ONLY 13 Out Of The 30, 000 (Surveyed) Indians Aren't Affiliated With Any Religion!
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
16 October
2023
"Only 13 out of the 30, 000 Indians
surveyed by Pew said they were unaffiliated with any religion, while many more
responded that there was no such thing as having no religion. "
“Such a tiny percentage of people with no
religion is unusual,” Kramer said.
That most
of the Indians are all at sea to understand the extremely exalted and
liberating notion that there could be people sans religion and caste may be the
main reason for a negligible number of 'nones' (not affiliated with any faith).
But visit a
western country and you'll find quite a few individuals having no faith and no
god. Here I don't want to get into the issue of theism and atheism. That may be
justifiably irritating to many. My point is: The western ideas of freedom and
individualism are unintelligible to Indians and the people of the sub-continent
who're blindly religious, god-fearing and morbidly superstitious. The reason
is: Improper education that leads to lack of scientific temperament.
Philosophy
and logic as subjects at colleges and varsities are no longer appealing to a
majority of students. Philosophy liberates you. Logic teaches you to be
discerning. That apart, according to the Dutch News Agency, The Algemeen
Nederlands Persbureau BV, 2022, at the moment,
India is
swamped by a squall of popular or derogatorily called, 'pavement' spirituality,
overwhelming religiosity and varying degrees of zealotry, propounded by a host
of dubious and affluent spiritual gurus, organizations and the government
itself. This has a debilitating influence on Indians' spirit of free will and
logic. This kind of excessive religiosity doesn't let you think logically. It
kills your rationality.
This is
happening to Indians who're being bombarded by an overdose of religiosity and
spirituality 24x7.
Moreover,
we're facing existential and survival issues on all fronts. A large number of
Indians are living under the poverty line. Mark Twain said, " Poorer a
person, the more religious he'll be."
Vulnerable
people always resort to god, religion and astrology (yet another universally
popular superstition). Today's Indians talk about their rich and ancient past
but are completely unaware of it. They must know that the concept of religion
came rather late. Earlier, it was in the form of a nebulous spirit and an
ever-questioning mind.
What
happened to Ijtihad (logic and independent reasoning regarding religious
issues) in Islam also happened to the pure and unadulterated consciousness of
the people of India. Now we cannot imagine our existence sans religions and
their paraphernalia. That's why religion is so important to the hoi polloi, the
plebs and proles and the Great Unwashed.
------
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/indians-affiliated-religion/d/130910
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