How I became a Rationalist?

Dr. Kawaljeet

My answer to this question is that a person becomes a rationalist only when she or he begins using the power of reasoning and starts questioning customary and traditional beliefs. In my case the incident which made me realize that we should not blindly accept traditional beliefs like fate, god, deeds of "previous" births, etc., is as follows:

I was, at that time, a student of fifth class. We had a domestic help whom we used to address as "Chinta's Mother". She used to wash utensils in our home. She and about fifty-sixty other families were living in huts near our residence. It was a hot summer afternoon. Suddenly we saw high flames of fire along with smoke, and frightened cries started echoing the environment. A huge fire had broken out in the huts. All the huts along with other possessions of poor people living in them were reduced to ashes.

Many women living in those huts were laborers who used to work hard throughout the day. Later in the evening their husbands would often beat them up and snatch away their money. They needed the money for consuming alcohol. Therefore, considering the horrible condition in which these women were living, nothing worse could have happened to them. When "Chinta's Mother", along with some other women, came to our house after this incident, I asked them about the cause of the fire.

Chinta's Mother replied: "This is nothing but a consequence of our own deeds in previous lives. Whatever is written in our fate is now happening". Another women added, "Whatever was willed by god has happened."

On hearing these replies, many questions started disturbing me. I started wondering whether god desired the poor women and their children to suffer! Whatever respect for god I had until then, started decreasing. I started thinking about fate and concept like "deeds of previous lives". I was puzzled by the linking of disparities in society between have and have-nots with god's will. Many questions arose in my mind. The quest for answers to these questions had begun.

I believe that the environment at my home, too, was helpful in making me think on such issues. Much attention was paid to our education. We had all the time for studying and were not expected to attend to domestic chores.

I was born in a Sikh family. However, unlike some other Sikh families, Guru Granth Sahib was never kept ceremoniously at our home. As far as worshipping is concerned, my mother used to recite japuji (morning prayers of Sikhs). Then in a little louder voice she used to say her 'ardas' (a kind of communication with god). Many a times, on one hand, we children used to hear our mother's 'ardas', and on the other hand, our father's comment: "Is your god deaf that you have to communicate so loudly with him?"

In our day-to-day life, we did not have many superstitions in our family. Our mother never used to fast on "karwa chauth" (for long life of husbands). Good conduct, studies and hard work were emphasized at home. In fact, I never developed blind faith in god or "wahe guru".

In my childhood days, I used to go to gurudwara. I listened to and tried to implement the moral teachings such as truth-speaking, non-stealing, not harming others, respecting parents and teachers. In due course, it dawned on me that there were marked shortcomings in the behavior many persons, who were worshipping regularly in the gurudwara. Morally they were not up to the mark. The gap between their actions and words greatly perturbed me. Why some very religious persons continue to behave in an immoral manner? My search for answers to such basic questions continued.

In fact, the journey in quest of answers was quite a long one. I was able to understand the questions in a proper manner, as well as the method for searching their answers only when I started studying philosophy as a student in Patna University. In a branch of philosophy known as "philosophy of religion", we were supposed to study the proofs for existence of god. The study of philosophy provided me with the foundation for correct reasoning. I realized that reason alone is the source of knowledge. It struck to me that the questions, whose answers I had been searching, were being thought about for a long time. One could arrive at the right answers only when the procedure for seeking answers is correct, namely, the logical and scientific method.

I still had some attraction towards religion because of its moral aspect. But, then, with the study of ethics, this attraction, too, vanished. In ethics, another branch of philosophy, we studied which actions are right and which actions are wrong and why.

I realized that the pioneers of religions had harmed the society by discouraging the questioning of fundamental human beliefs, and thereby obstructing the growth of knowledge and morality. Reasoning alone can help us in acquiring knowledge, and in becoming good human beings. This is impossible to achieve by undermining the importance of reason, and by giving importance to "intuition" as a source of knowledge.

As I see it, religion generally has two aspects: (a) beliefs about the nature of life and world, and (b) ethical teachings. The first aspect is studied in detail in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy, and the second one is studied in ethics, another branch of philosophy. In philosophy of religion, religion is studied in a detailed and systematic manner. The most important feature of these studies is that philosophy never demands "faith" in the ultimate truth of any book. No thinker is regarded as infallible. It is never suggested that we must accept a statement as true or else something bad will happen to us! Knowledge is progressing continuously. Encouraging doubt and a skeptical attitude is essential for the growth of knowledge. Philosophy does not teach that books of any religion should be considered the ultimate truth. The focus is always on correct reasoning and not on faith, intuition, mystic power and so on.

The study of philosophy helped me in finding answers to some basic questions about life, and thus helped me in thinking logically and living morally. Friendship with my classmate Ramendra, now a philosophy professor, helped me in this quest for knowledge. Lively discussions with him became a source of understanding things in proper perspective.

I decided to work for social change. I believe that blind faith and superstitions are a major source of human suffering. I started wondering how best I could work for social change -- whether Marxism or JP's Total Revolution could provide a proper framework. Thus, I worked on "Marxism and Jayaprakash Narayan's Total Revolution" for my Ph.D. degree in Patna University. Prof. Ashok Kumar Verma, former head of department of philosophy, was my supervisor. The conclusion of my thesis was that JP's "Total Revolution" provided a better framework for a democratic and peaceful change. I decided to concentrate on the moral and intellectual aspect of Total Revolution. Discussions with Professor Ashok Kumar Verma's helped me in attaining conceptual clarity, which is a fundamental pre requisite for logical and scientific thinking.

Many a times in past, when I declared that I was an atheist, people used to ask whether I believed in good human conduct or not! I was very much amused by such questions. I believe that blind belief in god obstructs the growth of knowledge and morality. Ethics ought to be independent of religion. A person can become good only if she or he is free from the fear of god.

It is not true that non-religious and atheistic persons are morally wicked. We can build a strong basis for morality, independent of any religion, if we accept the basic principle that we must behave with others, as we want them to behave with us.

In 1981, I married Ramendra. We used the legal method of marriage without any religious ceremonies. I am not calling this marriage "inter-religious" because by that time both of us had renounced our religions. Our families, too, accepted and participated in our marriage. The environment in Ramendra's family as well is against superstitions.

Our daughter, Priya, was born in 1984. And in this year itself, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Life and property of Sikhs were attacked in some parts of the country. I was personally affected by the appalling manner in which communal feelings were ignited against Sikhs, and the inhuman manner in which Sikhs were killed in large numbers. These "Hindu-Sikh riots" forced me to realize that the organized religions were a big threat to society and civilization. They destroy the natural human love among human beings. I could see that seed of dogmatism and intolerance were inherent in organized religions. The frequent religious riots glaringly prove that religious morality is illogical, narrow, inadequate and divisive. We had been thinking for some time of forming a society for promoting rationalism. However, after 1984 riots, we decided to do it immediately, and thus the Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj was born.

From 1985 onwards, I have been working through Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj for promoting rationalism and humanism. Thus, though born in a Sikh family, I gradually became a committed and active rationalist.

This is English translation of an article published in the April 1998, issue of the Buddhiwadi (Hindi).