Friday, August 15, 2008

The Godless Lover

By Joanna Lobo, "Panel charts our religious journey" - Daily News and Analysis - Mumbai, India
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

On the launch of its 22nd issue, the editor of the magazine Gallerie hosted a debate on the relevance of religion in today’s world

On a rainy Sunday evening, while most Mumbaikars chose to sit out the rains at home, a debate was raging at the Crossword bookstore in Kemps Corner: How relevant is religion today?

The event marked the launch of the 22nd issue of Gallerie - the International Journal of Arts and Ideas. And the theme was ‘The Sacred and the Profane’.

So, headed by Gallerie’s founder-publisher-cum-editor, Bina Sarkar Ellias, an eclectic group of the city’s intellectuals and literati discussed their beliefs; the existence of God; and whether, as Karl Marx said, religion is indeed the opium of the masses.

Artist and poet, Gieve Patel, academician Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, actor Tom Alter, and poet Javed Akhtar were some of the panelists.

Ellias spoke about a change in the way religion has been perceived over the ages. “In earlier centuries, religion prescribed a moral code of conduct, which was very faithfully followed. Over the past few years, it has gone out of control.”

According to her, religion has relevance today, considering that 86 per cent of people in the world believe in the existence of God.

Dr Ali punctuated her speech with couplets from poet Mirza Ghalib and quotes from Albert Einstein and the Sufi saint, Rabia.

“Spirituality is inspiring oneself and others on the path of illumination. What is sad is that today, religion has taken the form of racial and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia, terrorism, and so on.”

She spoke of how Islam is misrepresented by everyone, including Muslims themselves. “Islam is a passive religion,” she stated firmly.

On the other hand, Patel drew parallels between the Soviet communists and Christians. “In both cases, the ideology is humane and non-violent. Yet the way it is practised is destructive and aggressive,” he said.

According to him, there are two basic factors to be taken into account. “There is an inborn perception in people that they are good and the rest are evil, and they have to destroy the evil before it overpowers them.

There is also the element of greed - by destroying the other person you get what he has, thus making you more powerful.” He argued that religion aside; people will always be aggressive.

Tom Alter began by citing his personal example of being surrounded by missionaries and other religious people all his life. Citing the example of Khuda Kay Liye, he challenged any Indian director to make a movie on an Indian religion without having cinemas burned down and screenings stopped.

“It is the misuse of religion that is the problem. When anyone starts using their religion against me, I have nothing more to do with that person.” He appealed to people to “make your religion better by being a better practitioner of it”.

A firm atheist, Javed Akhtar’s speech was eloquent. “Religion is based on faith - you aren’t allowed to question or discuss it, and there is no logic or reason behind it. What is the difference between faith and stupidity?”

He claimed that the power of religion lies in its numbers. “We are living in an era of schizophrenia. But there are too many people who believe and we cannot call all of them schizophrenic.”

He ended by saying that considering all the violence in the world today, “for God’s sake I hope there is no God”.

The discussion was followed by a Q and A session with the audience. A majority of the questions were directed at Javed Akhtar and Zeenat Ali. Thus ensued a heated debate between them.

Both laid out their points well and lost no time in putting them across. Some memorable snippets included Zeenat’s “having armchair discussions does not constitute religion. You need to go out on the field and see”, and Javed’s “all the religions in the world claim they can tell you everything, but can they tell you how to make a bicycle?”

Whether you are a believer or a non-believer, witnessing people talk about religion, was enriching. As one ponders the relevance of religion today, try finding some answers in Mirza Ghalib’s The Godless Lover:

When there was nothing, there was God
If nothing had been, God would have been
My very being has been my downfall
If I hadn’t been, what would it have mattered?

[Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghalib].

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Friday, August 15, 2008

The Godless Lover
By Joanna Lobo, "Panel charts our religious journey" - Daily News and Analysis - Mumbai, India
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

On the launch of its 22nd issue, the editor of the magazine Gallerie hosted a debate on the relevance of religion in today’s world

On a rainy Sunday evening, while most Mumbaikars chose to sit out the rains at home, a debate was raging at the Crossword bookstore in Kemps Corner: How relevant is religion today?

The event marked the launch of the 22nd issue of Gallerie - the International Journal of Arts and Ideas. And the theme was ‘The Sacred and the Profane’.

So, headed by Gallerie’s founder-publisher-cum-editor, Bina Sarkar Ellias, an eclectic group of the city’s intellectuals and literati discussed their beliefs; the existence of God; and whether, as Karl Marx said, religion is indeed the opium of the masses.

Artist and poet, Gieve Patel, academician Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, actor Tom Alter, and poet Javed Akhtar were some of the panelists.

Ellias spoke about a change in the way religion has been perceived over the ages. “In earlier centuries, religion prescribed a moral code of conduct, which was very faithfully followed. Over the past few years, it has gone out of control.”

According to her, religion has relevance today, considering that 86 per cent of people in the world believe in the existence of God.

Dr Ali punctuated her speech with couplets from poet Mirza Ghalib and quotes from Albert Einstein and the Sufi saint, Rabia.

“Spirituality is inspiring oneself and others on the path of illumination. What is sad is that today, religion has taken the form of racial and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia, terrorism, and so on.”

She spoke of how Islam is misrepresented by everyone, including Muslims themselves. “Islam is a passive religion,” she stated firmly.

On the other hand, Patel drew parallels between the Soviet communists and Christians. “In both cases, the ideology is humane and non-violent. Yet the way it is practised is destructive and aggressive,” he said.

According to him, there are two basic factors to be taken into account. “There is an inborn perception in people that they are good and the rest are evil, and they have to destroy the evil before it overpowers them.

There is also the element of greed - by destroying the other person you get what he has, thus making you more powerful.” He argued that religion aside; people will always be aggressive.

Tom Alter began by citing his personal example of being surrounded by missionaries and other religious people all his life. Citing the example of Khuda Kay Liye, he challenged any Indian director to make a movie on an Indian religion without having cinemas burned down and screenings stopped.

“It is the misuse of religion that is the problem. When anyone starts using their religion against me, I have nothing more to do with that person.” He appealed to people to “make your religion better by being a better practitioner of it”.

A firm atheist, Javed Akhtar’s speech was eloquent. “Religion is based on faith - you aren’t allowed to question or discuss it, and there is no logic or reason behind it. What is the difference between faith and stupidity?”

He claimed that the power of religion lies in its numbers. “We are living in an era of schizophrenia. But there are too many people who believe and we cannot call all of them schizophrenic.”

He ended by saying that considering all the violence in the world today, “for God’s sake I hope there is no God”.

The discussion was followed by a Q and A session with the audience. A majority of the questions were directed at Javed Akhtar and Zeenat Ali. Thus ensued a heated debate between them.

Both laid out their points well and lost no time in putting them across. Some memorable snippets included Zeenat’s “having armchair discussions does not constitute religion. You need to go out on the field and see”, and Javed’s “all the religions in the world claim they can tell you everything, but can they tell you how to make a bicycle?”

Whether you are a believer or a non-believer, witnessing people talk about religion, was enriching. As one ponders the relevance of religion today, try finding some answers in Mirza Ghalib’s The Godless Lover:

When there was nothing, there was God
If nothing had been, God would have been
My very being has been my downfall
If I hadn’t been, what would it have mattered?

[Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghalib].

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