Wednesday, August 30, 2006

So many questions!

Over dinner one day, suddenly a conversation broke. I had triggered a long chain of opinions and thoughts.

What does religion really mean? What does it mean to me? What if I decide to convert - to a state of being religion-less? Would I be a very different person? Does being religious necessarily mean belief in God? Can science be a religion? Why are there so many religions in this world? And for that matter, why are there so many nations? If we go back to theory of evolution, probably the reason of existence of so many races could be it. Does that imply existence of multiple religions? Do I need to accept all the prohibitions and must-do's as laid down by my religion? It seems that the religion is determined by birth; at a time when the concept can't be explained to the infant to take his/her opinion. And as it happens, it gets accepted. The upbringing instills the do's and don'ts in one's personality over time, and one accepts the religion eventually. Some may decide to convert, but I do not understand this process. What does it take to convert?

What is Hinduism? How different is it from Christianity (I know Hinduism believes in existence of 33 crore Gods). Frankly, if a foreigner asks me to explain him what it means, would I be able to do so? Convincingly? I doubt, as I myself do not understand it very well. And in today's society do I need to?

At the end of the conversation, I felt that really there was no answer.

Only more questions!

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