Col saab, I have mixed view on your 2nd comment, some I like and some I differ a bit. But its a good topic and I thank you for that
A wonderful point you made, if we chose so then religion is neither an enabler nor an impediment, which means no need for us to be dogmatic about any religion, being liberal and tolerant is enough.
Interesting point, yes agree it gives a higher degree of VISIBILITY which comes with its own set of pros (good deeds recognized more) and cons (higher degree of scrutiny, need to consistently keep reproving oneself, lacking mass lobbying power (which partially can be overcame if a minority community has financial power, e.g. jews and parsi), and so on)
All religion are same in the sense that they all have 3 parts:
1. Some timeless commonsense e.g. dont steal, dont hurt, etc. This COMMON SENSE can be followed WITHOUT BELIEVING IN ANY RELIGION.
2. Mithya/falsehood: Some stuff that has been outright proven wrong by the multitude of scientific discoveries e.g. there are no monkey-god MUTANTS (Hanuman, etc), no earth was not created 5000 years ago as Christianity and Islam claims and it is not a circular disk rather an almost spherical ball, etc. We must reject this crap written in all religious books.
3. Some myths: things that science, due to its current limits, unable to subject to rational evidence-based inquiry, with progressive advancement of science more and more things are (e..g from molecules to atoms, from atoms to nano-particles, our scientific understanding continues to become more granular and we are able to investigate newers things that we were not able to test before) can be tested, as a result this body of untested myth in religion will shrink as they scientifically get tested with future advancement of the science, and once tested either they will move to the first buckets (timeless commonsense that can be practiced without believing in superstition called religion) or the 2nd bucket (bull sh*t in religion).
All religions suggest that DO NOT ACCEPT WITHOUT FIRST TESTING, but they offer no RATIONALLY VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE-BASED means of testing of claims of religion's doctrines. Problem with religion is that science readily accepts what it does not know (vacuum in current knowledge) where as EACH RELIGION TRIES TO "AUTHORITATIVELY" EXPLAIN THE UNEXPLAINABLE (and untestable) with MYTHICAL BULL SH*T. When LOGIC stops, religion/faith begins i.e. religion is for the intellectually-lazy people who would readily accept myth as facts instead of work on overcoming deficiencies of the current scientific methods that will enable us to test the untestables in future. In the times of calamities or distress, people tend to seek the religion more, what they actually need is COUNSELORS and SUPPORT SYSTEM, not the myth and religious superstition and baba shabba, etc.
Without religion, we have one less religion to hate and kill each other. Religion by offering absurd mythical answers to the unknowns, acts as hindrance to the scientific exploration of the TRUTH. In that sense, religion is anti-FACT, thus propagation of any religion is partially (I use the term partially, because point-1 common sense is still valid knowledge) tries to keep us in dark.
Besides neurological studies have concluded that excessive belief in religion causes PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE TO HYPOCOMPUS REGION which is responsible for the RATIONAL AND ANALYTICAL REASONING, no wonder religious people fail to see the falsehood of their religion despite the scientific evidence to the contrary.
ALL RELIGION ARE BS, they are bogus unproven products, they are antithesis of their own doctrines, in reality they do opposite (hate, kill, divide, discriminate, tool for mass domination) of what they promise (love, freedom and peace)
So the best we could do is free ourselves from the OPIUM OF THE MASSES ... freedom from RELIGIOUS CONDITIONING that had been ingrained from childhood, ... even Swami Dayanand said "if in future things I taught do not hold the test of time and science, then discard those and evolve new"
So lets embark on the PURSUIT OF RATIONAL INQUIRY. No more baba, shabba, religion, etc.
I do not believe Jats (or others) are confused, these days people are EXPOSED TO MORE DIVERSE INFLUENCES including other religions, that does not make one confused. DIVERSITY IS GOOD, though a larger set of options makes the decision making harder.
We have enough religions to make us hate each other, we do not need more SH*T, no more religion. NO religion, means less wars and superstition. I also suggest that readers please peruse the WORLD VALUE SURVEY and SCHWARTS VALUE SURVEY, etc. These are multi-year longitudinal studies, that have concluded that there is an emerging patter, poorer nations believe more in superstition and religion, as nations gain more affluence they can afford education and their belief in religion and superstition reduces. Belief in religion is linked with affluence.
My wish for all JATs, TAMSO MA JYOTIR GAMYA, i.e. let there be no religion except humanity and freedom, WE DO NOT NEED ANY INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGION, let there be NO RELIGION, ONLY AFFLUENCE (so that we can afford education, not religious indoctrination).
JATs it ......... raam raam