Dear Debapriya,
Thank you for your article on the Sikh sword fight at the Golden Temple. I myself am an apostate from the Sikh faith. My personal belief is that Sikhism is not subject to the same criticism as other eastern religions. Sikhism is no different than any other faith because it asserts miracles, divine revelation, absolute truths, etc. It just boggles my mind that people can believe such things and sacrifice their critical thinking faculties for dogma and closed mindedness.
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It is a pleasure to write stories that are appreciated by readers T J Singh. Well, I am in agreement with you. All religions across the world manipulate their core message with absolutely baseless ideas like miracles, divine revelation et al so they can convince themselves and their followers about things that are completely false. What is worse is that they know in the heart of hearts that the claims they make are in fact false. Yet, they won't stop. On the other hand, why would they? Especially, when they can take advantage of gullible,ill-informed people, the kind that comprises most of the world's population.
I would say they even though they know in their hearts that the claims they make are in fact false they won't stop for the same reason an atheist with a good set of morals won't start. The answer lies in having or not having morals or not. It is my belief that if you lie to convince yourself and others about things that are completely false in order to take advantage of those who are gullible enough to follow, you are A. more than likely an atheist and B. more than likely an atheist with out a good moral compass. and C. more than likely never going to admit your an atheist or don't believe the lies your telling . It is morally wrong to do what benefits them to continue doing and they having not a good set of morals thus they have not reason or a conscience enough to stop, like an atheist with a good set of morals would not have reason to start even though it would be easy enough for them to do so.
True story, after researching Hitler, I had a sneaking suspicion that many men who come to power in the big cults of today's world, don't actually believe the faith they profess to. In essence, I've always wondered if otherwise faithless men sought the social acceptance and political power offered by groups who, it seems, feel inadequate to lead a personal life without the support structure offered by religious institutions.
Indeed! Read the bios of most popes.