The year 2009 is celebrated as the Year of Science the world over. The goal of this celebration is to engage the public in science and improve public understanding about how science works, why it matters and who scientists are. Nothing can be apter than paying tribute to the great rationalist and popularizer of science, Sri Abraham Thomas Kovoor (Apr 10, 1898 – Sep 18, 1978). Kovoor was born in Tiruvalla in Kerala and migrated to Sri Lanka while being employed there as a professor. He devoted his time for dispelling superstition and belief in sorcerers and exorcists from the public mind. His works have been published by Indian Atheist Publishers in various languages. The following essay is translated by me from the book “Kovoorinte Sampoorna Krithikal” compiled by Edamaruku. RATIONALISTS’ MISSION
Some people tell me that it is not fair to question belief in god and that I should be content with opposing superstitions. This opinion was expressed in a note in ‘Ceylon Daily News’ by a Sinhalese writer, Mr. Karuppaiah and in letters to editor of Janayugam magazine. These people seem to believe that ‘Trust in God’ is scientific. The divinities of each religion differs. Some people consider air, fire, tree, rain or sky as God, and there is no unity among Gods like Bhagwathi, Subrahmania, Shiva, Vishnu, Jehovah and Allah. For those who pray to Jehovah, the others are mere superstition. A Muslim who believes in Allah as the only true God, can’t recognize the existence of other godheads. Many people deny 99% of the Gods and consider their own deity as the true one. They assimilate 1% of superstition and reject the others. For a rationalist, all godheads are offsprings of superstition. Rationalists oppose belief in god because that is the most prominent among all superstitions.
Some people try to denigrate rationalism by claiming that they have no mission other than oppose god. This is only their stratagem not to oppose belief in god. We are against all superstitions like god, religion, prayer, religious offerings, divine chants, black magic (Koodothram) and astrology to aim for the happiness and progress of all humanity. There is not a trace of selfishness here. A rationalist doesn’t expect reward for his social service. On the other hand, believers give alms only to be suitably compensated in heaven. Their good deeds are only an insurance for a safe after-life. Priests and religious leaders cheat those toiling hard for a living in the name of a non-existent god and an imaginary heaven. That is the greatest exploitation among all. That’s why rationalists are against religious belief.
Often, priests put forward outlandish arguments to establish belief in god. One of them is that God created the world. They claim that every object requires a creator and that God is the architect of the universe. If everything needs a creator, obviously God is also created by someone or something. Some others argue differently. They assert that everything has a reason for being and that the universe’s reason for existence is God. But in that case, there must be some reason for God’s being too. One of our religions profess that the earth is situated on the shoulders of an elephant. That elephant is standing on top of a tortoise. The man who fabricated this strange tale couldn’t find a place for the tortoise to stand! Ask those who say that God created the world: Where was this creator before the beginning of space, earth and time?
Rationalists know that there is no beginning or end to matter, energy, space or time. That’s why they don’t need a creator to create something which were not created at all in the first place! Those who understands chemical transmutations of life or evolution need not go in the vain search for a creator.
Another point of accusation against non-believers is that they have loose morals than believers. History negates the validity of such a statement. More people have been killed in holy wars for religion or god than in natural disasters, pandemics or political battles. Healthy public opinion, rule of law and the sense of belonging help to keep morality up in us. We can readily see from criminal statistics in various countries that a great majority of them are believers. According to the information compiled by J B S Haldane, an eminent scientist, most of the felons in Europe belong to Roman Catholicism. And there’s a reason for this! They believe that all their sins will be remitted if they confess it in front of a priest. They ascertain that God can be pleased by prayer, offerings and charity. All religions which display undue enthusiasm to excommunicate rationalists and agnostics from their fold have never expelled a murderer, rapist or pick pocket. The religious leaders will never do it. It is exactly these people who pay more genereously to churches, temples or mosques.
The love, compassion and social service performed by eminent rationalists like Bertrand Russell, Julian Huxley, Bernard Shaw, H G Wells, Jean Paul Sartre, Robert Ingersoll, Sigmund Freud, J B S Haldane, Charles Darwin and others were not for any reward to be gained in the after-life. Even staunch believers won’t accuse these great leaders of immorality.
Even I have experienced that children of atheists display higher morals, sense of duty and compassion than those reared in a religious background. I was born and brought up in an orthodox Christian homestead, whereas my son, Aries, in an atheistic background. His dedication in guiding students from France and Cuba in scientific research has astonished even myself. And this holds good for many others atheists too.
Weren’t the American administration which unhesitatingly ordered bombs to be hurled on the innocent men and women of Vietnam, the ambassadors of ‘Christian love’? On the other hand, the people who helped form world opinion against the war were Bertrand Russell and Sartre, the world famous rationalists.
Religions aim for maintaining exploitation instead of human welfare. Believers perform charitable work to reap the rewards in heaven, whereas rationalists carry out selfless service to humanity.
Abbey Falls, which is about 7 km from Madikeri. The short trip was a refreshing one except the small section through the crowded and narrow town streets. After leaving the town, the road meanders through undulating plains which rightfully earned the sobriquet, “The Scotland of South India” to Coorg. The falls itself is a small one and visitors are not allowed to go near the bottom of the falls as it was very slippery. A hanging bridge spans the two banks and provides good photo opportunities. Freshly plucked oranges were available there and it was very tasty.
A brief visit to Omkareshwara temple was the last item in our Coorg itinerary. Since it was noon, the temple was closed and it was quite a common one at first sight from the outside. The sanctum in the middle of the pond is peculiar. We left for Mysore at 2 pm. Even though the check in time was 12 noon, the officials at Hotel Rajdarshan very graciously didn’t charge anything extra. Thanks to them, and we highly recommend this hotel.
hings displayed inside, we would burst into a laugh to see the articles which the authorities are trying to hide from camera’s eyes! The exhibited items stand as mute spectators to the tasteless extravaganza of a king who had lost all touch with his people and who kept his throne by being a stooge of the British masters. We completed the rounds through the innards of the palace in a mere half an hour and it was pure waste of time. The place is worth only a single visit, just to know what is inside. With that, we completed the last item on our list.
The whole of India shuddered on Apr 17, 2009 upon the death of a 11 year old girl named Shanno in Delhi. She was a student of a Municipal Corporation-run school in a place called Bawana in Outer Delhi. Her class teacher subjected her to corporal punishment which made her stand in an awkward posture for over two hours under the hot sun and even placed seven bricks on her back. She fell unconscious after she returned from school and died in hospital the next day. An unpardonable crime, by any stretch of the imagination. Teachers have absolutely no right to inflict such sadistic punishments for whatever reason they may have and that teacher should be tried for homicide. Not only the magnitude of punishment, but the severe humiliation inflicted should clinch the deal in front of any court of law. Such incidents should not be seen in isolation, but they are the grim reminders of the transition phase our education sector is going through. People now expect more from teachers and demand miracles from them. It is clear that the poverty line is getting lower and lower and more and more people are getting above it. (Whatever the leftists may say). Though hardly above subsistence levels, the sole investment these people have is their children - human capital - we may say. People straightaway enroll them in posh schools and expect them to do wonders, or ask the teachers to make them do wonders. Teachers, in turn, find no other way to wield the stick always, to make the hapless students perform better so that their parents are satisfied and the school is profitably conducted through its business.
In view of Shanno’s unfortunate incident, two arguments have come up.
1. Avoid corporal punishment altogether.
2. Collect medical records of students and keep them at school at the time of admission.
To an impartial observer, the solutions will create more problems than they try to solve! Avoiding corporal punishment will only make the schools ineffective institutions and the inducements in children will naturally turn to more outwardly benign measures like increasing mental torture, which will mar the prospects of the child in the future. We should remember that “Spare the rod and spoil the child” is a piece of golden wisdom. Children must be given corporal punishment, if required, both at home and at school. Even my 9 year old daughter who not infrequently get corporal punishment at school agrees 100% with me on this issue! Students should be beaten if the situation demands it, she says! I think that it settles the issue. You ask children and reach a decision. They don’t want to abolish corporal punishment. Period.
Collecting medical records are equally senseless. Parents of disease prone children should communicate that to the school authorities, but keeping medical records is not an option. Who will ensure the confidentiality of the documents? A society in which personal information such as medical records are public property may find the proposal appealing at first, but do we want to live in such a society? In future, employers may steal the information from schools of their prospective employees! Insurance companies are another lot who will happily jump on the data. Unnecessary hassles will only make the school administration more difficult.
Visited the Vedic Science Exhibition at Elenjikkal Temple Hall, Eloor on Apr 5, 2009. As an effort of the normally inactive people, it merits some credit for putting up this show. A lot of flex boards were arranged in sequential order, starting with themes such as birth of the universe, life of a star, gravitation theory, calculus, distances between planets, speed of light, avionics, and marine sciences. The society claims that each of these concepts was realized by Indian sages eons ago. Some claims are outright controversial and without a valid basis. Beneath an obscure Sanskrit verse, a scientific rule is written and is claimed that the discovery was anticipated by the rishi's works. Some of the claims were for the formulation of calculus, gravitation, laws of motion (all by Newton). A curious thing which we'd notice is that all inventions which are already made are claimed while not a single event which will come true in the future is not even mentioned! In such a case, what's is the difference between Vedic science and Nostradamus' prophesies?
