Smiling God

In the fading winter of early 2006, the Lido show in Champs-Elysees, Paris didn’t disappoint. With multitude of costumes, dances, movements and songs, it enthralled the audience that paid a tidy sum to gulp champagne, eat dinner and revel in one of the greatest shows on earth. In the half century of its existence great artists like Shirley Maclean and Elton John have performed there. More than 70 artists, 600 costumes and 23 settings are meticulously planned, choreographed and presented to a dazed audience in a show that lasts a little over an hour.

But that year, a delegation from India (of which yours truly was a humble member) was among the audience. The show and its themes had much to do with India. The mythical figure of Hanuman was showcased as funny, risqué, bawdy and irreverent. Some of the members of my team were provoked by the show. One of the members took it up with the Indian Embassy officials. The diplomats said that a few others had also complained. But it didn’t make sense to ask to withdraw such references from the show or asking them to close down for being derogatory to Hindu mythological figures. The matter ended there.

Hindu mythology contains stuff that couldn’t be mentioned in front of polite society or impressionable children. Semitic religions have Genesis and other such illogical stuff like the inescapable subtext of incest. Wade through any old religious scripture and one is bound to stumble upon a loads and loads of nonsense. Religious preachers try to put them in some ancient context to rationalize such nonsense. I am afraid that if one day I am told that I need to believe in some God and religion to qualify for citizen’s rights, I would be spoilt for choice. Maybe I will choose Buddhism, the Ferrari of religions as Jeremy Clarkson, the BBC’s auto writer describes it. The bullshit meter reads lowest in Buddhism.

The French republic was founded on the principle of true separation of religion from politics. When the French display a deep aversion to visible religious symbols like the Burkha, headgear & Kripan we must try to understand why. The separation of state and religion is absolute in France, unlike in other western democracies where religion is visible in state affairs but tempered with tolerance of all religions. During the French revolution the property of the church was confiscated and divided among the poor. It is amusing to see Burkha debates on TV which show liberals argue that the French intolerance of Burkha is discriminatory. I believe that that the time of anti religion and liberal thought died in the 70s’ and 80s’ and the forces of darkness are back. These forces are in the garb of religious preachers aiming to convert an entire generation to piety and intolerance. We read Ingersoll, H G Wells, Abraham T Kovoor and M C Joseph when we were young and atheism was so in. Richard Dawkins may be popular today, but I suspect his readership is mostly confined to people of a certain generation. If in need of a spiritual fix, our youth is more easily swayed by TV evangelists, the most dangerous of the lot.

I have always encountered propagators of religion, dripping sympathy at me since paradise is not mine. Believe in my God, they say and paradise shall be yours. The religion that I am born into says you are doomed to be born again and again as lesser creatures if you do not live by the code of acceptable deeds. Facebook was banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh. They were restored after taking solemn assurances to remove all references to a drawing competition of the prophet. Books are banned for unsavoury references to living or dead Gods. India has its’ own sporadic communal riots like the big ones of Gujarat 2000 and Mumbai 1993. Ahmedis have been butchered in Pakistan for believing in their own prophet. Society is increasingly turning to religion, astrology and other claptrap without questioning the foundations of these beliefs. Some of the biggest crooks I have seen in life are deeply devout. They are regular at prayers in temples, mosques and churches. They wouldn’t bat an eyelid before slitting the next man’s throat.

With so much evil all around in the name of God and religion, I can only pray that God cultivates a sense of humour. God’s followers need to reinvent a smiling, tolerant God. Not the grim, humourless guy out to kill, maim, ban books & websites and stifle free thought.