bland and boring. They tout things like awards or special offers. Indian advertisements are often funny or thought provoking and make a point about current affairs. The difference is so great they simply cannot be compared. This is an advertisement for Verizon. It is not only boring, it is misleading. The actual cost of an unlimited plan is $75 plus taxes. https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/ The advertisement is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3zptG2nVmM. Now compare this with this advertisement for Fevikwik. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4WZF74dAg4. Online grocery shopping. There are so many options from Big Basket to Grofers...

A common thread which runs through all religions is the denial of death. They all have some form of belief which permits a person to survive, typically in the form of a soul, after the death of the body. They believe that something continues after the body dies. Some religions have the concept of reincarnation. The soul returns in another body. Or if sufficiently enlightened, attains a state of permanent bliss referred to as 'Moksh'. Or becomes part of a 'universal soul' which permeates the universe. Many religions have a reward and punishment concept. The soul is judged by a God for thoughts, actions and intentions during life and receives either a reward by being allowed into Heaven, apparently a nice place to be, Valhalla, an everlasting party with like-minded friends or punishment in the form of confinement to Hell, an unpleasant place to be in, typically due to low or high temperatures without the option of appropriate clothes. There are variations such as spen...

I had a layover of about 4 hours in Istanbul on my way back from Pittsburgh to Mumbai. There were other Indians connecting to the Mumbai flight from various points in Europe. We were looking at the display trying to figure out which gate our flight would be leaving from. A rather nervous looking middle-aged gentleman greeted me as an obvious fellow Indian and suggested we find our way to the gate together. I agreed. The gate was quite far away but there were signs pointing the way and I wasn't worried about getting there well on time. He, on the other hand, seemed to be in the grip of the chronic anxiety that seems to seize many Indians in unfamiliar surroundings. He was walking much faster than I was inclined to and I let him go at his own pace. He would pull ahead, look around and find himself alone, get into a mild panic and then come back to find me. He had a constant fear of losing his way. He kept saying 'are you sure this is the way?' How do you know?' 'Sh...

Where do morals and ethics come from and is there a difference between them? If you ask a religious person they will say that morals come from religious books and represent a kind of code of conduct handed to us by God. They use the Bible or the Quran or the Upanishads or the Torah or whatever their religion prescribes as their moral compass. Whatever is written in the Holy Book is God's message to humans and should be followed without question as a matter of faith. This can be corrupted and has often been used to justify Crusades or Jihad. Killing someone who belonged to a different faith became 'moral'. Religious people are deeply distrustful of atheists. They think that since we do not accept the 'word of God' as given in the 'Holy Book', we must be immoral people. They seem to think that without religion (fear of God) there is nothing to prevent humans from killing, raping, stealing and the various other crimes that their 'Holy Book' proscri...