By Ramesh Kulkarni - 30 yrs in IT
Religious books - The Gist
If you read the history & translated versions of Bible, Guru Granth sahib, Quran, Zenda vesta, Buddhacana etc - you will notice that
(a) None of them were actually written by the Prophets/Saints themselves.
(b) They were all written 25-100 yrs after their death by 'unknown' people - for eg Bible was written 100 yrs after Jesus Christ's death - initially in Hebrew/Aramic & later on revised (New testament) in Greek.
Similarly the teachings of Buddha was written almost 200 yrs after his death in Pali language. 
These 'unknown' people who actually wrote these scriptures did indeed seem to have a mastery over the language, prose & poetry.
(c) They were written thousands of years ago in different eras & regions.
(d) They were written in different languages all of which are now extinct.
(d) Finally - notwithstanding the colorful prose & anecdotes there is one commonality.
In that, they were all trying to promote - brotherhood, universal peace, love, compassion etc.
And to curb traits like greed, dishonesty, lust, hatred, selfishness, violence etc.
All this must have been deep & profound for people back then - when the population was tribal & primitive.
However today in 21st century - it’s pretty much stating the very obvious.
Religious literacy
Today in 2023 more than 5.50 billion out of the worlds 7.5 billion population (73%) follow a religion.
A large population from developed nations (where literacy is high) are either rationalist, non-religious, agnostics or atheists.
However majority of world’s population are low on literacy & IQ.
Not surprisingly most of the followers of religions have neither seen nor read these religious books. (Not even the translated versions). 
This in turn has given rise to "preachers".
These preachers 'interpret' these scriptures to this illiterate masses.
Over time they have also ended up providing social & political leadership to them.
Today we have preachers who also indulge in a subjective interpretation (ie quoting the literal text without the context etc etc) & propagating it as the original.
And since there are no formal regulatory authorities - it’s kind of free for all.
These preachers have memorized these scriptures and mastered the art of reciting it in a way that sounds mystical & divine.
Religion today has also become ritualistic.
People enjoy these rituals & over time have become habituated/addicted to them.
Most of them going thru the motions without knowing it’s meaning, logic or rationale.
Purpose of religion
The Meaning & Purpose of life...
A mystery that has baffled & confused all the brightest minds - since the dawn of civilization.
The ephemeral, fleeting & transient nature of human life has spooked, terrified & tormented everyone.
From the seven saptarishi Sages (3800 years ago) to Prophet Zoroaster, Shri Mahavir Jain (2650 yrs), Shri Gautam Buddha (2600 yrs ago), lord Jesus Christ (2024 yrs ago), Prophet Muhammad (1400 yrs ago),Shri Guru Nanak (480 yrs ago) & Mirza Husayn 'Ali NuriBahai (170 yrs ago)
They all had a unique perspective of ‘the meaning & purpose of life' and tried to provide a roadmap to humanity.
They all tried to promote - universal peace, brotherhood, compassion & happiness in the world.
All of them lived and died trying to bring humanity together.
Religious wars
Religion was meant to bring humanity together but ironically & tragically has been the cause of death of millions of people. It has also resulted in the destruction & breakup of nations.
Thru the history of human race there have been more than 121 major religious conflicts. The major ones being
Antiquity wars – in Europe between tribes
The crusades – Christian holy war against Muslim expansion
Reconquista - Christian vs Muslims
Hussite wars – Christian’s vs Hussites. Catholic papal v nationalist Christians in Germany
Soga Monobe conflict – Buddishm vs Shintoism in Japan
European wars of religion – Catholics vs Protestants
Ethopian Adal wars – Christians vs Islam
Greek war of Independence – Christian vs Muslims
Israeli-Palentinian conflicts – Jews vs Muslims
India-Pakistan Partition - Hindus vs Muslims
Nigerian conflict – Christians vs Muslims
Buddhist wars – Christians vs Buddhists
Chinese conflicts – Chinese hui vs Muslims Uyghur’s
Lebanese wars – Christians vs Muslims
Iran-Iraq wars – Muslims Sunni vs Muslim Shia
Mughal Sikh wars – Sikhs vs Muslims
Yugoslav wars – Christians vs Muslims
Sudanese wars – Christians vs Muslims
Add to that 100's of intra religious wars too ie Catholics vs Protestants, Shias vs Sunnis etc.
Preachers
The aim & intentions of the prophets obviously was to bring Humanity together.
So where was the disconnect?
Who has been primarily responsible for instigating these religious wars & mass killings?
The preachers of course!!
Good preachers
There is a large section of preachers who undoubtedly have done an incredible job.
They have ensured the sanity of humanity by interpreting/propagating the true & correct messages of the prophets.
These preachers have used soft persuasion, love, affection, tenderness & motivation to spread their beautiful messages & bring humanity together.
Malware (Malicious virus) preachers - The culprits
But there is another section of preachers who in the process of propagating the true messages of the prophets, have in fact ended up dividing & spreading hatred in the society.
Instead of propagating the ‘Inclusive’ messages of their prophets they have made them 'exclusive'.
These Malware preachers have propagated & used - violence, deceit, intimidation & coercion to spread their messages.
They have setup one prophet against another & provoked mass killings in their name.
They have created a sense of alienation & enmity in humanity.
These 'malware' preachers were the culprits who triggered most of the religious wars that killed millions of people.
(In many cases these preachers were exploited and/or worked in tandem with unscrupulous politicians/leaders)
In one fell swoop these preachers have destroyed the messages, devalued the prophets & made them targets of ridicule & contempt.
They have contaminated the human mind.
Such preachers constitute a clear and present danger to humanity.
Preachers & University Professors
Semi-literate Preacher
All these ‘Malware’ preachers are semi literate - neither well read nor even formally educated.
Most of them likely to have read just one religious book.
They are mostly economically poor, leading frugal & repressive life.
Consequently their empathy & emotional IQ is considerably lower than normal people.
Tunnel vision is their dominant visible trait.
And tragically - These are the kind people influencing millions of kids and illiterate adults in the world.
What does it take to become a professor in a University?
A minimum PHD - that entails 28 yrs of rigorous academic studies, consistently high academic scores, high levels of IQ, specialization in a subject, thesis, research, dissertation, examinations, publishing papers etc
What does it take to become a religious preacher?
The knowledge of just one religious book!!
Not even a fraction of what it takes to be a professor in any university.
Can humanity in 21st century afford to have unqualified, unregulated, unhinged & unenlightened preachers influencing millions of children & people?
Is it not jeopardizing the future of next generation neigh Humanity itself?
Religions - Roadmap
The voice of sanity
Around 3000 years ago Brahmins wrote "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – meaning “ (The world is a family)
One is a relative, the other stranger,
say the small minded.
The entire world is a family,
live the magnanimous.
Be detached,
be magnanimous,
lift up your mind, enjoy
the fruit of Brahmanic freedom.
Vedas - Maha Upanishad 6.71–75
Even without the hindsight of evolution theory - their observations & conclusions were precise.
Roadmap for humanity
Step 1 – Bring Malware preachers within the purview of international law
Religions cut across borders & countries.
And so there is a urgent need for the International court of justice (UN) to frame well defined laws against - propagation of hatred, divisiveness & violence based on religion.
Create a global enforcement agency ( a-la INTERPOL) that is empowered to enforce these laws.
Bring all the preachers of the world under the purview of this international justice system.
Step 2 - Regulatory body & Minimum qualifications for preachers
Create an international regulatory body comprised of highly qualified academics & educationists to
(a) Regulate, oversee and guide the preachers of all religions.
(b) Setup minimum standards for all these preachers in terms of Educational qualification, IQ test, General Knowledge Test, Emotional IQ Test, Sanity/Psychology test etc to check their capabilities & mental stability.
Prescribe frequent & ongoing reorientation programs.
Step 3 – Minimize Risk to democratic nations
Many nations in the world are democratic, open & liberal societies.
They allow freedom of religions in the hope that it will bring humanity together.
But such freedom is being misused by these ‘Malware’ preachers who continue to create conflict & hatred detrimental to the very survival of such democratic nations.
Democratic nations need to modify their internal laws to ensure Malware preachers are brought under the purview of law.
And only qualified & enlightened preachers are allowed to preach.
Also tighten their immigration laws to ensure such elements do not enter their nations.
So that peace, harmony, demographic balances & progress is maintained.
Step 4 – Global Changes in University curriculum
The current university education is designed to help students get a job & make a career.
But it needs to be enhanced and the curriculum re-designed to make the students emotionally intelligent, compassionate, sensitive & broad minded.
The curriculum should be expanded to include subjects like – Universal peace & harmony, Love, Brotherhood, Respect, Selflessness, Sharing & Caring and Compassion etc.
As well as mandatory courses on self hypnosis for controlling self-destructive emotions like lust, anger, greed, jealousy, ego etc.
Encourage Investigation & research in the science behind these words & concepts.
And make these subjects mandatory.
This is far more appropriate & relevant than teaching violent history that is currently unloaded on innocent kids & contaminating their minds.
Universities should engage highly educated PHD professors (especially with high emotional IQ) to teach these beautiful topics.
This will ensure that rogue preachers do not end up exploiting this real life knowledge gap.
All this will help the next generation to evolve into advanced & evolved human beings.
Back to the fundamental issue
To come back to the core question that has baffled & tormented all the saints & philosophers - since the dawn of civilization.
What is the Construct, Meaning & Purpose of human life'?
The answers are not in books written 1000's of years ago.
But in the investigation & analysis of the scientific data & knowledge assimilated by modern day science in the areas of - Biology, Biotechnology, Physics, Physiology, Computer science, AI, Neuroscience, Humanities etc
Explore all this in our science treatise.
As its takes a deep dive journey into all the above science disciplines to present one seamless & integrated view - Of the multicellular human body system.
A complex system which evolved over 6 billion years.
Decoding & reverse engineering its System design, Architecture, Functional specs & Application axiom.
Everything is one
Part 1 - Origin, Evolution & Nature of Life
Part 2 - Purpose of Life
Read the reviews/comments by professors & scientists from IIT's...
'Best video I have ever watched A+' - Prof Richard Harris. Anatomy & Physiology. Univ of Alberta - Canada
'Unique & Deep Dive' - Suhas Hulyalkar - AI Scientist - IIT Kharagpur- Canada
'Fascinating & engaging' - Dr Sumit Sharma MBBS MD Paediatrics - Canada
'Computer Jargon' - Prof Dr Kanchan Chitnis Phd Biology/Genomics - Mumbai India
'Just Brilliant' - Prof Dr Manas Mandal Neuroscience - IIT Kharagpur/Harvard Univ
'Deeply thought provoking' - Dr Ravi Warrier - 30 yrs in IT - BITS Pilani - PHd - Australia
'Mind Boggling' - ms Padma Sudha Chandrasekhar - CEO - IIT Mumbai (Computer science) - IIM A
Their detailed reviews & analysis avlb on our website www.ci-e.com.
To see the documentaries on Vimeo – Click here
Center for introspection & enlightenment
Vancouver Canada
Initiatives for a Utopian world & human life based on Science.
Evolve into a advanced specie.
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