Posted on: 20 May 2023
1. Are religious holidays wrong in a secular nation?
[Smt. Priyanka asked:- Padanamaskaram Swami, Some atheists or agnostics I know have raised a few questions/ arguments. It all started with the state of Pennsylvania, USA declaring Diwali as a national holiday this year onwards. Please give Your counter-arguments to their comments posted below. "Religious holidays always feel wrong to me in a secular nation. Cultural ones make sense. My point is having it tied to religion makes the holiday wrong for a secular nation. Democracy and Republics are more about not having a religious body control the state".]
Swami replied:- Atheists do not accept the existence of God and hence, naturally they oppose any religious holiday. But, the majority of public is religious and hence, the government shall declare holidays in view of all religions and this is secularism. If a single medicine is present in several bottles, use of medicine from every bottle on each day is secularism. But now, secularism as per atheists is not to use the medicine from any bottle and this is totally wrong.
2. If Christmas is the real birthday of Jesus, why would the Gregorian calendar start six days later?
[Christmas is a pagan cultural holiday that Christians mapped to Jesus’ birth. If it was his real birthday, why would the Gregorian calendar start 6 days later (considering BC and AD)?]
Swami replied:- It is not a serious matter at all because it was just an adjustment between two sects of people in the past.
3. Why can't religion be driven by humanism rather than a notional superpower?
[Religion is largely horrible. The only good (if any) is the sense of community, and to an extent, culture. But, why can't religion be driven by humanism rather than hitching to a notional superpower(s)?]
Swami replied:- Such thinking shows the lack of even a normal brain. Religion confirms the existence of God, who punishes injustice and supports justice. It gives confirmation of confidence in right path and also threatens the wrong path. It is very helpful for any administration of any region. People aspiring for the wrong path and for sins are for lack of religion so that there will be full freedom to do sins openly.
4. Is spirituality a privilege of simply being human?
[Spirituality is a privilege of simply being human. And does not have any attribute to a 'God ' or otherwise. It all comes down to service (or selflessness) and self-acceptance and a myriad of other (good) things that make us human. It is this ability to introspect and think beyond the material. Our cohabitants on earth don't get that while we can exploit the same home for our living pleasures and necessities. Spirituality indicates your life gives you the opportunity to think beyond basic needs. Even among humans, not all have that privilege.]
Swami replied:- This is somewhat better psychology than the above mentioned madness. The highly intellectual psychology is acceptance of God, heaven and hell. At least, for the sake of justice and for the sake of eradication of injustice, it is better to accept these three concepts. But, don’t limit yourself to this thought only because you can’t explain genuine miracles appearing in the world based on just this much concept. A genuine miracle can be explained only when you accept the existence of the omnipotent God. Hence, such omnipotent God punishing injustice through hell and promoting justice through heaven is the uttermost true concept. A person aspiring to do sins openly only develops such bogus concepts.
5. Does the internal moral compass not defined by the fear of a superpower or of what happens after death?
[Our internal moral compass doesn’t need to be defined by the fear of a superpower or of what happens after death. Those are personal choices. This doesn’t need to necessarily be linked with God. Your moral compass can be in the right even if you aren’t religious or forced to do it out of cultural norms. Humans are born into a society and understand emotional quotient (EQ) by their environment - as long as their environment encourages good deeds over evil, they will continue doing so. At Your divine lotus feet, Priyanka]
Swami replied:- It is not the question of fear or no fear. It is the question of truth and false. When you require the presence of omnipotent God to explain a genuine miracle and if that God in human form is telling that heaven and hell exist separately, you must believe the heaven and hell. The performer of unimaginable events, called miracles is the real authority about the existence of supernatural spectrum in space. Even if your intelligence is perverted by telling that you are not seeing God, heaven and hell with your eyes directly (50:50 probability of existence and non-existence), it is better to accept at least this way of thinking, which is “If I follow the supernatural belief in not doing sins while alive and fortunately or unfortunately, if the hell is absent after my death, I am not damaged in any way because I am not punished for not doing sins. But, fortunately or unfortunately, if the hell exists, the atheist doing sins while alive is killed forever after his death and I will still be safe after my death since I have not done any sin and hence, I will not enter the hell for punishment” (Nāsti cet nāsti me hāniḥ, Asti cet nāstiko hataḥ). This verse was told by Sureshwara Acharya (previously called Mandana Mishra), a disciple of the most intelligent Jagadguru, Shri Adi Shankara!