TEACHING RELIGION IN SCHOOLS 29

other g rls would have the^> taken their teacher’s word,

and believed that the navel and not the vagina, was the
part to be protected at all costs*

Absurdities hke the navel conception, virgin concep-

tion (mother of Jesus Christ) and oral conception (mother
of Sri Rama) are the stulf taught in the name of reli
gion in our schools*

Riglit and Wrong

Religionists insist on the teaching of religion on the

ground that moral ly can be built only through religion
Is there any truth in this contention'^ What is morality^
What is ‘nghl’ and what is ‘wrong’*^

The Middle-East religions Judaism. Chnstianity and

Islam — have established the peculiar notion that the
basis of all morality is belief in some Aim ghty Disbelief
in this supreme creator must therefore be regarded as the
essence of immorality, consequently Rationalists and
Buddhists who deny the existence of a creator can be
classified as wicked and immoral

Thus, for the tmthiaUng religionist his religion is the

only source of morality An inquiry into the origins of
the ideas of nghl and wrong will show that even the
most primitive human races developed certain codes of
conduct, first for the family, next for the clan and finally
(or the nation as a whole Going a step further back in
evolution, we find that even among the animals there are
to be found the rudiments of w^at we may call morals
The study of the social behaviour in the animal kingdom
reveals that even among very primitive creatures there
can be found identical characteristics of what we might
term as right and wrong Anyone who has had expen-
ence witli horses and dogs, or even undomesticated ani-
mals mu?t admit that the necative emotions such as envy,
greed, jealousy, pnde and many others are found in these
animals, and likewise the emotions of love — especially
mother love, sorrow, mutual aid and helpfulness and a
(eehng of protect on of the weak and the young are very
outstanding m many animals either domesticated or in
the wild stale.

30

GODS DEMONS AND SPIRITS

Socinl Instincts

Side by side with tbe simple for existence and survival

of the fittest there developed simultaneously the social
instincts of the group Feelings such as mother love
mutual assistance the shanng of food and shelter and
the self sacnfice of the single mdividual for the welfare
of the group must ultimately be regarded as the source
out of Viluch moral feeling ongmated That the human
animal in its evolutionary journey developed identical
qual ties like other animals is only natural to assume

It IS most logical to assume that the early human am

mal that lived m the trees and the caves developed idcn
tical social trends as did the bees the ants the baboons
and many of the birds It is these animal characteristics
from which originated later on the ideas of right and
wrong or good and evil It is these feelings and instincts
of sociability and self sacrifice for the common good
which came to be transformed in the human Jcin^om
into mutual benevolence sympathy and love They are
m reality the origin of our human concepts of morality
Morality IS tbe mutual product of onimal and human
evolution and originated long before any organised reli
gions had develop^ Thus it cannot be denied that th:
evolution of social and moral concepts had their begin
nings m the experience of the ammal kingdom and not
from supernatural revelations as the religionists want us
to believe

Kules of Behaviour

Mankind in their early stages had no orgamsed rcti

gion but they developed the rules of moral bchavioun
first for the family then the tribe and finally the nation
Their beliefs were first m the ‘spirits , then came idol
worship and at last gods were invented Dunng the
tribal ^atc the medicine man assumed more powers He
posed as the intermediary ^Iwccn the imaginary godJ
and the common herd And as is the case even today
god or gods W'crc pictured as revengeful rulers demand
mg sacrifices penances and strict ol^ cncc of their sub
ordinates It is only natural that fear of tbe unknov^n

TEACHING REUCION IN SCHOOLS

and the unseen powers became the most promincni-

emotion of poor human beings.

, Gradually, with the rise of organised religions the

natural ideas of moral behaviour became distorted by
priest*craft. The early moral feelings of love and sym-
pathy for one’s fellow human beings became subordinat-
ed to a ‘love of god’ as the first commandment. To
appease the deity became the foremost duty. Special rules
were invented by priest-craft for serving and placating the
gods. This is how our great religions began. Special
moral codes were formulated by the priests and enforced
with threats of punishment and eternal damnation in
imaginary hells or miserable re-incamalions. The break-
ing of these codes was called ‘sin’, meaning disobedience
to the Creator.

Invcjifion of Gods

Probably the greatest curse of mankind was the inven-

tion of the innumerable gods. Races and nations deve-
loped their own pantheons of gods. The consequence was
a division of humanity into countless creeds and sects,
perpetually warring with each other, each one pretending
4hat its was ibe only true god and the only true way of
salvation.

And the gods demanded sacrifices Not only animals

were slaughtered as offerings to the gods but human be-
ings, boys and virgin girls and prisoners of war were
sacrificed on the altars of these gods. But, it might be
argued, these were Pagan religions What about the
present religions — ^Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and
Islam? Were they any better?

The Bible reveals cruelties perpetrated in the name of

'Hne gdo^jhiiovan. "jenovan’ himselr ofoereo’his cuosen
> people to “go and smite Amalek and spare them not;
but slay both men and women, infants and sucklings, ox
and sheep, camel and ass; save alive nothing that
breatheth.”

32 C(»S, DEMONS AND SPIRITS

Jehomh’s AberratioiTs

According to god Jehovah women are mere chattels

meant for the sexual gratification of men, and to be dis
carded, if and when they cease to give them satisfaction
“And seest among the captives a beautiful women and
thou hast a desire unto her, thou would take her to thee
as wife and after that thou shaft go m unto her and
be her husband and she shall be thy wife And it shall
be that if thou have no delight m her, Ihen thou shaft
let her go whither she will *’ (Eteuteronomy XXI — 1 1 14)

At Jehovah’s command the Israelites captured alive

and brought home thirty-lwo thousand virgin women ot
whom ‘the Lord’s tribute was thirty two ’

For what purpose the Creator wanted thirty two virgins''

God Jehovah seems to be as sexy as god Krishna who
feasted his eyes from, the top of a tree peepmg at the
Gopi women bathing in the nude'

The followers of Islam turned to war, conquest and

fanatical persecutions of so<alled infidels even during the
life time of Mohammed '^o accept the faith of the
prophet or to die was the only choice left to the unfor-
tunate who fell into their han^ Even today Arabs and
Israelis- brothers under the skm— are killing each other
because their faiths differ

Christian History

The history of Christianity is well-known It gives

sufficient proofs that did not uphold the commandments
upon which it was founded Hardly had the new faith
become established its followers began to make war on
those who held to other creeds Starting out to exlm
guish the existing pagan religions, they proceeded to
persecute every unbeliever or heretic 'ITie most mdes
cnbable cruelties were committed by the devout Chnstians
to impose their faith 'The story ot inquisition gives a
vivid picture of the hombh crimes perpetrated by the
supposed followers of Christ Men turned into beasts to
naira to torture and to kill those who dared to disagree
with the commandments of the priesthood, and such acts
came to be regarded as praiseworthy and pleasing to the