Religion or Philosophy

A thought crossed my mind in the morning as I was having the first tea of my day. Couldn’t handle the newspaper, so was just looking around the view (which isn’t that great) from our balcony.


What if religions were followed more as a philosophy rather than a “religion” as such? Wouldn’t the world have been a better place to live?

The word religion somehow sounds very strict to my ears. It comes with a certain set rules, principles, theories, stories (mythology) etc. which a person following that religion is expected to know. It degenerates at a certain level when, in Hinduism, people think of Brahmin- Non-Brahmin, in Islam, Shia-Sunni, in Christianity, Catholics-Protestants and what not. It somehow feels like even if we are bound by the same “religion”, there are some things that we do that others should not.

What I understand or rather believe in is, that all these rules, principles etc were made and formulated ages back. They might have been logical, scientific or even feasible to follow then. Times have changed, people have changed, society has also changed and changed for good I believe. Some practices like Sati, which was considered pretty normal some 1000 years back were seen as “social evil” by the 20th century. Yes, there was a lot of resistance before people could change their mindset, but finally even a social evil like “Sati” was stopped. Similarly, on a very low intensity, eating non-vegetarian food by a Brahmin in Hinduism was or rather still is considered as an out-of-religion thing. I am sure even this will fade out eventually, but as I said, these rules were written ages back!!! What if a Brahmin goes to a country where the locals consider chicken as vegetarian??? He/ she might face a tough time, right?

On the contrary, when we talk about a philosophy, it sounds more like an idea or a thought. You don’t seem to be bound by it. Moreover, you can choose your preferences or likes and dislikes from a particular flow of a thought process. It becomes easier as a person for us to choose and follow rather than have no choice but simply follow.

I don’t know a simple case wherein there have been riots in between followers of two different philosophers. Imagine Socrates’ and Plato’s philosophers having riots!!! But not the same with religions, Hindu – Muslim (the most famous, atleast in Asia) and then there are internal misunderstandings (within religions) as well!!! Laissez-faire seems to only be a bookish thought these days. Interference, objections, problems, insecurities seem to be the only things “guiding” religions today. I’ve never known but always heard that all religions used to live in harmony and peace in ancient times. Wonder how and why it changed!