I knew a friend once. He always dressed fashionably. The latest trends blossomed neatly on his person. But he had a dark, festering secret. His underwear was the worst imaginable. I saw it as family heirlooms, handed unchanged and unwashed through generations. The holes would let rats through, and the stink could raise a dead person (and not much else). It was incredibly unsexy.
Just think- what if he insists on wearing them outside his trendy apparel? Exposed to the public eye, as it were? Like superman?
This is what the religions have come to mean today.
Right from my childhood, I could see that something was not right with my religion. Heaven and hell, and a lot of assumptions without a shred of evidence, parroted from third century or so, and you were expected to swallow them whole.
History showed it to have been brutal and exclusivist, for most of history. Until it was dragged, kicking and screaming, to be washed by the enlightenment ideals of the past two hundred years, and its horrible stink muted a bit by the inexorable progress of science and rational thinking. Still, it retains its ancient, dilapidated status.
As to the next popular sixth century one, less said the better. Most civilized users hide it under the pants, but quite a few of them flaunt its appalling ugliness proudly to the world. What are they thinking? Beats the hell out of me. I bet they think I will go to hell for saying this.
As for our own desi- complex and diverse- one, I used to love it. Endearingly non-uniform, undoubtedly ancient and smelling a bit, it had a benignity that allowed a modern constitutional democracy over a medieval people. But that positive factor is gone. Its new political version is too horrible to contemplate. I can smell blood baths and autocracy.
Politicising religion is like adorning these inner-wear (that is worn outside) with bombs; even nuclear war-heads. Can blow up everything.
I am with Nupur Sharma AND Mohiya Moitra. I am not with the concerted hate of the last two decades that dredged the worst rotten aspects of our people out into the open. The stink is, I am afraid, here to stay.
This is when this humble, modern God has its significance. It is the latest religion, and its sacred God, Dinkan, has the advantage that it is fully home grown. It is from God’s own country, our very own Kerala. He wears his underwear outside his pants, but it is brand new, and clean to fault.
‘Blasphemy and Apostacy doesn’t exist’
- The Holy Blamangalam, verse 11, chapter 23.
‘Whoever wants to offend my sentiments, can try- they can’t.’ This is another of his famous sayings, verse 10 from chapter 3.
He does give pointers to lead a good life.
- All suffering is bad, and human flourishing good.
- Suffering is sometimes necessary but for the greater measurable social good.
- There is no grand plan. So, you need not die for that.
Are some of them. Please google ‘Dinkan’ and ‘Dinkoism’ and come to the fold. Shed your ancient underwear.
(Jimmy Mathew)
