Religion: What it means to me?

Somewhere in my childhood days I picked up the idea that religion can do only ill to mankind. I still can’t figure out why such a belief (or rather perception) got into my head. A possible reason I could think of is; I realized that the quality of some religions to separate people and bring in animosity among them is more prominent than any of its other qualities, at least that holds true in my country.

In 1992, I was just 7 years old when that frightful incident happened in Ayodhya. A group of violent Hindu nationalists demolished the Babri Masjid. That incident was only the beginning of brutality that was about to unfold all over my country. Those days I was yet to pick up the habit of reading newspapers, and the demolition of Babri Masjid had very little aftereffects on my state in general, and my village in particular since it was a Hindu dominated village. Hence, i never got to know about such an incident.

Years passed, but, December 6 remained a nightmare for everyone in my family. We children were not allowed to go to the nearby city on that day unless accompanied by an elder member of the family. First few times we just followed the instruction and never bothered to find out the reason behind the concern. This continued year after year and slowly I started realizing the reason for the concern. Religion for my family meant more of fear than belief, and so for me. From then on I never wanted myself to be associated with any religion, and whenever someone asked which religion I belong to, I always replied “I do not belong to any religion”. It was my lack of knowledge about religion that made me say that. I realize that now.

Abraham Lincoln once wrote: “Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t new after all.” The various books and columns that I read about religion, which expressed author’s opinion about religion, made me realize that the impression I was carrying with me about religion was not completely accurate. One such author who influenced me was Swami Vivekananda. His definition of religion made me realize that religion is not all about identity and there is lot more to it.

Now, for me, religion is not about an identity it stamps on me. Religion is a way of life. It is about the customs and traditions that you follow in your day to day life and it is about the believes that you uphold. If that is true, then I must be a Hindu who follows Hinduism.

Declaring to the world that i follow Hinduism doesn't make me any indifferent towards other religions. I equally respect all other religions, and an individual's right to practice any religion that he chooses to. It also does not guarantee that now I believe in a set of supposedly Hindu gods. I like to see religion and belief in god as two differnt things. I now know for sure that I follow Hinduism, but not yet sure whether I believe in any god. In that respect I am still an agnostic.