Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe. It is commonly regarded as consisting of a person’s relation to God or to gods or spirits. Religion is a group of principles, norms, ethics, values, traditions and practices in action. Religion is an institution that transforms you and your personality. A religion can make you a vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It can make you believe in something and disbelieve in some other thing.

I call religion as a feeling that provides unity in itself, but bisects you from the mainstream unity. Though it is assumed that basic values and principles of all religions are the same, but they have huge difference in practice.

If we go by the definition of communalism, ‘communalism is the feeling of belonging to a specific group and considering it different and superior from other group or groups.” In my view religion is the biggest force responsible for communalism. East is known for its extreme beliefs and devotion for religion. South-Asian and Gulf countries are said to be the most religious people. Here feeling of communalism is even more wide spread. Here definition of communalism has become “conflicts between extreme religious communities”.

Let’s talk about few merits and demerits of Religion:

Merits:

Religion: A medium of Socialization: As earlier said, religion is principles, norms, ethics, values, traditions and practices in action. Religion therefore provides an ideal path for life. It is said that when no one sees you, even then God has an eye on you. Religion brings the concept of reward and punishment in life. It says good reaps good, and bad reaps bad. Religion has its own rigid norms that help in maintaining conformity in the society. Religion plays its own vital role in bringing system and harmony in the society.

Religion: A Sense of belongingness: Religion provides a ‘we feeling’. Many practices of religion, its traditions and culture provide uniformity and bring people together. Religion provides a sense of security and existence on large scale.

If we talk about the demerits of any religion, then in my view biggest would be that it can be manipulated.

Demerits:

Religion: Good for one, not for all: It isaccepted thatgood gets good in return. But people have set their own goods. What they like, what they want, what they consider as good is good. Religions have lost their originality and they have become the manipulated versions of the supernatural message. Now a religion and its practices might be good for a specific group but at the same time harming some other.

We all are the same, except those: People talk about equality and unity on religious terms. But at one or the other place they keep themselves different from others in terms of caste, language, ethnicity or religion. This leads to a hollow unity or equality.

Religion is and was good in its real form. Its basic principles and values are same and still worthwhile. People have changed and manipulated religion, so it is gradually losing its worth and relevance. We all must remember that religion is for us, we are not for the religion. “We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection,” said Dalai Lama. Humanity is still the biggest religion, and it always will be…