War of spirits

Emperor Ashoka’s edicts in the 3rd century B.C promoted human rights. This was when Catholics of Europe were tyrannizing each other, persecuting Jews and burning heretics at the stake. Even the Mughal Emperor Akbar, was magnanimous enough to ensure that no man was ill treated because of his faith. The tradition of secular tolerance was woven into India and the Hindu way of life. Unlike in the west Indian secularism has tended not to be about the separation of church from state and prohibition of religious activities but about tolerance of a profusion of religions none of which are privileged or favored by state. Like opium whose trade was initiated from India and similar to “lotus eaters” who consumed this to induce sleepiness because opium has “dormitive” powers.

Many attribute the human susceptibility to religion and morality because of our “capacity for ‘abstraction’ and ‘proclivity’ to norm following. Religion is also an opiate, because it dulled our sense and underpinned our sense of who we are and where we are going, by blinding following the scriptures. One difference between opium and religion however is that by being able to describe religion in this way means being immune to it or emancipated from it. Moving away from faith may remove the stain from the face of the earth and in a small way, ease the anguish of those who were victims and suffered the unimaginable horrors perpetuated in the name of religion.

We are all condemned to live, but can hope to counter the apathy of religion with our own minds will power - inheriting as we all do, the lessons of this century- the wars of the faiths. Our task would be to rather to look for non violent ways of harnessing the human desire for struggle, recognition in a new “war of the free spirits.