In the aftermath of the recent events in Aluthgama and
Beruwala, there are those who wonder how such a situation could have arisen in
the normally peace loving and generally well educated Sri Lankan community. I for one, am not surprised. Not when otherwise
rational thinking people take side with the argument that these events were the
response of the Buddhist community faced with the threat of the spread of
Islam. Not even when people who ought to know better suggest that it is the
duty of a true Buddhist to suppress such movements to ensure the survival of
Buddhism. Take this video for example, which have been shared enthusiastically
by many as an attempt to explain the root cause of what happened.
On the contrary to all those who blame the religious
extremists, I blame the concept of religion that has paved the way for
extremists. I find the fault in the very
idea of a religion, which is, sadly, what Buddhism has become.
The making of a religion
A religion and a philosophy are fundamentally different. A
religion is a collection of beliefs imposed on what could have otherwise been a
rational mind. A philosophy does not entertain believers. It presents a
collection of facts about a certain aspect of life and asserts a conclusion
based on those facts. Those who study a philosophy have the freedom to either
accept or reject that conclusion, employing logic and common sense to analyse
the said facts. The longevity of a philosophy is based on how its conclusions
stand against the test of reason, not how many believers it has.
A philosophy can be easily converted to a religion by replacing
facts by beliefs and logic by fear. By replacing “I do not steal from others
because I do not like being robbed” by “I do not steal because I believe that
stealing is a sin and all sinners go to hell”. This fear, of hell or otherwise,
is an essential ingredient of all religions. It is far easier to make someone
fear the idea of stealing than to make them understand the reasons to prevent
from stealing.
Harmless as it may
appear at first sight, these beliefs and the associated fear is the first step
in a process that may easily be led towards “I believe those who do not believe
in my beliefs are sinners” to “My beliefs are superior so the world should only
consists of those who believe the same”. I specifically said “led towards”
because it does take leading. A philosophy can become a religion over thousands
of years of small, seemingly innocuous changes that converts facts into beliefs.
However, this last step of employing an indoctrinated mind to harm another
human being in the name of religion does require cunning and self-centered leaders.
Therein lies the problem of religion. What does it
take to be a religious or philosophical
leader? To become an authority in a philosophy requires a deep
understanding of the said philosophy. To be accepted as a leading authority in
a philosophy is to be acknowledged by ones’ peers as a person who has
contributed to the development (not spreading) of the philosophy. But to become
a religious leader, one only has to wear the right cloths and be capable of
exploiting the weaknesses of human mind. Specifically, one only has to be
capable of exploiting minds that were, from a very young age, trained to accept
that religions transcend reason. That religious beliefs cannot be questioned.
For someone with the right skills, it is not difficult to guide such a well
trained collection of minds towards goals that would only further his or her
survival, but not those of the minions. Religions are far more dangerous weapons
than any nuclear bomb that was or will be ever made.
In that light, let me attempt to analyse the recent events
in Sri Lanka. Richard Dawkins, a famous critique of religious beliefs and a man
who is widely considered as the successor to Charles Darwin, in his book “God
Delusion”, says that Buddhism stands apart from the religions of the 21st
century as it is more a “way of life” than a religion. He mentions this while
decimating the three most popular religions contemporary to Buddhism;
Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Many Buddhists take pride in the fact that
Buddhism is (or was) a philosophy and not a religion. This concept baffles many
of my Iranian friends who ask me about “the fundemental belief” of Buddhism. Sadly,
after confusing them by talking about how Buddhism is a philosophy, I then have
to go on to confuse them even more by saying that the version of Buddhism
practiced in Sri Lanka is indeed a religion and not a philosophy. Hundreds of
years of evolution has resulted in a version of Buddhism that, in the one aspect
that set it apart from the religions, is nothing but another pea in the pie.
However - and perhaps
because it was originally a philosophy - until recently, Buddhism the religion
remained untarnished by religious wars that have so often plagued other
religions. But when the time is ripe, leaders capable of exploiting the minions
so created begin to emerge. They preach
that Buddhism needs to be protected from the extreme elements of other
religions. It is exactly this that makes Buddhism a religion - a belief that
need to be protected from other beliefs - and not a philosophy based on facts
and reason. Killing others to ensure the survival of my religion makes me no
different from the so called “Jihad terrorists” who kill in the name of their
god.
Sadly, this trivial yet momentous fact is lost in the minds
of those who have been, from a young age, trained to not to question the
beliefs that were imparted on them in the guise of a religion. Be it the layperson,
the blue color worker or the well educated white color worker or the university
graduate specifically trained to rational thinking, our minds are trained to
shut down the rational thinking part of the brain when religion is involved.
Instead, we rely on emotions, feelings that can be easily misguided by those
who are in it not for our well being, but to further their own selfish goals.
We should not be surprised that such religious leaders have
emerged in Sri Lanka to reap the rewards of religious indoctrination. It is for
the above reasons that we should neither be surprised by the fact a vast
majority of Sri Lankans are receptive to such manipulations by those who claim
to be the saviors of religions.
Let me reiterate. Religions are weapons, memes
lurking in the depths of minds of its believers, waiting to be triggered by
those who know the art.
