UTILITARIANISM AND RELIGION
UTILITARIANISM AND RELIGION
In the age of utilitarianism one wonders as to the customs and rituals one has to put up with. The way religion was depicted as very personal in 3 idiots and OMG, and also voiced its dissent to its commercialisation, one has to understand that its commercialisation crops from the very same utilitarianism.
No temple was found in the excavations of harappan civilisation and similarly there exists in India the tendency to worship in open spaces - a tree, a stone, a river, a lake, the sky, the sun, the moon, the birds, the animals, and sometimes even a few humans who seem to have transcended the limits of human mind.
Temples cropped from the desire to settle down as against roaming around and preaching about the philosophy of life (from the necessity to care for old priests in their old age and to provide a shelter during unfavorable weather. It would also have been desirable that the village or community remain in touch with at least one wise man) . It also emerged as the desire of humans to humanize their gods such that they felt a closer connect. It emerged from the desire to give way to their aesthetic taste and artistic propensity. Later on, humans as they are and as is their wont they realized that to propagate a philosophy one has to wield some power and for that one needed to exercise some control over the temporal world. To rationalize human actions and to drive a societal morality such that their actions were liable to scrutiny of not only humans but even gods, various rituals were invented so were chants and hymns (although the cause could be many) . And this they achieved due to various inscrutable natural phenomena and the unpredictability of which filled their hearts with terror. Once they realized the futility of a few beliefs, psychological construct of our brain is such that it attaches a great importance to filial relationships and thus has an allegiance towards their ancestors however irrational it be.
So, if we begin to question this age old belief system and question its utility in fulfilling our temporal responsibilities then it would only be a product of our own rational thinking. The very trait which gave birth to this corporate religion. Back to square one, or so it seems.
In the age of utilitarianism one wonders as to the customs and rituals one has to put up with. The way religion was depicted as very personal in 3 idiots and OMG, and also voiced its dissent to its commercialisation, one has to understand that its commercialisation crops from the very same utilitarianism.
No temple was found in the excavations of harappan civilisation and similarly there exists in India the tendency to worship in open spaces - a tree, a stone, a river, a lake, the sky, the sun, the moon, the birds, the animals, and sometimes even a few humans who seem to have transcended the limits of human mind.
Temples cropped from the desire to settle down as against roaming around and preaching about the philosophy of life (from the necessity to care for old priests in their old age and to provide a shelter during unfavorable weather. It would also have been desirable that the village or community remain in touch with at least one wise man) . It also emerged as the desire of humans to humanize their gods such that they felt a closer connect. It emerged from the desire to give way to their aesthetic taste and artistic propensity. Later on, humans as they are and as is their wont they realized that to propagate a philosophy one has to wield some power and for that one needed to exercise some control over the temporal world. To rationalize human actions and to drive a societal morality such that their actions were liable to scrutiny of not only humans but even gods, various rituals were invented so were chants and hymns (although the cause could be many) . And this they achieved due to various inscrutable natural phenomena and the unpredictability of which filled their hearts with terror. Once they realized the futility of a few beliefs, psychological construct of our brain is such that it attaches a great importance to filial relationships and thus has an allegiance towards their ancestors however irrational it be.
So, if we begin to question this age old belief system and question its utility in fulfilling our temporal responsibilities then it would only be a product of our own rational thinking. The very trait which gave birth to this corporate religion. Back to square one, or so it seems.
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