Truth or Taste?

I've not written about religion for a while but the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka made me ponder about the subject again. What more is there to be said about religion? Are we as human beings better off without religion?

I've suggested before that religion should be treated as a hobby. I might have sounded like I made the statement in jest, but over the many years that I have deliberated on this matter, I seriously believe that is this paradigm shift that we all need to adopt.

No one would kill me if I insist on listening to Barry Manilow love songs as my preferred choice of music. When it comes to music, people understand that this is a matter of individual taste and preference. Even if I insist on blasting Mandy loudly on my stereo at home, my neighbours might sneer at my choice of music but they will never say that I am offending their aesthetic sensitivities. And no one in the right frame of mind will hope that one day everyone listens to only Jazz or Keroncong. Of course not. Music is a matter of taste, not truth.

That is the problem with religion. People think that religion represents the truth. When they think it is the Truth, they want to shove it down everyone's throat--because it is supposedly good for you.

Why are we so certain that the religion of our birth or the religion which we happen to adopt is the Truth? What makes you think that your epiphany is truer than mine?

If my friend tells me that his wife is the most beautiful woman in the world. I would understand why he said that. And I wouldn't be wrong to say that my friend did not mean what he said literally. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. To my friend, who loves his wife so much and appreciates her many good points, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

Why can't we have the same attitude towards religion? Isn't it silly to kill and commit atrocities in the name of religion?

We are reluctant to relegate religion to simply a matter of personal taste because it is supposed to answer the most important questions of our existence: Why are we here? Where do we go after death? Why do we die? What do we have to do in this life? How can we be assured of safety and happiness? How can we be protected from pain and death?

These are all very serious matters, which religion claims to provide answers. Music, like good food, is merely for our enjoyment. Religion on the other hand, is a matter of life and death.

That is the crux of the matter. We want to be sure that the religion we adopt actually answers all those questions. And whatever, they are, it had better be right for we can never know the answer with absolute certainty. If I do not have the right religion when I die, I might suffer eternal damnation in hell.

But can you be really sure you have the right answers? Does killing people and obliterating other people's beliefs guarantees the truth of your religion? What makes you think your religion is right and others wrong?

You have the right to insist that you are in possession of the absolute truth. You feel it inside. You have been divinely inspired. Your life has been transformed even since you follow your god. Your religious leader gives inspiring talks on the glory of your beliefs. You feel a oneness with the divine, and you feel you are part of something bigger than yourself.

What makes you think others have not experienced what you experience? What makes you think you are right and they are wrong?

We have every right to firmly insist that we are right and others are wrong. I only have one small wish: grant the same right to others. There's enough truth to go around. It is not a zero sum game. There are enough gods for every human out there to worship and praise. Let a thousand flowers bloom.

And let me listen to my Barry Manilow in peace.